Read Online Manhood: The Rise and Fall of the Penis by Mels van Driel - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mels van Driel
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protuberances occur in man too. In the scientific literature there are descriptions of almost a hundred patients with such abnormalities.
They are almost always a kind of horn, which in over 30 per cent of cases involves cancer. Treatment is fortunately simple and usually solves the problem: the diseased part is removed surgically. Urologists call this a partial penis amputation, though after such a disfiguring operation it is still perfectly possible to enjoy a normal sex life. Unfortunately there is often a lack of good counselling in such cases.
In certain cultures men made protrusions for their glans. In nineteenth-century Java, for example, this was quite normal. Grooves were cut in several places and filled with tiny stones. Once the wounds were completely healed, the glans had an irregular, bumpy surface which provided extra vaginal stimulation. For the same purpose the Dayaks and other primitive peoples drove a bamboo pipe right through the glans or put a bone through it. When performing everyday activities the bone was replaced by a feather; only the tribal chief was entitled to have a second hole made. In Europe too people looked for ways to 47
m a n h o o d
increase women’s pleasure in coitus. In eighteenth-century France penis rings with hard protuberances, called aides , were used, while in Russia such rings were fitted with tiny white teeth; in South America the preference was for horsehair. Modern ribbed condoms are the latest variant.
The genitalia of the kamikaze drone of the honey bee are also decorated, with yellowish protuberances and all kinds of fringes and hairs: at orgasm they explode within the queen like a spring and form a natural chastity belt, which bars access to other suitors, even though the mating drone itself drops dead.
Some rodents and felines are blessed with true foreskin glands, producing, for example, musk, which quite a few women use in perfume on a daily basis. (Assuming that perfumes are intended to attract men, it is odd that women should use male glandular secretions.) It is true that Homo sapiens also has glands near the foreskin, but they are usually a source of great worry and misery. Countless patients think they have contracted a venereal disease when they first observe the sebaceous glands on the underside of the head of their penis. In yet another category of patients, not used to pulling back the foreskin on a daily basis and washing the glans, abundant sebaceous secretions accumulate beneath the foreskin. These are called smegma, a whitish substance with the consistency of bath soap, which accumulates in the folds of the sex organs. In the view of some scientists smegma is carcinogenic. To put it more delicately, it is soap that does not cleanse.
Before a urologist can examine the inside of the bladder, the penis must first be disinfected. This places quite a burden on nursing staff, who have to disinfect up to fifteen penises a day. One nurse in my department refers to these sebaceous secretions as ‘home-made cheese’.
Going hard, going soft
In only a few men (a mere 8%) is the erect penis completely vertical. In between 15 and 20 per cent the angle of erection is approximately 45
per cent above horizontal, though on average it is above the horizontal. The penis is suspended on bands, in such a way that when erect it pulls towards the abdomen.
The fact that the male penis is so prominently visible may explain why nude photos of women were accepted much earlier than those of men. Because of the need to point when urinating, boys become acquainted with their penis at an early age, and hence it comes as no surprise that boys start masturbating at a younger age than girls. In the course of time, while cycling or horse-riding, they notice that stimulation of the penis can produce a pleasant sensation. Quite a few young 48
t h e p e n i s
The suspension
Pubic bone
bands.
Ligamentum
fundiforme
Ligamentum
suspensorium
men worry about what they regard as a
They are almost always a kind of horn, which in over 30 per cent of cases involves cancer. Treatment is fortunately simple and usually solves the problem: the diseased part is removed surgically. Urologists call this a partial penis amputation, though after such a disfiguring operation it is still perfectly possible to enjoy a normal sex life. Unfortunately there is often a lack of good counselling in such cases.
In certain cultures men made protrusions for their glans. In nineteenth-century Java, for example, this was quite normal. Grooves were cut in several places and filled with tiny stones. Once the wounds were completely healed, the glans had an irregular, bumpy surface which provided extra vaginal stimulation. For the same purpose the Dayaks and other primitive peoples drove a bamboo pipe right through the glans or put a bone through it. When performing everyday activities the bone was replaced by a feather; only the tribal chief was entitled to have a second hole made. In Europe too people looked for ways to 47
m a n h o o d
increase women’s pleasure in coitus. In eighteenth-century France penis rings with hard protuberances, called aides , were used, while in Russia such rings were fitted with tiny white teeth; in South America the preference was for horsehair. Modern ribbed condoms are the latest variant.
The genitalia of the kamikaze drone of the honey bee are also decorated, with yellowish protuberances and all kinds of fringes and hairs: at orgasm they explode within the queen like a spring and form a natural chastity belt, which bars access to other suitors, even though the mating drone itself drops dead.
Some rodents and felines are blessed with true foreskin glands, producing, for example, musk, which quite a few women use in perfume on a daily basis. (Assuming that perfumes are intended to attract men, it is odd that women should use male glandular secretions.) It is true that Homo sapiens also has glands near the foreskin, but they are usually a source of great worry and misery. Countless patients think they have contracted a venereal disease when they first observe the sebaceous glands on the underside of the head of their penis. In yet another category of patients, not used to pulling back the foreskin on a daily basis and washing the glans, abundant sebaceous secretions accumulate beneath the foreskin. These are called smegma, a whitish substance with the consistency of bath soap, which accumulates in the folds of the sex organs. In the view of some scientists smegma is carcinogenic. To put it more delicately, it is soap that does not cleanse.
Before a urologist can examine the inside of the bladder, the penis must first be disinfected. This places quite a burden on nursing staff, who have to disinfect up to fifteen penises a day. One nurse in my department refers to these sebaceous secretions as ‘home-made cheese’.
Going hard, going soft
In only a few men (a mere 8%) is the erect penis completely vertical. In between 15 and 20 per cent the angle of erection is approximately 45
per cent above horizontal, though on average it is above the horizontal. The penis is suspended on bands, in such a way that when erect it pulls towards the abdomen.
The fact that the male penis is so prominently visible may explain why nude photos of women were accepted much earlier than those of men. Because of the need to point when urinating, boys become acquainted with their penis at an early age, and hence it comes as no surprise that boys start masturbating at a younger age than girls. In the course of time, while cycling or horse-riding, they notice that stimulation of the penis can produce a pleasant sensation. Quite a few young 48
t h e p e n i s
The suspension
Pubic bone
bands.
Ligamentum
fundiforme
Ligamentum
suspensorium
men worry about what they regard as a
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