# Do Penises curve to the left? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2000, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610 "2000-05-15T21:41:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/1 "2000-05-15T21:41:45Z")
All right, that’s it. I need to know. I simply can not hold out any longer without confirming this suspicion. I once heard that the majority of human penises (something like 75%) curve or bend ever so slightly to the left. Now, I have looked at my penis on occasion, and noticed that it does indeed bend slightly to the left. Does anyone else out there possess a left-(or right- for that matter) bending penis? And if so, why do penises bend to the left (or right)? ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/2 "2000-05-15T22:11:35Z")
My left trouser leg is more crowded than my right… > [@](#): > > And if so, why do penises bend to the left… I heard it has something to do with whether or not your right handed or not… Sorry, couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/3 "2000-05-15T22:32:41Z")
It shouldn’t curve. We talked about curving penises here a long time back. I wonder if they are still in the archives? Some sort of contracture that a surgeon can slice up & straighten the old thing. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/4 "2000-05-15T22:58:44Z")
Mine hangs to the left. Couldn’t it just be due to the way you “tuck” it when you wear jeans? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/5 "2000-05-15T23:10:10Z")
If this thread is to stay in GQ, please construe the question as “do a preponderance of penises protrude one way or another, and if so, is port the predominant predeliction of pointiness?” If this becomes a survey kind of thing, it really belongs in MPSIMS. I’ve changed the title of this thread better to reflect what I believe to be the purpose. **Freido** , if I have made an error here, please let me know and I’ll return the title and move the thread to MPSIMS for you. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/6 "2000-05-15T23:25:04Z")
Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the bend to the left is due to the inclination of the penis during masturbation, assuming one is right-handed. The bending is probably furthered by the fact that, once there is some minor bendage, the penis will tend to adjust to the left pant-leg. I myself have a slight bend, and I don’t remember it being there before I started maturbating (6th or 7th grade, I think; who can keep track of these things?) Of course, I could be mistaken. What we have to do now is hear from left-handers and/or people who don’t wear pants. I suspect the latter will be rather difficult to come by. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/7 "2000-05-15T23:41:58Z")
Actually I think it **IS** because most men are right handed. Its not just a punchline to a joke. For the record I don’t think its so much of a curve, as it is a lean. A curve implies that the shaft itself arcs, and that indicates that there is scar tissue in the erectile tissue. The common effect on men is more of a lean, making a straight path slightly left of perpendicular. thats my take, and I do indeed lean left. ---
**Author:** ![avalongod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@avalongod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/avalongod)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/8 "2000-05-15T23:48:07Z")
From a sample of one, no they don’t curve. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2000, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/9 "2000-05-16T00:51:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Actually I think it **IS** because most men are right handed. Its not just a punchline to a joke. > > \*\* Well, I’m left handed, so there goes that theory. \*\* > [@](#): > > For the record I don’t think its so much of a curve, as it is a lean. A curve implies that the shaft itself arcs, and that indicates that there is scar tissue in the erectile tissue. The common effect on men is more of a lean, making a straight path slightly left of perpendicular. thats my take, and I do indeed lean left. > \*\* Yes, curve is the wrong word; lean is more like it. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/10 "2000-05-16T02:51:11Z")
Human Sexuality course. Read Johnson and Masters. The straight dope: Some do. Most are straight, even the gay ones. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2000, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/11 "2000-05-16T04:39:22Z")
right handed, curves/leans left. ---
**Author:** ![Occam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Occam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Occam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/12 "2000-05-16T05:27:59Z")
leans left, but I’m ambidexterous. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2000, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/13 "2000-05-16T12:49:27Z")
Wait a minute… is this like Hockey? I can never figure out if I’m shooting the right way. If your right handed, then what hand are you supposed to use? I use the left, always have. Can’t use the right. I had a cast on my left wrist for 6 weeks. I got so much work done around the house it was unbelievable. I use the left hand, and it leans to the left. I think it is due to the “tucking” effect. When I wear jeans, it has to go somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/14 "2000-05-16T15:38:23Z")
‘What side do you put your pants on?’ Is what tailors used to ask you when they did your pants. It means what side does it hang on so they can put some extra area in for it. Circumsions sometimes make things hang left or right. Depends what happens when its erect. Some guys get a real curve when erect. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/15 "2000-05-17T01:40:55Z")
Depends on what kind of spin you give it when you throw. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/16 "2000-05-17T02:40:38Z")
Its completely normal to have a curved erect penis, and its normal for one testical to be larger than the other. Which side/one is trivial. ---
**Author:** ![Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/17 "2000-05-17T07:23:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Mine hangs to the left. Couldn’t it just be due to the way you “tuck” it when you wear jeans? > \*\* I always thought it depended on how _tight_ the jeans were. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/18 "2000-05-17T16:14:56Z")
I’m left handed, and mine goes right. It doesn’t lean, it doesn’t have an \inclination\, it has an \arc\ to the right. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/19 "2000-05-17T16:32:45Z")
Yes, the majority of penises have a slight leftward bent. This is because of a factor called “capillary action”. Basically this is the blood pressure of an artery feeding oxigenated blood in from the right side, and a vein drawing the spent blood from the left. I guess over time or over the growth process this causes a leftward bend. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610/20 "2000-05-17T22:20:53Z")
Inky-, got anything to support that? Sounds like bullshit to me. I don’t have an anotomy text, but I’d be very suprised if the arteries were actualy on the right, with the veins on the left. I’m pretty sure they are generally intermingled throughout, while the penis itself is comprised of two self contained erectile vessels, each having its own artery/vein system. More likely than not, its gonna be symeterical. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-penises-curve-to-the-left/19610.md?page=2)