While you may think that women try to lose weight and look good for the opposite sex, my mother always told me “women dress for women”. Now, it seems, men also aim for size acceptance from the peers, and not their fairer counterparts. Yet while women may be concerned about their weight wellness, men have a more important measurement in mind; penis size.
According to a new study, carried out by Victoria University Doctorate of Clinical Psychology graduate Dr Annabel Chan Feng Yi, most men are more concerned about how they measure up against their male friends than what their girlfriends think of their penis size. Based on an online survey of 738 men, Dr Chan found that most men insist that size doesn’t count in the bedroom department, but many still feel insecure about how they compare to their male friends.
Most of the participants, who were all aged between 18 and 76, were found to be insecure about their weight, build and even their penis size. However, friends’ opinions were more important than girlfriends’ when it came to their physique. Dr Chan explained, ‘Men’s pre-occupation with size was rarely to do with pleasing sexual partners or even appearing as a better sexual partner. It was often more about competition with other men. Many felt most insecure about their size in environments where other men might see them, such as gym change rooms.’
Even men who suffered from “locker room syndrome”, Dr Chan said, were actually content with their size when it came to sexual matters with their partner, but this didn’t guard their wellbeing against an obsession with body building and being muscular – especially among homosexual men who were surveyed. Dr Chan concluded, ‘The research demonstrates that societal pressures on body image are certainly not unique to women and that while men share similar body image concerns they often don’t have the appropriate forum to discuss them or adequate professional support to deal with them. There is clearly a need to provide more research-based training for clinicians working in this field and public awareness to de-mystify and de-stigmatising the topic of male body image.’
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