Cape Town – With street poles plastered in penis enlargement ads, the enlargement industry appears to be growing, as more men show interest.
Presented with products aimed to improve not only the size, but also sexual performance, one manhood product business owner, Kelani Sumbu, said that since lockdown, his business has seen an influx of men requesting his products.
“Sales have been growing for the last two years, because we pushed the online side of the business and given the certain lifestyle men have in the country, such as a lack of exercise and heavy drinking. This had led to many men experiencing sexual heath issues.
“Since lockdown, many have struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The consumption of alcohol has become so frequent that people do not realise that that's the root of the problem.
“Most customers complain about losing their partners due to early ejaculation and weak erection, along with having a small penis size and lack of energy and power during intercourse.
“I think it’s important to remember that men need to look after their general health, because the healthier you are the less chance you have of suffering from sex issues,” said Sumbu.
One of Sumbu’s customers who wished to remain anonymous, said that before using the product, he never paid attention to his health, he often drank and this deteriorated his sexual performance.
“I had been experiencing issues in my sexual life due to my penis size and my stamina. When doing some introspection, I realised that it was because of my alcohol consumption, which was almost everyday. I turned to the product because I needed a change. After taking the product, I never enjoyed myself like this before. I would often last 30 seconds and now I'm starting to trust myself with my manhood because the first round lasts more than 30 minutes. The second round would even last more than an hour but before it was 5 minutes or less, at some point, things became hectic in the bedroom after I finished a set of enlargement pills,” said the customer.
In a research undertaken by the South African Pelvic Research Organisation On Body Empowerment (SAPROBE), out of 217 men who took part in the study, 54% rated their penis size as average and factors such as length, shape and girth were called out as being vital.
Given this, pastoral therapist, marriage and sex counsellor, Mike de Freitas, said that with the current hook-up sexual culture that is absent of deep communication, a large penis has increasingly become an easy signal to show that one is powerful enough to satisfy.
“This dynamic is fuelled by the increasing mainstream acceptance of porn culture, with its specific narratives and symbols. In porn culture, the man’s identity is over-identified with his penis and the penis becomes the principal means of ensuring pleasure.
“Furthermore, the larger your penis, the more attractive you are deemed to be, causing women to fall at your feet in paroxysms of desire and admiration.
“The problem is that many men buy into the porn myth and try to duplicate what they see on-screen. One must remember that porn actors are screened and hired precisely on the basis of having an above-average sized penis.
“In a similar way that teenage girls with an absolutely normal and healthy body weight imagine themselves to be fat and (become anorexic), men with perfectly normal and average penises imagine themselves to be small and indulge themselves with pills and creams,” said De Freitas.
With the practice being of a psychological nature, De Freitas added that the psychological obsession with penis size can fall within obsessive or addictive behaviour.
“These products are part and parcel of a specific sex narrative that encourages myths of male prowess, competition, and power. This could certainly contribute to the idea that women enjoy being partners in this game of performance and conquest.
“Without wanting to simplistically link this to rape culture, it certainly doesn’t move us in the necessary opposite direction of respect and safety, because causative links, scientifically speaking, are tricky.
“It would be wrong to suggest that men who wish to have large penises and use these products are automatically likely to be disrespectful and abusive towards women.
“However, men who have that tendency and desire to have power over women will take pride in having a penis that is as large as possible. If you turn your penis into a weapon, then it's logical that you want to have as big a weapon as possible.
“However, it's possible to sincerely respect and wish to please women and think that a bigger penis will be more pleasurable. So you have to take it case by case and not paint all men or women with a single broad brush.
“The best way forward is to learn to accept yourself and your partner as you are. Move your focus off penis size and the performance anxiety that goes with focusing on these secondary physical factors.
“Focus on developing yourself as a whole person (physically, mentally and emotionally) and on becoming skilled in managing the diverse challenges of life.
“This will give you self-confidence and positivity that will be far more attractive to your partner than the size of your penis. Nutrition, exercise, rest and stress management will do more for sexual drive and performance than these products,” said De Freitas.