Why The Tip Of The Penis Is Mushroom Shaped

About

Why The Tip Of The Penis Is Mushroom Shaped refers to a Don't Google trend on TikTok where users search "why the tip of the penis is mushroom shaped" on Google and film their reactions. The top Google results suggest that the shape is used to scoop other men's semen from the vagina, according to a 2003 study by Dr. Gordon Gallup. The trend became popularized in April 2022 throughout early May, gaining widespread media coverage.

Origin

In July 2003, Dr. Gordon Gallup conducted a study to find out why the tip of the penis is shaped "like a mushroom."^[1] The study suggests that the penis is shaped this way to scoop other men's semen from the vagina, allowing for the current partner's semen to have a better chance at fertilization. To test this, the team created a fake penis and put it inside a fake vagina full of a cornstarch mixture acting as semen to see how much would be scooped out. They found that 90 percent of the mixture was removed by the device. This was discussed in a 2018 publication to Metro,^[2] where it's suggested the shape is an evolutionary trait that stems from women of the past engaging more frequently in orgies to increase their chances of pregnancy.

On April 18th, 2022, TikToker^[3] @pduck11 posted a selfied video captioned, "Have you ever googled why the tip of the penis is mushroom shaped 🤢🤢🤢" showing herself with a shocked reaction, gaining over 1.3 million views in just under a month (shown below).

Spread

Over the following weeks, TikTokers stitched @pduck11's video with their own reactions to Googling the question. For example, on April 19th, 2022, TikToker^[4] @juliawhyte0 posted a video reacting to the answer, showing the Metro article, gaining over 5 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On April 29th, TikToker^[5] @randmdiscord posted a similar video, gaining over 1.5 million views in four days (shown below, right).

On April 30th, TikToker^[6] @seth_in_the_city posted a video demonstrating why the tip is shaped like a mushroom using pieces of metal, gaining over 1.6 million views in three days (shown below). On May 2nd, Distractify^[7] reported on the trend, and a day later, HITC^[8] also wrote about it.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References