h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Why Do Men Wake Up With Erections? - Nocturnal Penile Tumescence - A1282303
Author: Anonymous - U243835

Don't giggle.

I think this may do well! Up... er... OUT-standing effort!

spiff

This could be a bit tricky though. The inhouse Editors prefer not to edit entries that could be offensive

I don't consider it offensive. Not even yikesable.
But the BBC is very careful

Hmmm.

Nice effort, by the way

Enjoyed this one.

Q: What's the difference between 'light' and 'hard'?
A: You can go to sleep with a light on.

But, apparently, you can *stay* asleep with a....

FM
Scout

Thank you all.

I've heard that the tumescence occurs at the same time as Rapid Eye Movement (REM). REM is normally considered to be associated with dreams. This would be evidence in favour of the Sexual Dreams theory, although not conclusive.

It's worth mentioning that the same effect occurs in women.

Women wake up with erections?


spiff

Yes.

Erect whats? Nips? Nah... must be the reputedly difficult-to-put-your-finger-on bit! .

Well i never.
spiff

How do they know that *all* men have erections during their sleep? What sort of testing has been done? As far as I am aware, other male animals don't have this feature.

Like Anonymous says in the article, it's common for doctors to run tests on men with erectile dysfunction to check if they get wood in their sleep. Typically this involves putting something like masking tape around in a band ... if it has broken in the morning, that indicates there is no physiologocal problem as the man's penis must have expanded at some point. This test woodn't work if erections weren't common in sleep, so I guess it must be a medically accepted idea.

"this involves putting something like masking tape around in a band ... if it has broken in the morning"

They say everything can be fixed using duct tape.

I would assume the female equivalent would be an erect clitoris. It would be a considerably less noticeable condition, I presume.

I do remember an experiment where females were shown erotic pictures and were measures to their physical response. Interestingly, some who said they were not affected by the photos, actually were when they were measured, so it showed that they had suppressed the pleasurable feelings that usually go with such a response.

A bit off-topic, but it shows that female sexual response 'can' be measured. I admit to not being able to remember how it was done, except that it involved the use of a probe.

It's interesting that women supressed their sexual feelings in that experiment. I guess because women don't have penises making it obvious, they don't admit to sexual urges as much as men do. Then of course, historically, a woman admitting to feeling horny ended up with the dangers of pregnancy and giving birth, so perhaps it's self-preservation race memory thing.

I hope this gets into the guide: it's an interesting topic and one that H2G2 should be grown up enough to include in its entries.


F/b

One spelling mistake-

pshycological ==> psychological

ZFS- female arousal is measured by studying blood-flow to the vagina.

F/b,

Yes it could well be that.

Kerr,

Oh, was that how they did it? It was a longish time ago, and I couldn't remember.

I had the feeling that it was allied to experiments where subjects (both male and female) had cameras attached to their heads which showed where their focus was. Men tended to focus on breasts and eyes, followed by legs and hips, women focussed almost exclusively on eyes and crotch.

I can remember being impressed by the differences.

They had these cameras attached while they looked at dirty photos? Or they had them attached while they walked around, having a typical day?

Whichever of those 2 options you go for, it doesn't make any sense to me.

Your eyes don't *only* look where your head points. And when it comes to furtive glances bosom/eye/crotch-wards... it is almost instictive to (at least try) to be discrete about it.

ie the eyes do most of the moving, not the head.

no?

As to women not 'reacting' to stimuli... could it also be that men react more to visual stimuli? So that whilst given a bit of porn, most men (if they are not fighting against 'getting into the spirit', ) will show 'evidence of excitement'... , women may need a more intimate situation, or at least a more 'interior' excitement?

make any sense?
spiff