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Dear Carol, I am your
normal gay bio-male, with a major in biology from college, yet never have
I ever heard of the legs" (crura) of the penis, which you mentioned
in a recent column. Although a few weeks ago, I did read briefly about
a woman's crura, in probably another column. My question is anatomical:
while a female's crura run down the sides of the vagina, where do the
crura of the male penis go? Is this the inside-the-body section of the
penile structure that extend towards the anus? Another anatomical question,
now that I have started. Some women have a g-spot that can ejaculate;
or, that is how i understand it. Is this g-spot part of the crura, different,
what? As I sit here, I begin to realize other questions, this time about
the male sexual function. Some men have what is called pre-cum, others
like myself have always been "dry". Why? Also, male ejaculation
seems to be divided between the "spurters/shooters", and the
"dribblers". Is there any explanation for either of these normal
differences in men? Dear Lester, Funny, isn't it, how supposedly thorough education can neglect to impart certain facts? I was almost 30 and enrolled as a graduate student in sexology before I heard of the crura/legs of the penis and clitoris -- and up till then I also had not heard about the ways that female and male bodies are homologous. That is, what we think of as male and female primary sexual characteristics (penis/vagina, etc.) actually start out in the developing human as identical; once the hormones hit our tissue changes shape and, to a degree, function, but it's all still there, and so each aspect of the male genitals has a comparable part in the female genitals. (Not to mention everybody in between.) This helps answer your g-spot question. The g-spot
is also known as the paraurethral sponge and sometimes as the female prostate.
So no, it isn't part of the crura. It's a comparable organ to the male
prostate. The crura (anyone's crura), as they extend into the body, reach
toward the prostatic tissue, but they are not part of it. They are, however,
close enough that stimulation of one system can often provide some stimulation
of the other; for example, during vigorous masturbation, you might provide
deep enough penile stimulation to give the prostate a bit of a ride as
well. When we're fully aroused and optimally stimulated, all the parts
of our genitals can help stimulate the other parts. And yes, the crura
do extend in towards the rectum. Imagine the innards of your penis Pre-cum comes primarily from the Cowper's gland, and there are natural differences in size and, hence, capacity from one man to another. These differences may be affected by hormone levels, too. Arousal and duration of stimulation make a difference as well -- other things being equal, a more aroused man will probably produce more pre-ejaculate, which of course prepares the urethra for ejaculation, altering the ph and so forth. Finally, if the last ejaculation was pretty recent, there may well be less pre-cum. As for "shooters" versus "dribblers": Several factors also influence intensity of ejaculation. Muscle tone makes a difference -- both the pubococcygeal muscles and the smooth muscle within the urethra can affect how far or hard you shoot. Age often brings changes in this muscle tone, perhaps influenced by hormonal changes as well as altered function: often men have less sex as they age, and using a muscle less may affect its tone. Finally, this is affected by the actual size of the urethra and especially of the urethral meatus, or opening. A wide meatus will tend to flow or dribble, while a narrow one will tend to spurt. Think of squeezing the end of a hose, making the water shoot out with more pressure behind it. Guys wishing to experiment with their ejaculatory force might want to try squeezing the urethral opening partly shut when masturbating to ejaculation. Thanks for all your questions! I love it when people start thinking about the erotic functions of parts of their bodies they can't even see. The body's such an excellent toy, it's really worthwhile to figure out how it works.
I was wondering if plastic was ever used to manufacture dildos. If so, during what time period were plastic dildos most prevalent (60s, 70s, 80s)? Are they still being made? --Jackie Dear Jackie, Actually, most dildos are made of plastic, if you use the most general definition of the term: jelly rubber, cyberskin, hot-melt vinyl, and even silicone, the most common materials for dildo manufacturing, are all types of plastic. But I think you're talking about a specific type. They heyday of the plastic dildo was probably the 70s -- you were more likely to find cheap, soft, often hollow plastic devices, though there were also a lot of hard plastic toys being made. Hard plastic is mostly used for vibrators, and is still a common material. The soft plastic of the era was mostly that scary "flesh" color that doesn't even match caucasian skin tones, much less anyone else's, and the toys were usually made to look realistic, but in a pretty surreal and "never- mistake-it-for-a-penis-in-a-zillion-years" kind of way. You can still find dildos like this at some sex shops, usually the "adult bookstore"-type of shop, but they are not as common now because other materials are considered better. However, I treasure my antique plastic Virgin Mary dildo, which was made in Mexico, probably in the 60s. She's naked under her robe, and no company today produces anything like it. |
