Note: On Wednesday, I printed three responses to my question about whether penis size matters at all. All of the respondents said that, yes, it certainly does matter. Not satisfied with this inaccurate sampling, I then asked men to respond with their favorite female physical attribute.
I took it as a good sign that I did not receive any demeaning responses from, as one reader warned, any “socially retarded, tractor pull aficionados with a breast fetish, asked to tear themselves away from MTV’s coverage of Spring Break 2000 long enough to extol the virtues of a great rack.” The bulk of the letters I received were intelligent and respectful.
I did receive criticism that I was encouraging men to objectify women and further damage their self-images. This was not the intention. I was merely trying to give other people a chance to respond to the superficiality of Wednesday’s letters. Here is just a sampling of what I received.
Dear Dr. Date,
Although I’ve never encountered one, I’ve always taken keen interest in the stories of the Marquis De Sade’s fascination with extremely large clitorises.
— ISO The Big One

Dear Dr. Date,
There is one attribute that I think should be mandatory in all women. This attribute is the occasional trim of the pubic region. I would think that most men would agree with me on this opinion.
— MM

Dear Dr. Date,
I must protest. I completely reject the notion that any physical attribute can play such an important role in a relationship. In answer to the question of what’s important: personality. Every woman I’ve ever dated considered sex such an integral part of the relationship that I began to question my worth as a human being. Now I’m disgusted by the thought of sex, and I won’t even consider it again until I’ve met someone who will respect me and be with me regardless of my girth. My penis is not my most important feature, much like a woman’s body should not be hers.
— Not As Ugly As You’d Think

Dear Dr. Date,
What the hell were you thinking? I just read your little “Penis Size” report, and I was wondering if it was your intention to scare every man on campus away from ever showing his penis to a female again. I am average and nothing to brag about, but the women failed to mention what they think small was!
And what was that in the first letter? What was the joke? The dumbest question was at the end of your column: “What physical attributes do men find attractive?” Um … Everything.
— BE

The average erect penis measures 5 1/4 inches. The joke was that the third guy performed oral sex instead of penile-vaginal intercourse, which underscores the fact that most women cannot orgasm without clitoral stimulation — something a penis, no matter what size, is ill designed to do.