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Penis
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The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external sexual organ of certain biologically male organisms, in both vertebrates and invertebrates.
The penis is a reproductive organ, technically an intromittent organ, and for placental mammals, additionally serves as the external organ of urination. The penis is generally found on mammals and reptiles.
word "penis" is taken from the Latin word for "tail." Some derive that from Indo-European *pesnis, and the Greek word pe?? = "penis" from Indo-European *pesos.
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Encyclopedia
The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external sexual organ of certain biologically male organisms, in both vertebrates and invertebrates.
The penis is a reproductive organ, technically an intromittent organ, and for placental mammals, additionally serves as the external organ of urination. The penis is generally found on mammals and reptiles.
Linguistics
Etymology
The word "penis" is taken from the Latin word for "tail." Some derive that from Indo-European *pesnis, and the Greek word pe?? = "penis" from Indo-European *pesos. Prior to the adoption of the Latin word in English the penis was referred to as a "yard". The Oxford English Dictionary cites an example of the word yard used in this sense from 1379, and notes that in his Physical Dictionary of 1684, Steven Blankaart defined the word penis as "the Yard, made up of two nervous Bodies, the Channel, Nut, Skin, and Fore-skin, etc."
The Latin word "phallus" (from Greek fa????) is sometimes used to describe the penis, although "phallus" originally was used to describe images, pictorial or carved, of the penis.
The adjectival form of the word penis is penile. This adjective is commonly used in describing the male copulatory organ's various accessory structures which are commonly found in many kinds of invertebrate animals.
Slang
As with nearly any aspect of the human body that is involved in sexual or excretory functions, the word penis is considered inherently funny from a juvenile perspective, and there are many slang words for the penis, such as "cock", "dick", "shlong", or "willy". Many of these are noted in the bathroom humor article.
"Penii" is sometimes facetiously or mistakenly used as a plural form of "penis" instead of "penes" or "penises," its correct forms.
Humans
Structure
The human penis is made up of three columns of tissue: two corpora cavernosa lie next to each other on the dorsal side and one corpus spongiosum lies between them on the ventral side.
The enlarged and bulbous-shaped end of the corpus spongiosum forms the glans penis, which supports the foreskin or prepuce, a loose fold of skin that in adults can retract to expose the glans. The area on the underside of the penis, where the foreskin is attached, is called the frenum (or frenulum).
The urethra, which is the last part of the urinary tract, traverses the corpus spongiosum, and its opening, known as the meatus , lies on the tip of the glans penis. It is a passage both for urine and for the ejaculation of semen. Sperm are produced in the testes and stored in the attached epididymis. During ejaculation, sperm are propelled up the vas deferens, two ducts that pass over and behind the bladder. Fluids are added by the seminal vesicles and the vas deferens turns into the ejaculatory ducts which join the urethra inside the prostate gland. The prostate as well as the bulbourethral glands add further secretions, and the semen is expelled through the penis.
The raphe is the visible ridge between the lateral halves of the penis, found on the ventral or underside of the penis, running from the meatus (opening of the urethra) across the scrotum to the perineum (area between scrotum and anus).
The human penis differs from those of most other mammals, as it has no baculum, or erectile bone, and instead relies entirely on engorgement with blood to reach its erect state. It cannot be withdrawn into the groin, and it is larger than average in the animal kingdom in proportion to body mass.
Puberty
On entering puberty, the testicles will begin to develop and the genitalia will grow. The penis begins to grow between the ages of as early as 10 or as late as age 15. Growth is usually complete by age 18–21. During the process, pubic hair grows above and around the penis.
Sexual homology
In short, this is a known list of sex organs that evolve from the same tissue in a human life.
The glans of the penis is homologous to the clitoral glans; the corpora cavernosa are homologous to the body of the clitoris; the corpus spongiosum is homologous to the vestibular bulbs beneath the labia minora; the scrotum, homologous to the labia minora and labia majora; and the foreskin, homologous to the clitoral hood. The raphe does not exist in females, because there, the two halves are not connected.
