When was the last time you heard about a penis in the news? Most people remember the now iconic story of John Wayne Bobbit but few can think of a more recent example of a man and his manhood making the news. But usually these stories simply get buried or are passed around as a bit of a laugh and given no further notice. As the following stories prove, penis size actually makes the news more often than we realize and they also prove that truth is often stranger than fiction.

TEENAGE TRIED AS AN ADULT BECAUSE OF PENIS SIZE

In the summer of 2014, a young boy made headlines when the Russian government refused to believe he was only 13 years old. The boy had been caught stealing a cell phone after he had moved to Russia from Hungary to live with a relative. The boy was caught and reported his age as 12 when the crime happened and claimed he was now 13. The authorities brought in a doctor to examine the boy and after seeing his penis, he declared the boy had to be ‘at least’ 16. After the boy’s family issued a formal complain the Russian government agreed to review his case, but there’s been no update to the boy’s status since June of 2014 and he remains, in the eyes of the government, a man awaiting trial.

POLICE FORCE BARS PENIS ENLARGEMENT

Men in the Indonesian province of Papua are known for using penis gourds which effectively cover their penis while simultaneously drawing attention to them While these penis gourds are not used for enlargement purposes, they have become one of the issues at the centre of a ban on enlargement for police officers in the province. In addition to the penis gourds, many men in the region do practice active enlargement by using leaves from a local tree referred to as “gatal-gatal” which translates as itchy-itchy. The leaves cause a kind of allergic reaction in the penis, making it swell and increasing its size temporarily. These practices have become so widespread that the province’s police department issued a press release stating no applicants could have undergone any kind of enlargement if they wanted to become a police officer. In their official statement, the police spokesman said the ban was instituted because enlargement could cause “hindrance during training.”

DON’T MESS WITH GYPSIES

In March of 2014, one man learned the hard way that you shouldn’t fool around with a gypsy woman unless you’re sure she’s single. The unidentified man was found by the side of a major road in the early hours of the morning and had reportedly had his penis cut off allegedly by the irate boyfriend of a woman he had been with from a nearby gypsy community. The police shut down a portion of the road in an effort to look for the missing appendage but would not confirm or deny it had been found when asked about it by the press.

SMALL AND PROUD!

A man in England has taken the body acceptance movement and applied it to men. Ant Smith has created the “Big Small penis” as a celebration of men who have always felt as though they didn’t measure up. Ant says he spent his life feeling shame about his small size but says that he is now proud of his bod and wants to encourage others to feel the same way. Smith is open about his own penis size, around 4 inches when erect, and points out that he is simply on the smaller end of the average range for penis size. The Big Small Penis party has its own official Facebook page and already has 144 confirmed invites for the event, scheduled to take place on March 7, 2015.

FROM THE BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR DEPARTMENT

A young man in Florida has gone down in history as having had the world’s first penis reduction surgery. The unnamed 17-year-old sought help to reduce his penis size because it had begun to interfere with his daily life, making it difficult for him to play sports and downright impossible to have sex. His penis was 7 inches long and a massive 10 inches around prior to the surgery which was performed by a team of doctors led by Rafael Carrion, an expert in urology at the University of South Florida. He doctor reported the surgery was a success and that the young man had returned home after only a few days in the hospital. No final measurements were released to the press but the doctor assured them the young man remained well-endowed.