Anasayfa » The Impact of Penis Size Concerns on Parents and Children
In this article, we will explain the impact of penis size concerns on parents and children.
Parents have no control over these fears if they have any influence over whether the medical professionals and the many lay people they have deeply concerned answers looking to sit on internet information. Also, parents have no control over immediate control of internet sources, reference to any minor anxiety about the normal development of the baby, or a regular child possibility of some anxiety, which is required by most experiences little development. It also uses quite strange and unusual language to walk around that saying instead fear is a few things. Evidence is now beyond dispute then that information surging the interest and concern of mothers to share these few in or against the parents’ brains: justify not specific and medically necessary to lessons, a great actually complains Ques: day as possible.
Do parents of very young children, infants, and young toddlers have concerns about the appearance or size of their small son’s penis? Are they actively looking for information or reassurance about its normal size and development? Do they express any degree of concern that they might have a critically small penis? While the possibility may seem absurd to any reasonable person, who should worry about what those searching for an answer may really be looking for, our research for the international multimedia production, “The Naked Truth,” confirms that not only do many parents have these concerns, but that large numbers of them access internet information on these concerns, read understandingly implacable opinions of the “experts” on the authoritative web sites of children’s health associations and dense parenting forums. Why would any parent begin paying worrying attention to what they perceive as a developed anxiety then seeking experts for advice? Do these “experts” act as lightning rods to parents’ good questions about normal penis anxieties that link recent evidence of concerns? Can their web site responses exacerbate immediate parental concerns?
These parental concerns alongside those at nuclear family level reported in the Healthy Living column may actually also represent broader national and international issues. There have been many media reports in western Europe, the USA and Australia, for example, about the restructuring of ‘accidents and emergency’ (A&Es), or ’emergency department’ (EDs) or ‘casualty departments’ so they are less reliant on GP or family doctor methods. Increased budget pressures, the assertion of a new range of patient rights and responsibilities, and changing medical practices, have been used to deprofessionalize the triage role of A&E and to allow receptionists and office staff to make the initial assessment. The drive to have an expanded remit for these staffs has also featured in moves to have them become the first port of call for patients who need to see a hospital specialist. Similarly the extended school clubs, with their good-activity rulers for parents, can be seen as part of the larger struggle to ‘professionalize’ education. As we have already noted, parents acknowledge that workers in other professions could not handle the many ways that their children could be ‘a bit off-colour’ within the range that Dos and Do N’ts needs to manage to be inclusive of many of the children using the clubs. The need identified by parents, that a guide should be made available to workers to help them deal appropriately and effect their care for those not mentioned, seems to be a clear signal that the organizational claim to ‘professionalism’ is premature.
Many parents of young children have worries about the size of their child’s penis. This is especially so around the time of the birth, when they may not realise that many baby boys’ testicles have not yet come down into the scrotum (or even that these should do so by this age). More generally, it is evident from nursery practitioners that parents can also feel concern if they think that their child’s penis does not meet some norm – be that a personal one or what they believe to be established in research. These issues are not well documented in research, yet establishing a normal range of penis size is needed to address parental concerns. Caring for a child whose penis has been recently circumcised (often for a reason relating to the father’s religious faith rather than the family’s own) raises different issues. Boys reaching puberty and adolescence with unusual worries about their penis or any other part of their body, but still living with their parents, have other particular considerations, one of which is that the parental presence, attitude, awareness and discussions are more likely to come to the attention of researchers.
Many contributing factors that can lead to heightened concerns about penis size have been identified.
Body-image dissatisfaction and weight preoccupation have been found to be the most robust predictors of concerns about penis size.
Sexual body-image consciousness mediated the effects of attractiveness on concerns about penis size.
The role of peer victimization on sexual body image and penis size concerns has been recognized.
Childhood sexual abuse and anxiety were also predictors of adult penis size concerns.
Parental influence has been related to children’s body-image concerns, and genital self-perception is a concern for many children, even if not for the parents.
Among Chinese primary school boys, a significant discrepancy was found between children’s and their parents’ penile size preference.
The role of mothers and female caregivers in promoting a masculine identity and the fathers’ discomfort discussing genital issues with sons have been recognized as the reason for these discrepancies.
The current available knowledge is detailed above and influenced the development of the current project.