Erection
An erection is the stiffening and rising (see Erection Angle) of the penis, which occurs during sexual arousal, though it can also happen in non-sexual situations. The primary physiological mechanism that brings about erection is the autonomic dilation of arteries supplying blood to the penis, which allows more blood to fill the three spongy erectile tissue chambers in the penis, causing it to lengthen and stiffen. The now-engorged erectile tissue presses against and constricts the veins that carry blood away from the penis. More blood enters than leaves the penis until an equilibrium is reached where an equal volume of blood flows into the dilated arteries and out of the constricted veins; a constant erectile size is achieved at this equilibrium.
Erection facilitates sexual intercourse though it is not essential for various other sexual activities.
Erection Angle
Although many erect penises point upwards (see illustration), it is common and normal for the erect penis to point nearly vertically upwards or nearly vertically downwards or even horizontally straight forward, all depending on the tension of the suspensory ligament that holds it in position. The following table shows how common various erection angles are for a standing male. In the table, zero degrees is pointing straight up against the abdomen, 90 degrees is horizontal and pointing straight forward, while 180 degrees would be pointing straight down to the feet. An upward pointing angle is most common.
Occurrence of Erection Angles| Angle (degrees) | Percent | | 0-30 | 5 | | 30-60 | 30 | | 60-85 | 31 | | 85-95 | 10 | | 95-120 | 20 | | 120-180 | 5 |
Ejaculation
Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the penis, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. A series of muscular contractions delivers semen, containing male gametes known as sperm cells or spermatozoa, from the penis (and into the vagina, if for reproductive intention via sexual intercourse). It is usually the result of sexual stimulation, which may include prostate stimulation. Rarely, it is due to prostatic disease. Ejaculation may occur spontaneously during sleep (a nocturnal emission or 'wet dream'). Anejaculation is the condition of being unable to ejaculate.
Ejaculation has two phases: emission and ejaculation proper. The emission phase of the ejaculatory reflex is under control of the sympathetic nervous system, while the ejaculatory phase is under control of a spinal reflex at the level of the spinal nerves S2–4 via the pudendal nerve. A refractory period succeeds the ejaculation, and sexual stimulation precedes it.
Normal variations
- Pearly penile papules are raised bumps of somewhat paler color around the base of the glans and are normal.
- Fordyce's spots are small, raised, yellowish-white spots 1–2 mm in diameter that may appear on the penis.
- Sebaceous prominences are raised bumps similar to Fordyce's spots on the shaft of the penis, located at the sebaceous glands and are normal.
- Phimosis is an inability to retract the foreskin fully, is harmless in infancy and pre-pubescence, occurring in about 8% of boys at age 10. According to the British Medical Association, treatment (steroid cream, manual stretching) does not need to be considered until age 19.
- Curvature: few penises are completely straight, with curves commonly seen in all directions (up, down, left, right). Sometimes the curve is very prominent but it rarely inhibits sexual intercourse. Curvature as great as 30° is considered normal and medical treatment is rarely considered unless the angle exceeds 45°. Changes to the curvature of a penis may be caused by Peyronie's disease.
Disorders
Edema (swelling) of the foreskin or tearing of the epidermis can result from sexual activity, including masturbation.
Paraphimosis is an inability to move the foreskin forward, over the glans. It can result from fluid trapped in a foreskin which is left retracted, perhaps following a medical procedure, or accumulation of fluid in the foreskin because of friction during vigorous sexual activity.
In Peyronie's disease, anomalous scar tissue grows in the soft tissue of the penis, causing curvature. Severe cases can benefit from surgical correction.
A thrombosis can occur during periods of frequent and prolonged sexual activity, especially fellatio. It is usually harmless and self-corrects within a few weeks.
Infection with the herpes virus can occur after sexual contact with an infected carrier; this may lead to the development of herpes sores.
Pudendal nerve entrapment is a condition characterized by pain on sitting and loss of penile (or clitoral) sensation and orgasm. Occasionally there is a total loss of sensation and orgasm. The pudendal nerve can be damaged by narrow, hard bicycle seats and accidents.
Penile fracture can occur if the erect penis is bent excessively. A popping or cracking sound and pain is normally associated with this event. Emergency medical assistance should be obtained. Prompt medical attention lowers likelihood of permanent penile curvature.
