This is a blog post that I have been in two minds about posting, but part of the point of my blog is to share based on my personal experience and to deal with the issues that others may shy away from, so here goes. Maybe someone has been grappling with the same issue and will be glad to know that they are not alone, or that their DH is quite normal after all!
Penises stand to attention at different angles, which for the sake of simplicity we can describe using the hands on a clock face, the hour hand representing the erect penis and the minute hand in the hour position the stomach when the man is standing up. The conventional wisdom is that in young men, the erection stands up at a high angle, so roughly at one o' clock, and that as one ages, the angle gradually increases, to three o' clock (90 degrees) or lower.
In my experience though, and based on some Internet based research I have been doing, age is not the only issue at play here, and different guys of all ages display different levels of angle, firmness and flexibility, which has nothing to do with their extent of arousal. This can impact the ability of couples to achieve certain positions, or at least to do so comfortably. I have seen pictures of erect penises pointing down below the horizontal and even some that can be pointed straight down, ie at close to 180 degrees. I recall seeing a picture once of one at something like 270 degrees, ie pointing pretty much backwards! Clearly, this type of flexibility allows a wide variety of positions to be achieved, as the possible angles are so wide.
I have always been a high angle kind of guy, and even at 42 I have not seen much if any change in my 'angle'. I sit at somewhere between one o'clock and two o'clock and even when applying pressure, cannot comfortably go to three o'clock, let alone below. This definitely limits our choice of positions that we can comfortably use. So something quite simple like reverse cowgirl can be uncomfortable for me if C leans forward towards my feet rather than back, and the position where you see the couple lying 'head to toe' is beyond my ability to even conceive, requiring as it does an almost 6 o'clock or 180 degree angle between stomach and erection to achieve penetration. Oral sex requires C to approach me from the side of my head and not from between my legs, and 69 only works for us with C on top, as she would get a very stiff neck if we were side by side or she was underneath (yes, this post was conceived while writing my Position of the Week last night on Facebook on the 69 position).
The point of all this is that not all positions will work for all couples, so don't feel bad if they do not all work for you and your spouse. Experiment and see what does work, but don't feel bad about ditching something that is uncomfortable for you or your partner. And as always, don't rely on porn as your sex guide, and don't expect to be able to do everything that you see on tape.
For Christian couples and especially wives who are not experienced when they marry, realise that everyone is built differently and again do not compare your spouse to a picture or diagram that you may see in a Christian sex guide or on the Internet. In addition to the angle, penises vary widely in length, thickness, the size of the head or glans in relation to the shaft, whether circumcised or not, and in the angle. Don't assume that all penises are 'straight' either - they can bend like a banana, some quite alarmingly, to either side, or up or down (concave or convex). Chances are that DH's equipment works just fine for you - after all, God has brought you together, and I can't imagine Him making the error of a design defect in how your unique parts are designed to fit together!
(Please take a short, ten question survey to gather some data related to the above. I will share the results. Http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JGBRWSL )
UPDATE: link to post summarizing and analyzing the survey findings: http://sensuoushappyhubby.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/angle-of-his-dangle-survey-results.html
Great post on something no one talks about.
ReplyDeleteThe angle is determined by how the root of the penis (the almost half of the total that is inside the body) is situated. This cannot be changed, it is what it is.
Most loss of angle with age is due to a less full erection. Get a senior citizen 100% erect and his angle will have about the same angle he had at 16.
As you point out, there is a limit to how far down the erect penis can be moved. The angle can only be decreased a bit without causing discomfort, then pain, and in extreme cases rupture. OTOH, the angle of the penis can be increased without any discomfort. The reason for this is that the root of the penis curves up significantly.
What all this means is the man with a low angle has far more range than the man with a high angle.
About a third of men are in the 60° to 85° range. Slightly fewer are 30° to 60° degrees, and 5% are over 30°.That puts two-thirds above horizontal. Ten percent are about horizontal, 20% are 95°-120°, and 5% are greater than 120°.