The society is viewed by many as playing a role in the penis size concerns of parents. Aspects of the society and social networks covering lifespan, as well as in the context of social media and online forums, have been found to influence how young men perceive their penises, potentially leading to anxiety about size. What is suggested is that societal guidelines regarding ideal sex roles and appearance impact negatively on male self-perceptions. The point is buttressed further by research noting that societal attitudes which link femininity with small body size and Big Macs with masculinity make it difficult for individuals to separate appearance, body function, and identity. Pretorius et al. in work with a small, homogeneous sample demonstrated how societal norms that reinforce gender roles influenced the way mothers imagined the future for their sons, and there was also the sense that much is expected of men.
Due to the attention frequently shown by adults towards the infant’s penis, a socialization argument has been proposed to explain the concern of parents. The mother was perceived in case reports as having the most perception on these socialization experiences. This research in the Netherlands looked at the experience of 46 parents close to toddlers of both sexes and 14 parents close to girls. The extra-special attention seems to be directed towards the penis from the opposite sex parent.
While penetrating sexual intercourse is not an element of most sexual interactions, because of the marketing and rhetoric targeting the male erection in advertisements or stereotypic portrayals in sex-related media, the erect penis has disproportionate importance in the view of many. Penis insufficiency is symbolized by men in suits who associate a big penis with superior maleness. Because many parents relate difficulties to an unsustainable “real man” concept, it is perhaps not surprising that they might challenge their forthcoming son’s perceived possibilities of forming healthy relationships if the child is found to differ from these representations.
The mothers in the present study were more critical of their sons of toddler age than were the fathers. They were worried and felt guilty about their own or their husbands’ potential genetic contribution to the sons’ body issues. The mothers were concerned because they were experiencing doubts about their ability to guarantee that they would provide the best possible upbringing for their son. Their desire to protect him from the future painful experiences they were expecting also contributed to increasing their levels of anxiety and self-doubt. In this respect, it was not only the little boys who were in need of reassurance because of their doubts, but their parents as well. The parents’ self-confidence is built when they receive positive feedback, and the anxiety and the feelings of guilt and inadequacy are weakened.
Concerns regarding the penis size of a child can have significant effects on the psychological health of the parent. The implication that the child might have genital abnormalities is related to many negative personal experiences and expectations in parenthood. For some men, this idea coincides with the concept of the ideal of a “real man.” Issues such as the way the penis is talked about in society, in the doctor’s office, and family expectations can make the issue even more of a taboo subject.
Sociological research has identified socially shared beliefs, which provide a context of beliefs that penis size is very important between parents and children. This is useful because peer influence at school has been found to have a significant effect on experiences of shame and embarrassment and then sex education at school often repeats factually incorrect cultural mythologies about the importance of penis size. There was an absence of information from parents and also little research showing the impact upon parents when they believe that the size of their son’s penis is important, yet parents remain the greatest potential influence over feelings of embarrassment and support the child’s personal development and his ‘sense of place’. The negative impact due to parental concerns identified by research could suggest some level of parental effect. Any such effect moderated by the presence and force of specific influences over penis size concerns and potentially self-fulfilling. The aim of this study was to explore in greater detail whether penis size assumptions formed in some parental minds from the employment of nonfactual beliefs.
Parental and societal attitudes to the penis and fears about its normality include a powerful myth that penis size has taken on special importance in many cultures. Information from adult males relating to their own experiences in childhood has suggested that their concerns about penis size did not arise from within a vacuum. Many relayed specific influences, felt particularly keenly during exposure to nakedness in the school changing environment. Other males identified specific influential experiences which occurred within the family setting. In many of the natural symptoms of the developing penis, adult males identified deviancy, with thoughts or comments from peers and influential adults playing a key role. Although different cultural norms existed in countries and families and some religious and cultural groups had differing degrees of acceptance of visible nudity, the results suggested that feelings of shame and embarrassment about the penis, distanced from genital exposure, resulted in many phased experiences of ‘social rejection’ during changing activities.
The stress caused by the body image demands of modern Western culture can be seen at its most exaggerated in a subset of “normal” young boys who worry themselves about being “small”, a concern often reinforced by their father. In fact, the father is often the first person to alert the boy to that there is an issue in this regard. This finding serves to highlight the inappropriateness of societies’ perspective, views, and presentations on such aspects of gender and the male body. After all, such concern about perceived inadequacies is wrongly emphasized so much in the minds of increasingly more boys who are being encouraged to share and mirror their fathers’ presented insecurities. This academic focus serves to emphasize the impact these concerns can have, are having, and all too often, the utter scale of their potential of being deemed as “normal”. To hopefully trigger more active and considered societal responses in the future, it is necessary to share the impact upon boys, young men, and the women in their lives who are asked to genuinely feel accepted and valued by them as a result.
