Exploring myths and misconceptions surrounding penises and scrotums!
Hello!
If you’ve been following this channel for awhile, you might know that last year I did a video on misconceptions surrounding the hymen, things people tend to get wrong about vulvas and virginity. Today I want to do another misconceptions video, but this one is all about penises and scrotums.
Let’s start with a topic that lots of people of all sexes tend to be confused about: blue balls. Is it really a thing? Are people with testicles just trying to guilt people into having sex with them? Yes and yes.
“Blue balls” are a genuine issue. The medical term for the phenomenon is epididymal hypertension. When arousal occurs, blood rushes to the penis and scrotum and causes them to become engorged. That’s completely fine and healthy, but problems can start to occur when that arousal builds over an extended period of time without the release of orgasm. That buildup of blood, called vasocongestion, can over time lead to pressure, discomfort, or pain. How much discomfort or pain seems to vary significantly from person to person, but in general, it’s not fun.
It is, however, almost always easily alleviated. Ejaculation is the answer, and that can be achieved in a whole bunch of ways. Sex is one of them. Masturbation is another.
Ejaculation is another phenomenon that people sometimes have confusing misconceptions about. Particularly when it comes to volume. So many people are self-conscious or confused about the amount of semen they or their partner release, expecting buckets of the stuff to go shooting across the room and getting a few small spurts instead.
I blame this misconception entirely on people’s tendency to use porn as sex education instead of just entertainment. Fake semen in mainstream porn is almost as ubiquitous as fake blood in horror films. You can purchase it by the gallon or find thousands of recipes online. Pump it through a tube, use some clever camera angles, and bam, the classic and completely unrealistic porn cumshot.
In real life, ejaculation tends to yield about a teaspoon of semen. But that teaspoon can carry 200 to 500 MILLION sperm.
Let’s talk about broken boners. How does that shit work? Do you get, like, a penis cast or what? Not exactly. The penis can’t “break” like a regular bone because it isn’t a bone. What actually happens when you hear about penile fractures is a rupturing of the fibers that surround the tubes of erectile tissue in the penis. Though it can also include injury to the urethra, dorsal nerves, arteries, and veins.
Penile fractures are pretty uncommon but can occur through misaligned sex or really aggressive masturbation. Symptoms include a popping or cracking sound, immediate loss of erection, tons of swelling and bruising, and (of course) pain. It’s not something that happens without you noticing, and anyone who experiences this should head in for surgery as soon as possible to minimize the risk of permanent deformity or erectile dysfunction.
Speaking of surgery… When discussing circumcision, a lot of people, particularly in the United States, imagine it as the removal of a small amount of skin from the penis. This makes sense because on babies, the portion of the population most commonly circumcised, it is a very small amount of skin. But by adulthood, that small amount of skin ends up being about 15 square inches of erogenous tissue missing.
Finally, if you’ve spent any amount of time at all on the internet you’ve probably seen about a million ads for penis enlarging products. Pumps, pills, patches, creams, gels, sprays. There is no shortage of companies out there preying on people’s dick size insecurity. Do any of these things actually work?
Science, thus far, has given us a pretty unanimous no. In fact, there’s actually more evidence that many of these methods can actually be dangerous. The pills and topical treatments are largely unregulated and aren’t required to prove safety or effectiveness at all, and using a pump too often or for too long can damage penis tissue. Surgery is the only confirmed method of permanent penis enlargement, and even that has a multitude of risks and isn’t recommended for cosmetic purposes.
But that’s okay! Multiple studies have shown that the vast majority of people with anxiety about having a small penis are actually average-sized.
What are some other misconceptions you hear about penises and related anatomy? Let’s discuss it in the comments!
In other news, I recently put up a new blog post of mini-reviews for some sex toys that I either bought or won but don’t have time to review here on YouTube. I’ll link that for those of you who don’t follow my blog.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!
