Lads, when was the last time you looked down in the shower? In those first few minutes of the day as your mental modem starts pinging to life and a more dreamlike state affects all you see and perceive, your eyes may just travel all the way down to alight on your dick. Your dick. The one you’ve seen for years, but only seen, and never much considered. It’s yours and thus it is the dick: this is what they all look like because this is what mine looks like.
But is it?
In this early morning mental stretch, you can find yourself going in directions and perceiving in ways you wouldn’t normally do (and may play a part in what makes morning sex so great). “Sure,” you might think, “I’m pretty pleased with my dick–but in a veritable police line-up of penises, would mine stick out? Is my dick normal?”
This author is aware that that was a lot of track to lay just to arrive at the central question of this post, but even if you’ve never had this early morning shower musing, you’ve no doubt wondered about how your dick stacks up against others. If not in terms of size and shape, then perhaps you’ve wondered about your penis’s particular color or even its texture, as all of these can and do differ from person to person.
Disclaimer: There is no ‘normal’
For a penis, ‘normal’ doesn’t matter nearly as much as ‘healthy’ does. Your dick may not look like the ones you see in porn, but that’s not going to stop you from using and enjoying it by way of masturbation and sex.
It’s just like how our bodies don’t look like those of the cut characters from the Marvel movies. Does it stop me from wearing a probably-too-tight Captain America t-shirt that does nothing to hide my gut? Hell no. This is the body I’ve got: It works right now and will continue to in the future if I take care of it. Like I don’t have another body to fall back on, so it is with your penis: no matter how normal it is, as long as it is functioning, that’s what counts the most.
As you are going to see as you read on, the differences between penises are so insignificant that the most important factor is penis health, which extends to your general wellbeing as well.
However, we can tell you that the best kind of penis is a healthy one until we are blue in the face, because what you’re here for are the numbers, data and the superficial differences that can be compared across penises, so here goes.
Size-wise
The ‘normal’ size of penis (normal here meaning ‘statistically average’) when erect is 13.12 cm (5.16 inches) in length and 9.31 cm (3.66 inches) in girth. This is according to a 2015 study of more than 15 thousand men, which is a huge swathe of manhood to sample from. Most likely, you fall into this group. If you’re on the ultra-big side then hey, congrats or whatever. If you’re perhaps afflicted with micropenis, then you’ve got our sympathies for the mental cross you’re probably bearing, but it is nothing that you can’t work with.
Cock color
Kind of like a ‘carpet matching the drapes’ scenario, the color of your penis can vary, but in most cases is the same or similar shade of your overall skin color. A penis may appear darker or browner than one’s overall skin color, however it could also take on a lighter or pinker hue.
If your penis has been the same color for as long as you can remember, then it is totally fine. However, if new shades begin to appear, say a darkened spot or area of skin, this is something you should have a dermatologist look at to be assured that it’s okay.
Look & feel
Yours likely isn’t, so be assured that no one else has a totally smooth, porcelain-like dick. They all feature bumps, which tend to be hair follicles that protrude through the thin skin of your shaft. You’ll find these follicular bumps near the base of the shaft, and unless they’re swollen or are painful or irritated in any way, then they’re a totally normal feature of a common cock.
Younger males may become alarmed when they see tiny bumps form on the head of their penis. These are called penile papules and they’re a normal occurrence and not sexually transmitted. They occur in about 25% of males, making them quite a common penile feature.
Foreskin
The cut-versus-uncut discourse is one that is ongoing but ultimately pointless. Is it better to be circumcised? Is a fully-intact penis able to feel more? In North America, you’re just as likely to be circumcised as not, so the differences between the two are pretty benign, if any actually exist.
Most likely, you’ve got a normal penis: AKA a regular-degular dick.
It’s not the size of the boat–hell, it’s not even the shape of the boat–but the motion of the ocean. Sure, this is a well-worn and maybe even worn out adage, but it’s true. The norm is just a construct: if the ocean’s in motion, and if your boat has the power to run, then that’s what counts.