# What is the average length of a man's penis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506 "2001-08-22T06:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ss138](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@ss138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ss138)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/1 "2001-08-22T06:52:58Z")
I have heard six inches but who did this research? My penis is above average. Women say nice things about it. Do women only say good things about that like how we tell them they don’t look fat? ---
**Author:** ![Karellen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/779978/32.png) [@Karellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karellen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/2 "2001-08-22T07:06:56Z")
According to urologists, the average length of a male penis, erect, is 5.1 inches. I’m looking for the cite. The average length of a male penis in porno movies looks about eight inches. No wonder we’re all so insecure. As for what women say, keep in mind that: 1. Girth has more, uh, impact than length, in terms of sex. Or so I’ve heard. 2. Penis shape can affect how it feels, too. Or so I’ve heard. 3. Different women (and gay men) prefer different things. One woman I was with complained that mine hurt. Her fave toy was a candle less than an inch in diameter. 4. Women, like all of us, have variant policies about blunt honesty. Some lie, some don’t. Some lie to be nice. 5. If a woman says she likes your penis, either she really does, likes you enough that your penis isn’t important, doesn’t care about penises in general but likes to be nice, hates our penis and your personality but is sleeping with you anyway, or hasn’t had enough penis experience to have formed really strong opinions. None of these sounds like a tragedy to me. ---
**Author:** ![ss138](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@ss138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ss138)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/3 "2001-08-22T07:18:40Z")
karellen, that was hillarious! I could have done without the gay men part but none the less thanks. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/4 "2001-08-22T07:32:11Z")
According to a study by the [Lifestyles Condom Co.](http://www.lifestyles.com/), the average length is 5.877 inches and the average girth is 4.972 inches. ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/5 "2001-08-22T08:18:50Z")
Stick out your thumb so that it is perpendicular to your index finger. Measure from thumb tip to index finger tip and you’ll be pretty close to your erect size. It’s scientifically proven, really it is. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/6 "2001-08-22T08:24:46Z")
goddamnit, I’ve never measured the girth of my penis before. What if my roommate catches me? This is his computer. First I have to get an erection, then some string… okay, time to hit the newsgroups. Whoa, I almost forgot to measure here. The string was too stretchy to be reliable, so I wrapped one of my roommate’s Chick tracts around it (The Only Hope). The tract just overlapped at… 4.5 inches. Lets see… \ Oh no! I’m sitting pretty at six inches and eight eights, but I’m only 4.5 inches around! This is so abnormal! And my roommate’s Chick tract is curled up! _What if he figures out what I did?!_ (it felt kind of nice, though.) Oh god! I want a fat penis! ---
**Author:** ![Karellen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/779978/32.png) [@Karellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karellen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/7 "2001-08-22T08:26:01Z")
To quote the Violent Femmes: “Big hands, I know you’re the one.” ---
**Author:** ![Karellen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/779978/32.png) [@Karellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karellen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/8 "2001-08-22T08:45:06Z")
Ha ha! Violating a Chick Tract! That’s great. Next they’ll publish a tract about how shtupping tracts is a sin. Well, a dollar bill as 6.5 inces long (or is it 6.25? I only have foreign currency on me…) so I guess you could roll one around your penis, lengthwise, and if you see it peek out the other end, well, congratulations you’re past average. Of course, money is known to be a haven for bacteria, so please wear a condom. (This message brought to you by Lifestyles.) Anal Scurvy, you know they do have that surgery now where they suck fat out ouf your ass and insert into the ventral side of the penis…(shudder)…but I’d say that unless you’re getting complaints about your girth, be happy. Now hand me that tract so I can measure myself. (And exactly how long is eight eights? Sounds huge to me.) ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/9 "2001-08-22T08:47:19Z")
whoops, should’ve been six inches and eight eigtHs of an inch. ---
**Author:** ![Karellen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/779978/32.png) [@Karellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karellen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/10 "2001-08-22T08:52:39Z")
So that would be … seven inches? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/11 "2001-08-22T13:45:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OneChance \* > \*\*The average girth is 4.972 inches. \*\* Please tell me that is for circumference, and not diameter, or, god forbid, radius. Oh my. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/12 "2001-08-22T14:07:47Z")
How do you determine length? Do you measure it relaxed or erect? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/13 "2001-08-22T14:10:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furryman \* > \*\*How do you determine length? Do you measure it relaxed or erect? \*\* Erect, along the upper side, base to tip, i.e., the most that can be inserted into something… ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/14 "2001-08-22T14:29:04Z")
A lady goes into a bar and sees a cowboy with his feet propped up on a table. He has the biggest feet she’s seen. The wonam asks the cowboy if it’s true what they say about men with big feet. The cowbow says, “Sure is; why don’t you come back to my place and let me prove it?” The woman figures why not and spends the night with him. The next day she hands the cowboy a $100 bill. Blushing, he says, “I’m flattered. Nobody has ever paid me for my services before.” To this the woman replies, “Well, don’t be. Take this money and buy yourself some boots that fit.” ---
**Author:** ![Kbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kbean)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/15 "2001-08-22T15:03:58Z")
[http://www.sexualrecords.com](http://www.sexualrecords.com) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/16 "2001-08-22T15:12:52Z")
Philosophocles, I bet you can’t provide a proper site for that. A guy gets himself just to the point of orgasm & then they measure it, is one account I read in a book. Also, where are you measuring from ss? from the top or bottom? Women alway say a guy’s penis is fine until they split up with him then its too small. Same with a woman’s breasts, they are big when the people are a couple & small later. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/17 "2001-08-22T16:25:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > **A guy gets himself just to the point of orgasm & then they measure it, is one account I read in a book.** It is difficult for this correspondent to believe that a person with a penis who is on the point of orgasm is overly concerned with the geometry of said penis at such a seminal moment. Priorities should be respected on such occasions. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/18 "2001-08-22T16:31:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philosophocles \* > \*\*Stick out your thumb so that it is perpendicular to your index finger. Measure from thumb tip to index finger tip and you’ll be pretty close to your erect size. It’s scientifically proven, really it is. \*\* If only this were true… ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/19 "2001-08-22T18:18:29Z")
Did I miss something or has no one yet linked to the master ? [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_193.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_193.html) ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506/20 "2001-08-22T21:44:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by that\_darn\_cat \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Philosophocles \* > > \*\*Stick out your thumb so that it is perpendicular to your index finger. Measure from thumb tip to index finger tip and you’ll be pretty close to your erect size. It’s scientifically proven, really it is. \*\* > > If only this were true… \*\* WOW!!! Six feet, four inches. Oh, wait–you meant the same hand. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-average-length-of-a-mans-penis/77506.md?page=2)