In a 1994 study in the United States, almost all married heterosexual women reported having sexual contact only with their husbands, and unmarried women almost always reported having no more than one sexual partner in the past three months.  Lesbians  who had a long-term partner reported having fewer outside partners than heterosexual women. [ 62 ]  More recent research, however, contradicts the assertion that heterosexual women are largely  monogamous . A 2002 study estimated that 45% to 55% of married heterosexual women engage in sexual relationships outside their marriage. [ 63 ]  While the estimates for heterosexual males in the same study were greater (50–60%), the data indicates that a significant portion of married heterosexual women have or have had sexual partners other than their spouse as well. [ 63 ]


One international study found women to be more variable than men in their sex drive. [ 2 ]  International measurements of promiscuity are inconsistent from study to study, varying by the methodology used. Due to practical reason—the inability to survey a country's entire population—all studies of this class are  inductive , generalizing about the general population based on assessments of sample groups supposed to be representative of the larger population being studied.


For example, in a non-scientific study conducted by the condom-making company  Durex , British women reported fewer partners than British men, while the only country where women reported more sex partners than men did was  New Zealand  (20.4 versus 16.8), which was also the country where women reported more sex partners than did women from all other countries surveyed. [ 64 ]  To further complicate matters, a well-known study in general sociosexuality that surveyed 14,059 people across 48 countries, placed New Zealand, which came right before  Slovenia , second to  Finland ; the  United States , in the unisex scores of the same study, came in 22nd. [ 65 ]


Sexual relations with multiple males are termed  polyandry . It has a more specific meaning in zoology, where it refers to a type of  mating system , and in anthropology, where it refers to a type of  marriage . Sexual relations with multiple females are termed  polygyny , but in zoology it can only be applied to heterosexual relations.  Polyamory  is sometimes defined as  non-monogamy  with consent of all parties involved, if within or without  committed relationships . Attitudinal differences concerning sex outside committed relationships are referred to under the term  sociosexual orientation  or simply  sociosexuality .


Since at least 1450, the word  slut  has been used, often pejoratively, to describe a sexually promiscuous woman. [ 66 ]  In and before the  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean eras , terms like "strumpet" and "whore" were used to describe women deemed promiscuous, as seen for example in  John Webster 's 1612 play  The White Devil .


Discrimination targeting individuals, specifically women, for sexual behavior deemed excessive, has been referred to, since at least spring of 2010, with the  neologism   slut shaming  (also hyphenated, as  slut-shaming ). [ 45 ] [ 46 ]


Cuckold  fetish  is colloquial for a  paraphilia  in which sexual gratification is gained from maintenance or observation of sexual relations by a woman with a man or a number of men besides her husband, boyfriend or long-term male sex partner.


The popular slang  cougar  refers to a woman who seeks sexual relations with considerably younger men.


The term  fallen woman  was used to describe a woman who has "lost her innocence", and fallen from the grace of God. In  Victorian  Britain especially, the meaning came to be closely associated with the "loss or surrender of a woman's chastity". Its use was an expression of the belief that to be socially and morally acceptable a women's sexuality and experience should be entirely restricted to marriage, and that she should also be under the supervision and care of an authoritative man.


Food and sexuality  have been associated in various ways throughout history. Foods such as  chocolate  and  oysters  are said to be  aphrodisiacs . [ 1 ] [ 2 ]  In some  cultures  animal  testicles  and other items are consumed to increase sexual potency. [ 3 ]  Food items also provide  symbolism , such as the  biblical  " forbidden fruit " or the  cherry  with its associations related to  virginity . Food items are also used metaphorically in  slang  sexual  terminology  and  poetry . Some foods are considered sensual for their appearance, texture and taste.  Whipped cream , melted chocolate,  jam , miso, cake batter, pies, and  peanut butter  are sometimes used for intimate titillation in an act known as  sploshing . The relationship between food and sex has also been explored in books and  cinema .


