The penis as public part: Embodiment and the performance of masculinity in public settings

Abstract

Drawing on an online ethnography at PeniSanity.com, a support site for men who perceive their penises to be small, this article examines site members’ descriptions of their everyday experiences of exposure to the gaze of other men. Site members describe offline exposure as inducing anxieties about having their ‘small penises’ seen. In contrast, online exposure, particularly at the website itself, is often described as liberating. I conclude with a discussion of the contextual resources available in these settings that account for these differences.