Introduction: The purpose of this historical review is to elucidate penile phenotypic preferences from antiquity through the modern era.
Methods: A literature review was performed using databases such as PubMed, archive.org, and Google Books as well as historical artifacts to assess penile phenotypes across multiple cultures and time periods.
Results: The earliest depictions of the penis are found in the Turin Erotic Papyrus from 1150 B.C. In these 12 erotic vignettes, men are depicted with enormous, tapering penises. This contrasts greatly with classic Egyptian art, in which male nudity was typically limited to depictions of defeated enemies in the battlefield representing a demonstration of dominance over the nude fallen soldiers. During the Greco-Roman period, nude statues of athletes and gods celebrated the prepuce, which was to be ¾ the length of the penis. Men were typically depicted with small, delicate phalluses as this represented a man with more sophisticated desires as compared to men with larger appendages, whose motives were driven by lust. In fact, Priapus, the god who gave rise to the term priapism, was cursed with an enormous, yet impotent penis. A different philosophy of the ideal penis is described by the ancient Indian text, the Kama Sutra, in which there are three sizes of genitalia for both sexes. Specific pairings are suggested and, in this sense, there is not one single preferred phallus but rather multiple pairing options. During the 16th century in Tudor England, size was of utmost importance. The most boisterous codpieces were worn by King Henry and were well endowed with expensive, padding to exaggerate his given genitalia and to exude power and virility. Recent literature has demonstrated that across multiple cultures and countries, women prefer circumcised penises even when the cultural norm of the respective region is the contrary. There are also multiple studies demonstrating an association of larger penis size with increased attractiveness.
Conclusions: The ideal penis has varied significantly across cultures and time periods throughout human history as represented in various texts and art forms. With the emergence of widespread pornography via the internet, penile preferences around the world appear to be less diverse than ever before with an overwhelming majority in favor of a larger, circumcised phallus. In our current era of advancing reconstructive techniques and complex genitoplasty procedures, it is imperative to be cognizant of the preferred penile phenotype and its evolution.
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.jpg "Leah Beland, MD photo")