For all the attention they direct below
the belt, most men actually know very
little about their penises. Here’s the
knowledge you need to keep yours
healthy, strong, and ready for action-
for life. 1. Every p*nis was a cli.toris. Every
p*nis in the womb starts as a cli.toris
before hormones ‘s*x’ the brain of the
to-be male. The man-hood retains the
mark of its female heritage: its dark
underskin and the thin ridge or seam, known as the raphe, which runs from
scrotum to anus, are remnants of the
fusion of the vag.inal lips. 2. P3nises used to have spines.
Though they were lost before
Neanderthals and modern humans
diverged. Scientists are still not quite
certain of their purpose, but they
speculate that it apparently quickened the pace of an erection and is more
common in promiscuous species (such
as cats). 3. Fetuses can have er3ctions! Male
fetuses can have er3ction during the
third trimester, according to
ultrasound scans. 4. No brain is necessary for
eja.culation: the order to release
comes from the spinal cord, not the
brain. 5. King of ancient tribes ate p*nises: In
ancient tribes, the king would often
eat the p*nis of his predecessor to
apparently absorb his holy power.
This practice was allegedly banned by
the ancient Hebrews. 6. Testifying on testicles: In pre-biblical
times, men would swear on their own
p*nises. The word “testify” is derived
from a Roman legal practice of
swearing on one’s testicles. The word
“man-hood” comes from the Latin word for “tail”. 7. “Shaved” guardians in Muslim
empires: In great Muslim empires,
there would be a guardian assigned to
each harem’s bed. The guardians had
to be “shaved,” which meant having
his testicles and p*nis removed. 8. King Fatefehi of Tonga: between the
years of 1770 and 1784, he
apparently deflowered 37,800
women. 9. Diphallus is a rare condition that
affects one in 5-6 million males. It’s
when a man is born with two p*nises.
Unfortunately, it’s rare that both are
fully functional, and it often comes in
tandem with other deformities that also require surgery. 10. P*nises can actually break: Every
year, hundreds of men break their
erect p*nis, researchers say. Most do
so during “violent intercourse.” But
there are also cases where men snap
their member – indeed, specialists note that such incidents are accompanied
by an audible crack – by falling out of
bed with an erection. The cure for a
broken man-hood? Six weeks of bed
rest with a man-hood splint. 11. Smoking can shorten your man-
hood by as much as a centimeter.
Erections are all about good
bloodflow, and lighting up calcifies
blood vessels, stifling erectile
circulation. 12. The foreskin has an abundance of
Langerhans cells, which are immune
cells that are infiltrated by HIV. This
may explain why circumcised men in
Africa have a 60% lower rate of HIV
infection from heterosexual intercourse. 13. A healthy male averages 11
erections per day-nine of them while
asleep. After ejaculating, it can take
him anywhere from two minutes to
two weeks to achieve another
erection. 14. From shower to grower: On
average, a limp man-hood will
increase in volume 300% when it is
erect. It will also contain more than
eight to ten times its normal amount of
blood. 15. Jonah Falcon, a 42-years-old man
with a 9-inch man-hood (22.86 cm;
13.5 inches, or over 34 cm when
hard). He’s the man with the world’s
largest p*nis. 16. Animals with the biggest and
smallest p*nises: the Blue Whale is the
animal with the biggest recorded
p*nis to date, at 8 feet (over 2 m) long.
The adult male elephant has the
biggest recorded p*nis for land animals, at 6 feet (1.8288 m, and S-
shaped when erect). And coming in
with the smallest man-hood is the
shrew, at .2 inches (0.5 cm). 17. Koro, a culture-specific syndrome,
where a man (or a woman) is
overcome with a debilitating fear that
his p*nis (or her nipples) is shrinking
and will eventually disappear.
Interestingly, this fear is borne out of no real proof or evidence. It is also
known as “man-hood panic” and has
been said to provoke mass hysteria. 18. Semen can cure depression:
Apparently, semen contains chemicals
that elevate mood, increase affection,
induce sleep, and contain at least three
antidepressants. It also contains
cortisol, which is known to increase affection; as well as estrone, which
elevates mood; oxytocin, which also
elevates mood; thyrotropin-releasing
hormone, which is another
antidepressant; melatonin, which is a
sleep aid; and serotonin, which is a well-known antidepressant
neurotransmitter
