- Griseowulfin ( @Griseowulfin@beehaw.org ) English9•1 year ago
The whole realm of manhood is plagued by the issues of size, sadly. I’ve always been skeptical about cosmetic surgery in general, because I feel lots of decisions are driven by dysphoria and dysmorphia, and sometimes with a lack of proper psychiatric counseling in such a way that consent for the procedure isn’t truly informed. Even in cases where someone may have a benefit from the procedure, I think the variance of outcomes, the side effects, and the rough healing process is often understated. Quite honestly, our technology in this area of plastic surgery isn’t all that good.
That said, in regards to penis size in general, pornography (for the most part at least) has done a number on the male mindset on their size. Given the social equivalence for many men between size and masculinity, this causes a lot of grief for guys, leading to men who feel unable to conduct relationships due to their perceived lack of endowment. Then online, there’s many dangerous magic pills like jelqing, surgery, vacuums, etc. that take advantage of this loneliness and anxiety to extract money from them, often leaving them worse than where they started, in terms of physical ED, deformity, and pain.
Culturally, I think there’s a lot of shaming of men’s bodies, in the same way that society holds expectations of women for their body characteristics, skin texture and color, personality, and dress. Innocent comments like “big dick energy” and insulting people we dislike by exclaiming that they are underendowed puts a notion that bigger is better, and men are most easily going to find comparison in a skewed dataset, that is, in the photos exhibited online in porn. Ultimately, Dr. Elist is taking advantage of his patient’s anxiety for his own gain, then convincing them the answer is “one more revision” or “it looks fine to me”, with animosity towards his patients who wish to speak freely with others about their experience, especially if it isn’t a glowing approval of him and his product.
- exohuman ( @exohuman@kbin.social ) 4•1 year ago
I agree completely. Men with ED have it worst of all. They are perceived as having no value. I can see why they would undertake expensive procedures to make themselves functional again. It’s just a shame that there aren’t safer solutions for men who want to be functional or bigger. There is a lot of money on the table there waiting to be picked up.
- krogers ( @krogers@beehaw.org ) English1•1 year ago
I agree with your assessment. If the article is to be believed (and I see no reason that it shouldn’t), Elist isn’t interested in relieving suffering–he is interested in profit and self-aggrandizment (sp?).
As a man, I know what it is to feel inadequate about penile length even though there is no rational reason for it. It makes no sense; but penis size has become a proxy measure of masculinity in our culture. Elist knows this and uses this fact to extract money from vulnerable men; he seems indifferent to the pain this causes.
- exohuman ( @exohuman@kbin.social ) 3•1 year ago
The link doesn’t work for me.
you can try the original link, but generally New Yorker gets posted here with archive links to avoid their paywall: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/03/the-cutthroat-world-of-penis-enlargement