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I was able to compare the sexual equipment of the various men I made love with and there were amazing differences, in both length and massiveness. One handsome married man, who used to arrive with two Danishes from a very good bakery, had a penis about the size and shape of a lead pencil; he shall remain nameless. In my experience there was usually a relation to height, as Philip Rahv and Bill Mangold, both tall men, bore out. There may be dwarfish men with monstrously large organs, but I have never known one. It was not until later, after my second divorce, that I met an impotent man or a pervert (two of the latter)... None of my partners, the reader will be relieved to hear, had a venereal disease.

Mary McCarthy#34

ComparisonIntimacyPhysicalitySexuality

About this quote

What does it mean?
The narrator compares physical traits of past partners without judgment.
In plain terms
She noticed physical differences between men she slept with.
What can you take from it?
Physical traits vary widely among individuals.

Where it applies

  • dating
  • sexual experiences
  • intimate relationships

Putting it to work

  • accept physical diversity
  • avoid stereotypes

Questions to consider

  • What matters most in intimacy?
  • How do you compare partners?

Another view

Focusing on physical traits can be superficial.

More from Mary McCarthy

  1. It was getting rather alarming. I realised one day that in twenty four hours I had slept with three different men. And one morning I was in bed with somebody w…

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  2. In science, all facts, no matter how trivial or banal, enjoy democratic equality.

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  3. Of all the men I slept with in my studio-bed on Gay Street (and there were a lot: I stopped counting) I liked Bill Mangold the best. Until I began to see Phili…

    Permalink to quote #32

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