[quote author=Hapi Papi link=board=99;num=1060757874;start=0#6 date=08/15/03 at 22:57:50]Wasn't there an article some years ago that said gay men had larger penises?[/quote]
Yes:
"July 13, 1999
An investigation into the size of male sex organs reveals that homosexuals are generally better endowed than heterosexuals.
This is a study done by the Kinsey Institute and researchers say there may be some relationship between innate sexual orientation tendencies and the size of genitalia.
Researchers say they surveyed data gathered on 5,172 men and found penis sizes to be larger in homosexuals than heterosexuals based on five measurement standards.
One reason for the differences in penile dimensions could be variations in prenatal hormone levels, according to the study published in the journal, Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Researchers say an earlier study also shows that homosexuals differ, on average, from heterosexuals in genital size. A survey of 126 homosexual men had larger penises on the average than a similar group of 86 heterosexuals. "
--Source: Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 28, No. 3, 1999
It's worth noting that this study was based on self-reporting of penis size, and that the differences were slight, a fraction of an inch. Therefore, the results could also just mean that gay men are more likely to exagerate. However, the researchers dismiss this possibility, but Dan Savage appears to support it in his commentary on the study:
"Now that I've had a chance to read the gay cock vs. straight cock study myself (thanks to Willus Johnson at the University of Chicago), I would like to assure both my readers and my doubting, straight editors that, yes, the study is for real -- real scientists (Bogaert & Hershberger), real journal (Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 28, no. 3), and real data (5,122 men interviewed at the Kinsey Institute between 1938 and 1963). The five measures on the Kinsey protocol are (1) estimated erect penis length, (2) measured flaccid penis length, (3) measured erect penis length, (4) measured flaccid penis circumference, and (5) measured erect penis circumference.
The Kinsey dick data showed that gay men's penises, on average, were around a half an inch bigger (6.46 inches erect for gay men, 6.14 erect for straight men). Bogaert & Hershberger discuss several reasons this might be, including prenatal hormone levels, biological mechanisms regulating genital growth, and vain gay men reporting that their dicks are way bigger than they actually are ("homosexual men may be more likely than heterosexual men to exaggerate the size of their penises"). Bogaert & Hershberger dismiss the gay-men-are-fibbing explanation, observing that straight men are just as likely to fib ("gay men may be more concerned than straight men with some elements of the body, [but] heterosexual men are in fact concerned -- even preoccupied -- about the size of their penises and often desire a larger one").
However, the study's fatal flaw, if I may, is its reliance on self-reported data. The straight and gay men in the study were asked to measure themselves and report back to creepy Dr. Kinsey, so odds are good that many men, straight and gay, lied, telling researchers what they, the subjects of the study, wanted to believe -- i.e. that their cocks were huge. I would knock an inch off both averages just to be on the safe side, bringing the average -- average, mind you -- gay cock down to 5.46 inches, and the average straight cock down to 5.14 inches; numbers which jibe with my own observations in the field. "