In diabetes, peripheral neuropathy can cause tingling in the penile skin and possibly reduced or completely absent sensation. The reduced sensations can lead to injuries for either partner and their absence can make it impossible to have sexual pleasure through stimulation of the penis. Since the problems are caused by permanent nerve damage, preventive treatment through good control of the diabetes is the primary treatment. Some limited recovery may be possible through improved diabetes control.
Erectile dysfunction or impotence is the inability to have and maintain an erection sufficiently firm for satisfactory sexual performance. Diabetes is a leading cause, as is natural aging. A variety of treatments exist, including drugs, such as sildenafil citrate (marketed as Viagra) which works by vasodilation.
Priapism is a painful and potentially harmful medical condition in which the erect penis does not return to its flaccid state. The causative mechanisms are poorly understood but involve complex neurological and vascular factors. Potential complications include ischaemia, thrombosis, and impotence. In serious cases the condition may result in gangrene, which may necessitate amputation. The condition has been associated with a variety of drugs including prostaglandin but not sildenafil (Viagra).
Lymphangiosclerosis is a hardened lymph vessel, although it can feel like a hardened, almost calcified or fibrous, vein. It tends not to share the common blue tint with a vein however. It can be felt as a hardened lump or "vein" even when the penis is flaccid, and is even more prominent during an erection. It is considered a benign physical condition. It is fairly common and can follow a particularly vigorous sexual activity for men and tend to go away if given rest and more gentle care, for example by use of lubricants.
Carcinoma of the penis is rare with a reported rate of 1 person in 100,000 in developed countries. Circumcision is said to protect against this disease but this notion remains controversial.
Developmental disorders
Hypospadias is a developmental disorder where the meatus is positioned wrongly at birth. Hypospadias can also occur iatrogenically by the downward pressure of an indwelling urethral catheter. It is usually corrected by surgery. The Intersex Society of North America classifies hypospadias as an intersex condition. They believe in halting all medically unnecessary surgeries, including many of those done on people with hypospadias.
A micropenis is a very small penis caused by developmental or congenital problems. Diphallia, or penile duplication (PD), is the condition of having two penises. However, this disorder is exceedingly rare.
Alleged and observed psychological disorders
- Penis panic (koro in Malaysian/Indonesian)—delusion of shrinkage of the penis and retraction into the body. This appears to be culturally conditioned and largely limited to Ghana, Sudan, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and West Africa
- In April, 2008, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, West Africa's 'Police arrested 14 suspected victims (of penis snatching) and sorcerers accused of using black magic or witchcraft to steal (make disappear) or shrink men's penises to extort cash for cure, amid a wave of panic. Arrests were made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade before, when 12 penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs.
- Penis envy—the contested Freudian belief of a woman envying men for having a penis.
- Small penis syndrome—disorder when men believe that their penis is smaller than average
Altering the genitalia
The most common form of genital alteration is circumcision: removal of part or all of the foreskin for various cultural, religious, and more rarely medical reasons. In many cases, such as in some United States hospitals, the frenulum and part of the shaft skin is also removed.
Less commonly, the penis is sometimes pierced or decorated by other body art. Other than circumcision, genital alterations are almost universally elective and usually for the purpose of aesthetics or increased sensitivity. Piercings of the penis include the Prince Albert, the apadravya, the ampallang, the dydoe, and the frenum piercing. Foreskin restoration or stretching is a further form of body modification, as well as implants under the shaft of the penis.
Male to female transsexuals who undergo sex reassignment surgery, have their penis surgically modified into a neovagina. Female to male transsexuals may have a phalloplasty.
Other practices which alter the penis are also performed, although they are rare in Western societies without a diagnosed medical condition. Apart from a penectomy, perhaps the most radical of these is subincision, in which the urethra is split along the underside of the penis. Subincision originated among Australian Aborigines, although it is now done by some in the U.S. and Europe.