A minimal amount of research has focused upon the potential negative impact of penis size preoccupations on children. This is probably related to the implicit assumption in many cultures that all men are concerned about having a small penis and, thus, many boys too are going to be concerned about their development. Explorations into this area highlight the importance of these concerns to young boys but also the dangers inherent in such anxieties. Such preoccupation with penis size is ultimately yet another expression of social dominance trying to control men through the acceptance of their socially-devalued position.
Young individuals in the child developmental period have enchanting emotional and mental development. Positive mental and emotional development positively affects physical appearance and accomplishments, and vice versa. It is also stated that an individual’s body image, which is experienced and evaluated in individual and social life, is one of the variables linked to high self-esteem. Boys with higher self-esteem may overcome their difficulties in the emotional and social aspects of life. Indeed, with high self-esteem, belongingness-liking to society culture, family, as well as organization membership of friendship groups grows, and they may initiate social support. Self-esteem may determine social and emotional competence. However, identifying self-esteem in boys often is as a result of the ability to change goals and social expectations posed by society. The ability to do this may negatively affect body image beliefs. This may result in the belief that life is difficult for anyone who is not adult like his father. Also, fear and prevention of social and family diffidence may impact the strong role model of the father as both a parent and a friend. Factors leading to self-esteem may have this exact role as well.
Body image and self-esteem are represented as the dominant and most important socio-psychological phenomena in the societies we live in today. It is said to reflect society’s ethical principles on the individual. If you have the right size nose, the right size hair, the right body, are fair-skinned, young, tall, thin or not too thin, then you will be the individual fulfilling the societal ethical material. With concerns on penis size, body anxiety together with unrealistic expectations of happiness and health has become the principal issue discussed in societies. When individuals present heightened anxiety and unrealistic expectations about penis size, their world of self-existence has become a risk. When self-satisfaction about body image is harmed, it can damage physical and mental well-being, and both physical and mental damages can hang together.
Of interest in the present study was the assertion that too little importance is currently being placed on the psychological aspects of these treatment decisions. For example, acknowledgment of the fact that if an operation is performed as the result of the parents’ own concerns, rather than the child’s, it has the potential to reduce sexual function and that unmet emotional expectations may lead to postsurgical regret. Another psychologist feels that “we are just setting kids up for self-esteem issues later in life.” As futurist Karl Albrecht explained, “The irony is that at the same time parents work on brain development, they teach their offspring that their self-worth is related to their genitals. They’re messing up some kid’s future pretty badly.”
In conclusion, parents who experience penis size anxiety are also likely to perceive that their child has an inadequate penis size and to worry about the implications of this for his future sexual and social life. Preschool boys generally do not share their parents’ concerns. On the other hand, most high school students are similarly unaware that their parents had concerns about their penis size. Urologists may help parents understand the correlation among all three of the aforementioned concerns and help them search inwardly for the real cause of these concerns. It may be better to find the real cause of parental anxiety and then help parents search for a way to reduce this anxiety, rather than to just alleviate the symptoms by trying to cure the son of a phimosis that may not exist, for example. Chronic illness has been a cause of such anxiety. Other concerns are that some parents may have a low level of body satisfaction, may experience high levels of child distress in general, or may be anxious that their child is significantly different from other boys. All parents should realize that penises of children are often observed by their peers, making any actual difference between them potentially apparent.
One of the responsibilities of parents is to provide factual information to children when they inquire about physical body development or any topic for which they express curiosity. Parents’ willingness to discuss, question, or correct medical subject matter during pediatric office visits is particularly important because conversations dealing with bodily and anatomical issues also are a means of providing reassurance that prompts children to feel that they fit into the larger community. Parents need to know and understand child development, as well as family and cultural differences, in order to provide accurate, consistent, age-appropriate responses. A willingness to talk about topics such as bodily function or appearance is also important for the parent to show via conversations with the child, once the child arrives, so that the child develops a comfort level in asking questions about day-to-day concerns as well as about childhood and anthropological development.
Parents should understand the importance of creating opportunities for their child to develop positive attitudes toward his or her body, particularly if the attributes are congruent with developmental notions of masculinity and femininity. Understanding the beliefs and expectations posited by society in general and by extended family and community members who interact with the child in particular, concerning what behaviors and physical characteristics are appropriate for each sex, is important. When an issue related to the development of a body part occurs, it is important for the parent to handle the issue with a matter-of-fact approach. Understanding the influence of the belief that child development is the result of a particular process and that “healthy” boys and girls are born with particular body characteristics may help them to better appreciate that biological development varies among individuals, families, and cultures.