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Q: How long does a guys bodily fluids usually hang around inside the vagina?

Well, as far as the actual fluid is concerned, unless the woman was doing a headstand when the guy pulled out, most of the semen ends up on the bedsheets almost immediately (or the living room carpet, or the kitchen table, or wherever you happen to be at the time …). However, the little sperm are surprisingly hardy buggers.

I'd always heard sperm can live up to 72 hours in the woman's body, but I went looking to confirm that for this question, and now I'm seeing a lot of sources that say they can live 5-7 days! That's bad news for folks trying to avoid pregnancy via the rhythm method … you're off limits for up to a full week before ovulation, and then the egg can live a further 24+ hours after that.

For strictly hygienic purposes (since this question was originally titled "sexual hygiene"), I couldn't find any specific information on how long the seminal fluid can possibly stay in the vagina after intercourse, but most of it does seep out shortly afterward (especially if the woman gets up and walks around, to use the toilet, for instance). For the day following intercourse, some women wear a thin pantyliner to absorb any additional fluid. Douching afterward is also an option, if you're worried about cleanliness (although douching is NOT recommended as a birth control measure, because the pressure of the douche water can actually help push the semen further into the vagina!).

And of course, using a condom pretty well negates the whole question … so if it's a major concern of yours, do consider that option.

An anonymous visitor submitted the following comment, in response to my answer to Average Penis Size, don't worry about it. I thought it raised some good points, and deserved a proper response:

Dear Miss Sex Advice,

You missed the mark when you told the 11 year old not to worry about
his penis size. Sure, you told him the answer every text book says. But the thing is, at his age, it's the *only* think he worries about. And with all the viagra commercials and emails around, it's no wonder.

What you didn't tell him, was that even when he gets older, penis size doesn't matter one lick. The truth is: women don't care about the size of a penis. Bigger is not necessarily better no matter what the kids in the locker room say or the hundreds of emails in the email box.

Just thought I'd write in with that little tidbit.

While I fully agree that "bigger is not necessarily better," I'm afraid I can't get behind "women don't care about the size of a penis," and I feel I'd be doing the kid who originally asked a disservice to feed him one of the oldest and most misleading lines in the book. Like I said in the first question asked on the site, women do care about penis size. I am a woman, and I have known a lot of women in my life, and almost all of us care about penis size. We're like Golidlocks and the Three Bears: some are too big, some are too small … but the good news is that most of them are well within the range of "just right". And the even better news for you guys is that every woman has a different standard of too big, too small and just right, so there's plenty of options out there for everyone.

Sure, an 11 year old boy is going to worry about whether or not he's normal size no matter what anyone says … just like I worried about whether or not I'd ever grow tits when I was 11. That part is normal, and I think the best answer for a boy worrying about his penis size is the same as the best answer for a girl worrying about her breast size: You're too young to know what size it/they will be when you grow up, and no matter what size it/they end up being, it will work out fine. Some guys really like big tits, some guys prefer small ones, and some guys don't give a good goddamn. So it goes with women and penises: Some of us like 'em big, some of us prefer smaller ones, and some women really don't care.

Q: i am 11 years old. What is the average size for my penis?

Seriously? Don't even worry about it yet. At your age, you're nowhere near done with puberty, and your whole body (including your penis) is going to change a lot between now and then. Give it another five or six years before you even start worrying about whether or not you're "normal" size.

Over half of adult men are between 5.5 and 6.5 inches in length, and almost all adult men are somewhere between 5 and 7 inches. But again, at your age, it will be years before you reach your adult size, so there's no reason to be fretting about it yet!