Surgical replacement
The first successful penis allotransplant surgery was done on September 2005 in a military hospital in Guangzhou, China. A man at 44 sustained an injury after an accident and his penis was severed; urination became difficult as his urethra was partly blocked. A newly brain-dead man, age 23, was selected for the transplant. Despite atrophy of blood vessels and nerves, the arteries, veins, nerves and the corpora spongiosa were successfully matched. But, on 19 September, the surgery was reversed because of a severe psychological problem (rejection) by the recipient and his wife.
Size
While results vary across studies, the consensus is that the average erect human penis is approximately in length with a 95% confidence interval of (10.7 cm, 19.1 cm) or (4.23 in, 7.53 in). The typical girth or circumference is approximately when fully erect. The average penis size is slightly larger than the median size (i.e. most penises are below average in size).
A research project, summarizing dozens of published studies conducted by physicians of different nationalities, shows that worldwide, erect-penis size averages vary between . It has been suggested that this difference is caused not only by genetics, but also by environmental factors such as culture, diet, chemical/pollution exposure, etc. Endocrine disruption resulting from chemical exposure has been linked to genital deformation in both sexes (among many other problems).
The longest officially documented human penis was a find by Doctor Robert L. Dickinson. It was long and around.
Species morphology
As a general rule, an animal's penis is proportional to its body size, but this varies greatly between species — even between closely related species. For example, an adult gorilla's erect penis is about 4 cm (1.5 in) in length; an adult chimpanzee, significantly smaller (in body size) than a gorilla, has a penis size about double that of the gorilla. In comparison, the human penis is larger than that of any other primate, both in proportion to body size and in absolute terms. For this reason, sexual selection of penis size has almost certainly played an evolutionary role in Homo sapiens and its predecessors.
As with any other bodily attribute, the length and girth of the penis can be highly variable between individuals of the same species. In many animals, especially mammals, the size of a flaccid penis is much smaller than its erect size. In humans and some other species, flaccid vs. erect penis size varies greatly between individuals, such that penis size when flaccid is not a reliable indicator of size when erect.
Most marsupials, except for the two largest species of kangaroos, have a bifurcated penis. That is, it separates into two columns, and so the penis has two ends. Urban legends allege that the dolphin has prehensile control over his penis (it is true, however, that whales and dolphins can move and to a certain degree bend their penis tips to facilitate mating).
In the realm of absolute size, the smallest vertebrate penis belongs to the common shrew (5 mm or 0.2 inches). The largest penis belongs to the blue whale estimated at over 2 m (more than 6˝ feet). Accurate measurements are difficult to take because the whale's erect length can only be observed during mating.
The Icelandic Phallological Museum is devoted entirely to collecting penis specimens from all sorts of land and sea mammals. The museum has received a legally certified gift token for a future specimen belonging to Homo sapiens.
Echidnas have a four-headed penis, but only two of the heads are used during mating. The other two heads "shut down" and do not grow in size. The heads used are swapped each time the mammal has sex.
Among birds, paleognathes (tinamous and ratites), Anatidae (ducks, geese and swans), and a very few other species (including ostriches and flamingoes) possess a penis. It is different in structure from mammal penises, being an erectile expansion of the cloacal wall and being erected by lymph, not blood. It is usually partially feathered and in some species features spines and brush-like filaments, and in flaccid state curled up inside the cloaca. The Argentine Blue-bill has the largest penis in relation to body size of all vertebrates; while usually about half the body size (20 cm), a specimen with a remarkable 42.5 cm-long penis is documented.
Male specimens of the Squamata order of reptiles have two paired organs called hemipenes. In fish, the gonopodium, andropodium, and claspers are various organs developed from modified fins. In male insects, the structure analogous to a penis is known as aedeagus. The male copulatory organ of various lower invertebrate animals is often called the cirrus.
The record for the largest penis to body size ratio is held by the barnacle. The barnacle's penis can grow to up to forty times its own body length. This enables them to reach the nearest female.
Cultural aspects
Uses of animal penises
- Culinary, e.g., in Chinese gastronomy
- Magical and therapeutic, in medicine and/or superstition, especially as an alleged aphrodisiac or even cure for impotence
- Punitive implements, such as the bull pizzle
- Dog chew toys, such as the bull pizzle
Uses of human penises in cultural traditions
See also
External links
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