Question: Is penis size related to finger length?
Answer: We’ve all heard the old wives’ tale that the size of a man’s hands and feet hold clues about his genitalia and their various metrics. I have to admit that I have often been guilty of checking out a man’s shoe size to ascertain any penile shortcomings.
But maybe these aren’t such tall tales after all.
Researchers in South Korea think they’ve finally been able to crack the code that indicates the size of a penis, and it comes down to a ratio of finger length on the right hand.
A study was conducted on 144 Korean men undergoing urological surgery. The patients’ penile lengths were measured just after they went under anesthesia, as well as their finger lengths. Now, the ratio of the length of a man’s index finger to that of his ring finger, known as digit ratio, may seem like a strange thing to measure. But it was found that the lower the ratio (index finger, 2D, was shorter than the ring finger, 4D), the longer the stretched penis length, which is well correlated with erect size. (This info will most likely have men all over examining their right hands.)
Previous studies have linked the so-called 2D:4D ratio of finger length with exposure to the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone in the womb. So most men have a low ratio (higher testosterone), while women have a high ratio. Interestingly, research has shown that lesbians and female-to-male transgendered people are more likely to have more “male” ratios (so Lady Gaga is right, we are born this way). However, the “gay” link did not hold true for men.
In earlier research, digit ratio has been linked to sexual behavior or hormonal activity. A recent study linked digit ratio to facial attractiveness or “hotness.” But digit ratio could be useful for more than just a pick-up line in a bar. Various illnesses, such as prostate cancer and Lou Gehrig’s Disease, have been associated with this ratio, so these results offer researchers insights beyond the obvious cocktail conversation.
Now that we’ve established that there’s a possible way to determine size, why do we really care so much? Obviously, after checking out our spam e-mails, we see that penis enlargement is big business. Well, believe it or not, studies have shown that some of techniques really do work (good news for those high digit ratio fellas). While surgical treatments were found to be dangerous, at least one non-surgical method appeared to help grow a man’s member: the “traction method,” in which a penile extender stretched the phallus daily. The gains were hard earned: in the first study, participants had to be in traction for four to six hours each day for a total four months, and in the second study, the daily treatment lasted for six months.
But do you really need to go through all this effort? Researchers have found that the vast majority of men who seek treatment don’t need it. Ironically, more than a third of men studied say their feelings of inadequacy began by viewing porn during their teen years.
One study found that the majority of gay men regarded a large penis as ideal, and having one was linked to higher self-esteem. In addition, it was found that the average penis of a gay man was larger than the average penis of their heterosexual counterparts. Is that why the jumbo size condoms are always sold out in gayborhoods?
And, in the end, men seem to care about it a lot more than their partners. In more than 50 studies spanning the course of 60 years, it was found that 85% of women were satisfied with their partner’s penis size — yet only 55% of men felt good about their penises! Like they say, it’s the size of your skills, not your sex organ, that matters.
