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Among all human body parts, none provoke more curiosity—or fuel more myths—than the penis. While one of the primary functions of the male sexual organ is reproduction, it also holds significant cultural meaning. Here are 12 facts that may help clear up any misconceptions.
The penis serves two essential functions.
According to Michael Reitano, a physician specializing in sexual health and wellness at Ro, the penis has two primary biological roles. One is the elimination of waste through urine, and the other is transferring semen, which contains sperm, from the testes to another location, like the vagina for reproduction. Additionally, it plays a role in sexual pleasure.
It originates from a clitoris-like structure.
All mammalian embryos begin life with a female appearance. Initially, they develop an external, undifferentiated clitoris-like organ before the chromosome activation process. Embryos with XX chromosomes will form a clitoris, labia, and vagina, while those with XY chromosomes will develop a penis and testes.
The penis is made up of three separate tubes.
Though the penis may appear to be a single tube, it actually contains three columns of tissue running through it. Two are the corpus cavernosum columns, which extend from the base to the tip and fill with blood during an erection. The third is the corpus spongiosum, which encases the urethra—the tube through which urine and semen are expelled. This column also fills with blood during erection but stays flexible to keep the urethra open.
Humans might have the largest penis size among all primates.
When considering girth, the human penis is significantly larger than those of its primate relatives. “For example, a gorilla has a penis just 2 inches in length. Human males walk upright, and it's believed that larger genitalia may have served as a sexual attractant in competitive contexts,” said Reitano in 2018 to Mytour. However, according to the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, the penises of chimpanzees and bonobos are slimmer but comparable in length to the average human penis (which is 5.16 inches long and 4.59 inches around when erect, and 3.61 inches long and 3.66 inches around when flaccid). Scientists speculate that our distinctive proportions are a result of natural selection driven by female mate preferences.
They might have once been barbed.
The human penis is undoubtedly among the smoothest in the animal kingdom. “In ancient times, it likely had sharp barbs, similar to some of our primate relatives, to prevent sexual encounters with other partners shortly after mating,” Reitano explained. Chimpanzee penises still have small barbs that “secure the female, and when the penis is withdrawn, it irritates her vagina, deterring other chimps from mating with her,” he added.
In the 15th century, men believed that witches could steal their penises.
One of the many bizarre beliefs discussed in the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th-century German witch-hunting manual by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, was the idea that witches could take men’s penises. Kramer wrote that witches “can take away the male organ.” However, he didn't mean literally removing it: “not indeed by despoiling the human body of it, but by concealing it with some glamour.”
In a 2002 paper published in the Journal of Folklore Research, Moira Smith highlighted male sexual insecurity as a key factor behind the witch hunts. “Many of the crimes (maleficia) attributed to witches revolved around sexuality: engaging in intercourse with incubus demons, obtaining abortions, causing sterility and stillbirths, and disrupting marital relations,” she wrote.
Erections are actually quite complex.
Getting an erection is one of the most intricate processes for a man, says Reitano: “First, hormones need to be released as needed, arteries must deliver six times more blood to the penis with flawless precision, the nervous system has to transmit signals without error, and the mind has to work in perfect sync with the body.”
The ability to get and maintain an erection, according to Reitano, relies on “a body that is perfectly aligned physically, psychologically, and emotionally.” Erectile dysfunction, the inability to achieve an erection, is often the first indication of poor health, he says.
Unlike most other mammals, humans do not have a penis bone.
Many mammals, including gorillas and chimpanzees, possess a penis bone, also known as a “baculum,” according to Arash Akhavein, a urologist at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, speaking with Mytour in 2018. In some species, such as whales, the baculum remains hidden inside the abdomen until mating, when it extends into the penis to aid in sustaining an erection. Unlike these animals, the human penis depends on blood flow and engorgement to achieve an erection.
Yet, it is possible to “fracture” the penis.
Sadly, a penis can break during intercourse, as Reitano explained. Although penile fractures are rare, they occur when the tunica albuginea, the tough membrane that provides rigidity to an erect penis, is damaged by blunt trauma. “When it fractures, you’ll usually hear a popping sound, experience intense pain, and see the erection rapidly disappear,” Reitano noted.
Studies have looked at the sexual positions that are most linked to this issue in heterosexual couples. A 2014 study published in Advances in Urology found that the woman on top was the primary position associated with penile fractures, while the man behind the woman came second. A 2017 study in the International Journal of Impotence Research showed that the man-behind-woman position was most often linked to fractured penises, followed by the man-on-top position.
In the 19th century, concerns over masturbation may have contributed to the rise in circumcision practices.
In an uncircumcised penis, the glans (head) is covered by a layer of skin called the foreskin, which can be pulled back to expose the glans. Circumcision, which involves the removal of the foreskin, is an ancient practice often performed for religious purposes or to avoid complications caused by poor hygiene.
One thing circumcision doesn't stop is masturbation. However, in the 19th century, in English-speaking countries, there was a growing concern about sexual excess, driven by religious ideology, which led to fears about the harmful effects of masturbation and a rise in circumcision practices. Religious leaders and doctors cautioned against “self-abuse” for fear it could cause physical and mental ailments like tuberculosis, memory loss, and epilepsy. As Tom Hickman writes in his book God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis, “What made circumcision common among the rapidly expanding 19th-century middle classes on both sides of the Atlantic was the panic over masturbation; removing the foreskin, doctors argued, helped prevent it and also cured bed-wetting and other conditions.”
Adult men also undergo circumcision.
While circumcision is most commonly performed on newborns and, in some cultures, on adolescents, there are several reasons why adult men may choose to undergo the procedure, Akhavein explained. These reasons include tears in the skin where the foreskin attaches to the tip of the penis, a condition called phimosis when the foreskin is too tight to retract, and a buildup of smegma, a whitish, waxy substance made of dead skin cells and oils. Men who had an incomplete circumcision in childhood (where not enough skin was removed) may also opt for the procedure later in life.
There is a penis museum in Iceland.
In 1974, Sigurður Hjartarson, an Icelandic history teacher, was given a cattle whip made from a bull's penis, which sparked his idea to start collecting other penises. The result? The Icelandic Phallological Museum, home to over 238 penises and penile parts from almost every species found in Iceland. And yes, that includes Homo sapiens.
The largest specimen on display, from a sperm whale, is an impressive 6 feet tall and weighs nearly 150 pounds. “As with everything in nature, there’s tremendous diversity here, even within the same species, the variations in size and shape are often quite astonishing,” Hjartarson explained in an interview with Mytour in 2015.
