Size matters, right? According to most researchers delving into the matter, it's actually men who tend to make a bigger deal over the size of their penis. So if size doesn’t matter, what does a “good-looking penis” look like according to women? A recent study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine asked over 100 women to rate what they consider a normal-looking penis, especially among men affected by hypospadias.

According to the American Urological Association, hypospadias is a condition where the meatus, or the penis’s opening to the outside, isn’t located at the tip of the penis, but on the underside of the penis. Over 80 percent of boys born with this condition have “distal” hypospadias, meaning the meatus is located near the end of the penis. Hypospadias is a relatively common birth defect found in one out of every 200 boys.

Researchers from Switzerland recruited 105 women from various age groups, including 16 to 20, 25 to 30, and 40 to 45, to complete a questionnaire regarding how they perceive certain aspects of penile appearance. This included whether hypospadias-affected surgically repaired genitals (HASRGs) was considered as normal-looking as circumcised genitals. Participants were asked to view photos of 10 HASRGs and 10 circumcised genitals and rate the importance of certain penile aspects.

Out of all penile aspects, women participating in the study found the position and shape of the urethral opening to be the least important in terms of a penis’s appearance. They also found that the genitals of men who underwent surgery to correct distal hypospadias appeared as normal-looking as circumcised genitals. However, the genitals of men with proximal hypospadias — when the meatus is located anywhere between the middle of the shaft and the base, or even in the scrotum — were considered less normal.

"The information may help prevent the development of shame or impaired genital perceptions about penile appearance," Dr. Norma Ruppen, lead researcher from the Department of Pediatric Surgery at University Children’s Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, said in a statement.

What about curved penises? A curvature of the penis when erect is actually pretty common among most men and occurs due to the fact that human anatomy is rarely symmetrical. On the other hand, an extreme curvature of the penis, known as Peyronie’s disease, often results in painful erections for men in their 40s, 50s, or 60s. Just remember guys, above all else, women are most interested in confidence. Wear it like a badge of honor.

Source: Weber D, Gobet R, Landolt M, Ruppen N. What is a good looking penis? How women rate the penile appearance of men with surgically corrected hypospadias. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2015.