Size Matters - book discontinued by Three Rivers Press - review by NarcissisticLust

I chose to review "Size Matters" because, although I know plenty about women's health, my knowledge of men's sexual health does not extend past semen production and the refractory period. Sadly, neither does this book. Beginning with the title, through the format and style, and until the autobiographies, reading this book was a complete chore.

"Size Matters" was an interesting collaboration between Kara Baskin, credibility unknown, and Harry Fisch M.D., expert on the male reproductive system and professor at Columbia University. The authors organized this book in a question answer format which is meant to be referenced if one has a specific sexual health question. This is an interesting idea but many of the topics in this book is not information most people would read about. Here are a few sample questions from different chapters:

"Why do men have balls? What do they do other than hang there?"
"How does a guy keep his penis clean, it hangs in the toilet don't they?"
"Does peeing after sex help prevent STIs?"

These are questions that I feel should not be published in a book. However, this is from the perspective of a twenty year old woman with sexual experience, so I asked my 16 year old sister her opinion and how she would answer. While she was shocked these questions were published, I was shocked her answers were more informative and less gimmicky than a book written by a doctor.

It seems that Dr. Fisch answered the medical questions then Mrs. Baskin rephrased them to be more "fun" and less technical. I would compare the tone of this book to bloggers who have just started reviewing sex toys. Many statements in this book almost deserved a winking emoticon. For example, one person asks if there is any merit to the myth large feet indicate larger penises. Mrs. Baskin responds with a cheap joke that, "None of that is true... sorry ladies, I know that would make it easier to know for sure what you're going to get." [;)]

Not only was I bothered by the general tone but also the amount of sex-negativity, especially about sex toys and kink. For example, one woman asks about the safety of cock rings. This is something I have been curious about and anticipated a medical response. Wow, page twenty two was the beginning of medically void statements which seemed to support only the authors' view of an answer. Their response included no medical information, but did describe a man wearing a cock ring as "having a cold, floppy, purple and bloated penis." I would support this answer if the authors had given facts to support their statements, but they did not.

Not only were responses to sex toys quite bias, but also answers to kink. One person asks about name calling in the bedroom. The authors' response is that, "this may be a form of psychological regression." Bam, that's it. Done. If a person wants to say name calling is regression, please elaborate with empirical evidence and examples. If I had asked this question, I would be sincerely disappointed with the answer. True, this is not a book about kink, but if they include a question, answer it with care and facts, not one sided opinions.

Last but absolutely not least, the reoccurring theme of extreme sexual biases. Introductions such as, "Is your boyfriend's 'but I'm at my sexual peak' excuse for sleeping with a Vegas stripper really valid," or "all men dream about bulbous breasts and lesbionic trysts often involving Uma Thurman," really bothered me. They also generalized that women hate giving blow jobs, only men enjoy sexual power trips and hinted that female masturbation is cheating. While I'm all for witty writing, this was not funny and was borderline insulting.

That said, chapter eight, appropriately titled "Erectile Dysfunction and Other Bedroom Problems," did contain some merit. The entirety of what I learned from this book is taken from approximately two paragraphs written on premature ejaculation. What I learned about "the most common medical problem for men" is that it really doesn't exist. Premature ejaculation just means the man ejaculates before the woman is satisfied. What is "early" for one couple may be "perfect" for another. There it is folks, everything I learned in 200 pages of unbearable literature.