135) Time Out, Beijing

(Photo from Layout Sparks.)

Warning: this post may be NSFW. Thankfully, it's Sunday.

Some expats also recommend you bring your own condoms. Brands on sale here tend to be a little, shall we say, 'snug'.
- Time Out Beijing

Let's just put it out there. According to popular stereotype, the Asian male possesses a smaller penis than his Caucasian and African American counterparts. Like all stereotypes, there are surely examples; perhaps, a more-common-than-average tendency towards smaller, er, samples (stereotypes don't appear out of thin air). Likewise, there are plenty of counterexamples - Asian stallions and Caucasians with teenie weenies.

All joking aside, it's strange that the stereotype be perpetuated by the Time Out Beijing editors. Either it is simply a Western jab at Asian nether regions, or Chinese condom companies actually do produce smaller rubbers. Given that there are no studies that prove a definitive relation between penis size and race, either scenario seems unfounded. (Mini aside - in my brief research I found this 2006 BBC article about standard condoms being too big for Indian men. Apparently, appropriate condom sizing is more pressing than we think. All the more reason a condom brand should invest in an international penis size study - think of the value of that data!)

Aside from the debated validity of the stereotype, the equally important question is the why. Many distinguishing racial physical features can be boiled down to some evolutionary explanation. The common Asian single fold eyelid is hypothesized to arise from harsher climates and greater exposure to UV radiation of yesteryear (more fat in the lid for eyeball protection - thus, one fold instead of two). Likewise, coarse hair, fair or black skin are all linked back to conditions during the era of evolutionary adaptiveness. Can, then, varying penile size between races be explained in such terms?

Until there is proof, the stereotype lives on. I won't even go into the socio-cultural aspects of all this. The stereotype of the strong, masculine, athletic and superior Caucasian comparing his manhood to that of a small, meek, nerdy and inferior Asian will have to be saved for a later post.

(Mini aside - As you're reading about penises, I'm up in the air en route to Seoul. We'll be meeting up with my brothers and spending a few days in the motherland before we head to Beijing and Shanghai. I'm hoping that I'll be able to anticipate any days without internet access so that there will be no missed days on The Plan. I can't wait to see what kind of posts Korea and China inspire. I realize that I've been doing a lot of self-absorbed whining on here lately. Like a spoiled brat, I've been hemming and hawing over things in spite of an amazing vacation and the freedom to pursue NY. No more.)