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Men are convinced that the genitals are in the ears
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
The British resource Lloydspharmacy Online Doctor conducted an interesting study aimed at identifying men's knowledge of their own anatomy and health problems, in particular erectile dysfunction and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, the authors of the project aimed to educate and inform people about the importance of safe sex.
1,500 men took part in the survey.
The results obtained were surprising and even shocking. And all because half of the respondents are firmly convinced that the genitals are located in the head, or rather in the ear. This is despite the fact that 90% of the representatives of the strong half of humanity claim that they can easily measure the oil level in the engine and know exactly what their car is stuffed with under the hood.
Only 6% of respondents were able to name the common causes of erectile dysfunction and symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases. One third of survey participants firmly believe that they are at risk of impotence if they wear tight jeans, and every tenth man believes that sexual impotence can be provoked by overzealous masturbation.
When experts asked men to name the organ responsible for sperm production, only 52% gave the correct answer. And every 12th answered that the ear is involved in this process.
"For many men, there are only two things that are important in their lives - their car and their sex life. However, if their car breaks down, men have a much better chance of fixing it than of identifying a potential health problem," said lead author Dr Tom Brett, commenting on the survey results.
As for sexually transmitted infectious diseases, the already meager knowledge has been completely exhausted.
Compared to 2010, the number of sexually transmitted infections has increased by 2%, to 426,000 cases. For some reason, this is not surprising, because the level of knowledge among men about the mechanism of transmission of STDs is very low.
Judge for yourself, one in twenty respondents believes that the main symptom indicating the presence of infectious diseases transmitted through sexual contact is dehydration. And many are sure that infection threatens only those who change sexual partners like gloves. Nevertheless, only one contact is enough to become infected.
One in ten respondents assured experts that the cause of erectile dysfunction is nothing other than hot weather and a passion for spicy food.
Experts sadly note that men's education in matters of safe sex and their own health is incredibly low
"We want people to understand the seriousness of the problems that arise from sexually transmitted diseases. To reduce the risks, they need to be able to identify the problem before it becomes a serious disease," the researchers say.
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