By Rifan Muazin 
Caleb Anthony, a 25-year-old dispensary worker in California, exemplifies the typical journey into this subculture. His struggle with penile insecurity began in adolescence, exacerbated by a confluence of physical and social factors. "When I was younger, I was definitely overweight," Anthony explains. "I was also really tall and I am a light-skinned Black guy, and so the whole BBC [big Black cock] stereotype played into it." This intersection of body image and racialized expectation created a profound sense of inadequacy. By his late teens, Anthony turned to the internet for solutions, navigating a labyrinth of YouTube tutorials and fringe websites. Eventually, the algorithm led him to "Hink," a prominent content creator and "penis-enlargement coach" who operates the platform Peak Male Physique. Through Hink’s livestreams and courses, Anthony found a structured path forward. In September 2024, he invested $100 in a formal enlargement course, committing to a grueling daily regimen: 30 minutes of manual stretching and 20 minutes of vacuum pumping. Ten months later, Anthony claims to have grown his penis from six to seven inches, a progress he meticulously tracks in his phone’s Notes app.
The community Anthony joined is vast and increasingly organized. There are currently 165,000 users on the r/gettingbigger subreddit, 200,000 on MattersOfSize.com, and 82,000 on r/AJelqForYou. These numbers represent a significant shift in the cultural zeitgeist. In an era where biohacking—the practice of using science and technology to "optimize" the human body—has become mainstream, the penis is increasingly viewed as just another muscle or biological system that can be upgraded through persistence and mechanical stress. The term "jelqing" itself is the gateway drug of this world. Derived from the Persian word "jalq," meaning masturbation, the technique involves using the thumb and forefinger in an "okay" gesture to repeatedly stroke the shaft from base to tip under specific pressure. While online lore often attributes the practice to ancient Arabian or Sudanese traditions, medical historians and scholars have found no primary sources to substantiate these claims. Regardless of its origins, jelqing became a viral phenomenon in 2024, fueled by TikTok’s "looksmaxxing" trend and the hyper-competitive world of "pickup artist" YouTube.
In these digital enclaves, the atmosphere is a unique blend of locker-room bravado and scientific inquiry. Men share "gains" logs, discuss the tension settings of various devices, and offer emotional support for the psychological toll of small-penis syndrome. The arsenal of techniques goes far beyond manual stroking. For those seeking length, there are manual stretches, weight-hanging devices—where actual weights are suspended from the glans—and spring-loaded extenders designed to be worn for hours at a time. For girth, the vacuum pump is the tool of choice. The community is also steeped in internal politics and "lore." Different forums often follow the specific protocols of a single "guru." For instance, Hink and his partner, BD, lead r/gettingbigger, which was born out of a philosophical split with r/AJelqForYou. Meanwhile, Michael Salvini, known online as "Double Long Daddy," founded Matters of Size after being ostracized by the original "OG" forum, Thunder’s Place, for his radical theories on tissue transposition.
The community’s obsession with "natural" or "mechanical" growth is driven by a deep-seated skepticism of invasive medical procedures. Techniques like dermal fillers—the injection of hyaluronic acid into the shaft—are often dismissed as temporary and prone to causing a "lumpy" appearance. Dr. Michael Eisenberg, director of male reproductive medicine and surgery at Stanford Medicine, notes that fillers carry risks of infection and unsatisfactory cosmetic results, often requiring repeated treatments. Even more controversial are surgical options. Cutting the suspensory ligament can increase the appearance of a flaccid penis, but as the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA) warns, it can lead to penile instability and erections that point downward. Then there is the Penuma implant, a silicone sleeve that became infamous following a ProPublica investigation that detailed cases of permanent disfigurement. "Any penile implant has the risk of infection, erosion, and unsatisfactory cosmetic results," Dr. Eisenberg cautions.
Despite the "creepy" stereotypes often associated with the world of penis enlargement (PE), practitioners often come from professional, analytical backgrounds. Dr. Judson Brandeis, a California-based urologist and creator of the P-Long enlargement program, notes that his clientele is frequently composed of "scientific types"—engineers, tech workers, and scientists who approach the task with mathematical precision. BD, the moderator of r/gettingbigger, observes that approximately 60% of their users are under the age of 30. This younger demographic is particularly susceptible to "penile dysmorphia," a condition exacerbated by the ubiquitous nature of high-definition pornography. "You assume that because that’s all you see, that everybody else is way bigger than you," Hink says. "The actual concept of what is an average size has shifted completely."
Medical professionals often find themselves at odds with the goals of the PE community. From a clinical perspective, a "normal" penis is defined by function—the ability to urinate and procreate. Dr. Brandeis notes that many men seeking enlargement already fall within the average or even above-average range. However, for those determined to proceed, the data suggests that growth is possible, albeit difficult to achieve. A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Andrology found that Dr. Brandeis’s P-Long program resulted in an average gain of 0.8 inches in length over six months. Similarly, a self-directed trial by Hink’s students showed an average gain of 0.54 inches. However, funding for such research is scarce. As Dr. Brandeis points out, the NIH is focused on curing cancer and heart disease, not "growing penises."
The pursuit of size is not without its "Icarus" moments. Michael Salvini, who famously grew his penis from 6.5 to 11 inches using his "Suppressed-Restricted-Transposition Theory," now reflects on his success with a measure of regret. "At 11 inches, you’re just a fucking walking dildo," he says, noting that such extreme size often becomes a barrier to intimacy rather than an enhancement. Furthermore, the risks of injury are significant. The most feared condition in the community is "Hard Flaccid Syndrome," a chronic and painful state where the penis remains semi-rigid and unresponsive due to pelvic floor trauma. Other risks include "hemosiderin staining"—dark brown skin discoloration caused by leaking red blood cells—and "petechiae," small red spots resulting from excessive pumping. There is also the very real danger of penile fracture if exercises are performed while erect.
Ultimately, the rise of the PE subculture is a symptom of a broader shift in male identity. As the fitness and supplement industries did decades ago, the world of penile optimization is moving from the fringe to the mainstream of male self-improvement. For men like Caleb Anthony and BD, the physical gains are secondary to the psychological ones. In a world where many men feel a lack of agency over their bodies and their lives, the ability to "do the impossible" and physically change their most intimate anatomy provides a powerful, if controversial, sense of control. As Hink puts it, this is simply the next frontier in the "male optimization era," a journey where the real growth, for better or worse, happens from the inside out.