1
Penis Size and Vaginal Orgasm
DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12281
We thank Crabill for supportive comments [1] regarding our article
[2], including our research methods and our providing evidence
that undermines Masters and Johnson’s assertion that orgasms
during penile–vaginal intercourse (PVI) are ultimately provoked by
stimulation of the clitoral glans. The difference between clitoral
orgasm and vaginal orgasm (triggered by PVI without simultaneous
masturbation) [3] is congruent with the vagina and cervix being well
innervated for erogenous responses and having different sensory
cortical projections than the clitoris [3,4].
We also thank Crabill for thoughtful suggestions for future
research (which we discuss below), but we would like to correct a
few apparent misunderstandings as well.
We replicated and extended a previous study [5] by confirming
that women with greater vaginocervical responsiveness, as indexed
by greater vaginal orgasm frequency, prefer men with longer
penises, presumably because such women appreciate deeper
vaginal stimulation [2]. This view received further support in a
recent JSM study reporting that greater consistency of vaginal
orgasm is associated with higher self-reported arousability from
deep vaginal stimulation, but not with arousability from stimula-
tion of other vaginal sites or of the clitoris [6].
Based on the findings of a large body of research linking
vaginal orgasm or orgasm during PVI with women’s health and
intimate relationship quality and with male partners’ fitness-
related characteristics [2,7–9], we proposed that vaginal orgasm
evolved (at least in part) to be preferentially triggered in repro-
ductively propitious situations, thus encouraging PVI under more
favorable conditions for producing offspring [2]. Crabill disagrees
to some degree with our view of how evolution could have played
a role in the origin of vaginal orgasm. However, one source of
disagreement is based on the claim (citing a popular study with a
biased sample) that only a small minority of women attain vaginal
orgasms. This claim is inconsistent with the best available empiri-
cal evidence: for example, in two large nationally representative
Czech studies, only 22% and 17% of the women never had a
vaginal orgasm [5,8]. A more liberal estimate of vaginal
anorgasmia might be 30% [10], roughly the percentage found in
our study [2]. If vaginal orgasm evolved to discriminate conditions
of better fitness potential, it is to be expected that it occurs less
“reliably” at a population level than orgasms from other triggers
such as clitoral masturbation.
Also, Crabill erred when claiming that Costa et al. have “dis-
carded nearly half their sample as respondents reported they rarely
or never achieved vaginal orgasm” [1]. The nearly half of the
sample that we excluded from the analyses consists not only of
those who rarely or never attained vaginal orgasm (29%), but also
those not experienced with a sufficient number of men to make
valid comparisons of penis sizes (21.2%) [2]. The exclusion of the
latter group is methodologically crucial to control for the problem
(noted by Crabill) that women with fewer sexual partners may
compare their real partners’ penises to the upwardly biased distri-
bution of penis sizes shown in pornography and other media. We
took the approach that experience with several men is the only
realistic way for a woman to learn how important penis size actu-
ally is for her. In addition, recent research using computer-
generated images found that women rated images of men with
smaller penises less attractive than those with larger penises,
leading those researchers to infer that “Our results support the
© 2013 International Society for Sexual Medicine
hypothesis that female mate choice could have driven the evolu-
tion of larger penises in humans” (6925) [11].
A larger penis is a likely fitness-related attribute [2,11], selected
by female choice [11], including cryptic female choice [2], so called
because after the onset of copulation, females of several species
continue to acquire information about the male, which can be used
to “decide” if remating is “desirable” with that particular male. In
humans, vaginal orgasm might function as a cryptic choice mecha-
nism mostly by increasing the probability of repeated longer-term
copulation with the same male; it is not necessary for women to be
“turning men away mid-coitus on finding a smaller-than-average
penis” [1], as Crabill doubts happens. That situation would indeed
seem at odds with a cryptic choice strategy.
We also emphasize that we were not endorsing an upsuck
theory that vaginal orgasm promotes short-term fertilization
likelihood.
Crabill doubts that women end relationships just because a
man has a smaller-than-desired penis. Perhaps future research
should address that question, but it is noteworthy that women’s
sexual dysfunctions and sexual dissatisfaction are often related to
dissatisfaction with partner’s penis size [12,13].
All of this suggests that human evolution linked vaginal
orgasm ability and the preference for a somewhat longer penis.
Of course, many other fitness-related attributes can influence
vaginal orgasm [7–10]. Nevertheless, our data support the idea
that preference for a large penis is guided by evolved mecha-
nisms rather than by “locker room gossip” and “arbitrary stereo-
types” [1].
We agree with Crabill that future research should test if
women who prefer shorter penises have shorter vaginas (it is a task
for future researchers to determine if vaginal length is best deter-
mined only when the vagina is unaroused, or possibly when the
vagina is elongated during or immediately after PVI). We also
agree with Crabill that future research should examine if women’s
number of children born by vaginal delivery influences their pre-
ferred penis sizes and vaginal orgasm experience. Consistent with
our notion that vaginal orgasm might be associated with repro-
ductively propitious attributes, previous research found that
coitally anorgasmic women had more difficulties during childbirth
compared with women who had a history of orgasms during PVI
[14]. Many other biological variables might also influence
women’s penis size preferences, but it is noteworthy that the most
plausible variables do not arise from arbitrary cultural stereotypes
that bigger is better.
Rui M. Costa, PhD,* Geoffrey F. Miller, PhD,† and
Stuart Brody, PhD‡
*Eco-Ethology Research Unit, ISPA—Instituto Universitário,
Lisbon, Portugal; †Psychology Department, University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, NM, USA; ‡School of Social Sciences,
University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, UK
Conflict of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Corresponding Author: Stuart Brody, PhD, School of Social
Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, High Street, Paisley
PA1 2BE, UK. Tel: +44 1418494020; Fax: +44 1418483891;
E-mail: stuartbrody@hotmail.com
J Sex Med **;**:**–**
2 Letter to the Editor
Statement of Authorship
Category 1
(a) Conception and Design
Rui M. Costa; Stuart Brody; Geoffrey F. Miller
(b) Acquisition of Data
N/A
(c) Analysis and Interpretation of Data
N/A
Category 2
(a) Drafting the Article
Rui M. Costa; Stuart Brody; Geoffrey F. Miller
(b) Revising It for Intellectual Content
Rui M. Costa; Stuart Brody; Geoffrey F. Miller
Category 3
(a) Final Approval of the Completed Article
Rui M. Costa; Stuart Brody; Geoffrey F. Miller
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