Karamojong Long Penis – Tribal Penis Stretch (NOT TRUE!)
A couple of days ago a young man (he said he was 17) emailed me asking me to help him with a “penis size problem”. He was moved (her words from him) when he read that I was born and raised among the Karamojong.
He said that the size of his penis has affected his whole life to the point that he was depressed and even contemplating suicide. He searched for help on the internet and found some sites dedicated to penis enlargement and even sell some equipment that adds inches to the penis. He didn’t have the money to buy one of those kits, but he decided to try one of the techniques promoted on many penis enlargement websites.
For months now, he’s been strapping weights to the tip of his penis. She first started out with light weights and now weighed around 20 pounds. Much of his spare time has been consumed by this “exercise”, but he was growing increasingly frustrated that there was no visible increase in the size of his penis. Could he explain, he wrote, exactly how the karamojong “stretch the penis”?
I was angry. The last thing I need is a “horny teenager” disrespecting and insulting me and the work I do. I started to write him an email, but stopped halfway. What if he’s just a confused young man who is so insecure about his penis size that he reaches out to me for help? What if I was the last person he would communicate with, after all he said he was depressed and suicidal?
I deleted that email and instead wrote to him asking him to text me what he was referring to, particularly where he mentions “Karamojong’s penis size.” My assumption was that these must be porn sites, and I’m not going there. I never have, I never will.
These are some of the texts that I feel:
“The African Karamojong tribe of north-eastern Uganda are known to employ similar techniques to stretch the penis. From an early age, they hang increasing numbers of circular stone discs from the tips of their penises, and over the course of several years they may achieve penis lengths comparable to those of Indian sadhus. To better manage their rather monumental and impractical appendages, the Karamojong then tie their penises in knots.”
“Starting at puberty, men from the Karamojong tribe of north-eastern Uganda begin the long and arduous process of ritual penis stretching. A boy will hang a circular stone disc from the tip of his penis, adding more discs as he grows. get used to the weight (and pain!). By the time a boy reaches adolescence, he can carry up to 20 pounds on his penis, which by then can be 18 inches or more long. To avoid sitting on the elongated appendage, Men often tie their penises in knots and stow them away.
Under normal circumstances, this would have made me laugh in prime time. There is a lot of rubbish out there in the name of “ancient African rituals” and since there is no one to bust these myths, many unsuspecting people take them as fact. Over 90% of Africans are too poor to afford a computer/internet and many of those who do have computers/internet access mostly find these sorts of “African myths” amusing, even entertaining. I get these “humorous” email forwards all the time.
Do Karamojong men have the longest penis? I don’t know. But what I do know (and have seen with my own eyes) is that Karamojong men generally have penises that reach almost mid-thigh length and when they sit on the hand stool they carry with them, their penises touch the ground/earth ( often draw lines on the ground in response to movements in body language communication). Note that the average height of Karamojong men is about 5’11 -6’1 depending on which part of the Karamoja region a man hails from.
Karamojong men wear no clothing except a large piece of cloth (ananga) which they wrap around their shoulders. Those who can afford it wear tank tops as T-shirts. Karamojong men/boys also braid their hair or wear headdresses (initiated men and warriors only). They pierce their ears, wear jewelry (specifically copper and iron), and have scar tattoos (showing how many lions one has killed with a spear or how many enemies they have killed in battles/cattle raids). They also carry a small hand stool and a cane, a spear or AK 47 assault rifle and a toothpick which they use to brush their teeth and they do it all the time (as some people chew gum endlessly). That’s all. Without pants. No boxers or underwear. Nothing from the waist down, except for strappy cowhide sandals. This is how it has been for thousands of years and how it remains for about 80% of Karamojong men. NAKED BUT NOT EMBARRASSED.
This is what I grew up looking at: everything out there in plain sight. Nothing tied in knots and hidden. This was what was normal for me and I didn’t see it as “sexual” at all. It was just another part of the human body. Ironically, I instinctively find myself looking away or closing my eyes whenever it looks like someone is about to take their clothes off in public. I find it grossly indecent for someone to be naked in public. But when I return to Karamoja, for some reason (I myself cannot fully understand it), I do not find a naked body in indecent public. Unless someone else points me to it, I don’t even notice. “Naked but not embarrassed” is another topic for another article.
I have taken quite a few British, Canadian, Belgian and French men and women to Karamoja (mostly related to international development work) and almost all have made reference to the size of Karamojong’s penis. Even Ugandans from other “tribes” talk about Karamojong penis size, so I guess there must be something unique about them.
However, I am very sure that Karamojong’s men are not even aware that they have “weapons of mass destruction”. I’d probably do a mouth cleaning ritual if I said anything about “penis size.” They just don’t care about that kind of thing. Like their brothers, the Masai of Kenya/Tanzania, Turkana of Kenya, Suruma of Ethiopia, etc., Karamojong men are proud warriors who live strictly according to social and moral codes determined by the tribe/clan; these social and moral codes do not include obsessing over penis size.
I grew up with these guys and some of them are my closest friends, I’ve never seen anyone hang anything on their penis. Never! IT IS NOT TRUE that Karamojong boys hang circular stone discs on the tips of their penises. ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.
If Karamojong’s penis size is long enough to capture the attention of those selling penis enlargement equipment and techniques, it has to do with his genes and not with circular dangling stone discs at the tips of his penises. If you don’t believe me, take a trip to Karamoja and see if you see any boys with stones or discs dangling from the tips of their penises. I’m even happy to accompany you, as long as you pay for my airfare.
Here is my plea. If there are any young men out there strapping weights to their penis because Karamojong boys do it to get huge, elongated penises, PLEASE STOP THEM!
Instead, see a sex therapist who can help you deal with penis size issues. I’m not a sex therapist, I CAN’T HELP YOU. However, I can tell you that many women don’t give a damn about the size of your penis. Just give them good loving sex, that’s all. But I tried to say that to the young man who emailed me and he didn’t believe me when I told him that “penis size” is a men’s “problem”, not women’s. I still wanted a bigger and longer penis. I told him what I just said here, he talks to a sex therapist. PLEASE!
It’s not even funny!