The connection between food and sexuality has been explored in various art works. A 1998 art show,  Reflect , an exhibition of works by  Monali Meher  explored connections and themes including  voyeurism ,  stereotypes ,  consumerism ,  freedom  and  advertising . [ 4 ]  A display of food and sex related artworks from 19th- and 20th-century American artists was one of 16 concept groupings at a  New York Historical Society  show in 1991. [ 5 ]


Tasting food, tasting freedom  by Sidney Wilfred Mintz includes essays taking "an anthropological view of food, including its relationship to power, freedom, and purity." [ 6 ]   Food and Sex  is also a chapter in  Breaking the food seduction  by Neal D. Barnard, Joanne Stepaniak. [ 7 ]  and a topic discussed in  Women's conflicts about eating and sexuality  by Rosalyn M. Meadow and Lillie Weiss. [ 8 ]


Although some foods do qualify as aphrodisiacs, and chocolate has been thought to be an aphrodisiac for many years, there is some controversy surrounding whether it truly is an aphrodisiac. A study conducted by Salonia et al. (2006) [ 9 ]  evaluated the sexual function of women who reported that they ate chocolate daily, and women who reported they did not eat chocolate. The study concluded that once scores were adjusted for age, there were no significant differences in the sexual arousal, satisfaction, desire or distress of those who ate chocolate daily and those who did not. This illustrates that the consumption of chocolate has no effect on sexual function. Likewise, Shamloul (2010) [ 10 ]  concluded that there is little scientific evidence suggesting that natural aphrodisiacs are an effective method of enhancing sexual desire or performance, nor are they an effective treatment of sexual dysfunction.
On the contrary, some studies suggest that chocolate is an aphrodisiac and claim that its chemical components such as phenylethylamine, causes an increase in pleasure and sexual drive and N-acylethanolamines, causes an increase in sensitivity and euphoria (Afoakwa, E. 2008). [ 11 ]  Other studies suggest it is the flavinoids and serotonin found in chocolate that regulate vasoconstriction and dilation and increase female genital functioning, and thus sexual functioning (Shamloul, 2010). [ 12 ]
Due to these conflicting views, and the lack of scientific evidence currently available, it is clear that firm conclusions cannot be drawn on whether chocolate is an aphrodisiac.


The movies  Tampopo ,  9½ Weeks ,  Chocolat ,  Like Water for Chocolate ,  Eat Drink Man Woman , and  Babette's Feast  are among those exploring the relationship. The film  Tom Jones  contains a notable eating scene.


Songs that feature metaphors of food for sex include " Les sucettes " (1966), " Le Banana Split " (1979), " Peaches & Cream " (2001) and " Lollipop " (2008). The cover of the  Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass  1965 album  Whipped Cream and Other Delights  famously features a woman covered in whipped cream.


In the movie  American Pie , a young adult engages in simulated intercourse with a pie. [ 13 ]   Carl's Junior  advertisements have featured a scantily clad  Paris Hilton  rapturously eating one of the company's burger offerings. [ 14 ]


Some foods are symbolic or act as metaphors for body parts involved in sexual relations. Common examples include  eggplant ,  bananas ,  zucchini  and  cucumbers  as  phallic  symbols, and  peaches  as vaginal symbols.  Melons  have a similar use and are sometimes used as stand-ins for breasts, as in the first  Austin Powers  movie, where they are used to cover up  Elizabeth Hurley 's  chest . [ 15 ]


A  groupie  is a fan of a particular  musical group  who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is used mostly describing young women, and sometimes men, who follow these individuals aiming to gain fame of their own, or help with behind-the-scenes work, or to initiate a relationship of some kind, intimate or otherwise. The term is also used to describe similarly enthusiastic fans of  athletes , writers, and other  public figures .


The word  groupie  originated around 1965 to describe teen-aged girls or young women who began following a particular group or band of musicians on a regular basis. The phenomenon was much older;  Mary McCarthy  had earlier described it in her novel  The Company She Keeps  (1942). [ 1 ]  Some sources have attributed the coining of the word to  The Rolling Stones  bassist  Bill Wyman  during the group's 1965 Australian tour; [ 2 ]  but Wyman said he and his bandmates used other "code words" for women on tour. [ 3 ]


A prominent explanation of the  groupie  concept came from  Rolling Stone  magazine, which published an issue devoted to the topic,  Groupies: The Girls of Rock  (February 1969), which emphasized the sexual behavior of rock musicians and groupies. [ 4 ]   Time  magazine published an article, "Manners And Morals: The Groupies", later that month. Also that year, journalists Jenny Fabian and  Johnny Byrne  released a largely autobiographical novel called  Groupie  (1969). The following year, a documentary film titled  Groupies  (1970) was released.


Female groupies in particular have a long-standing reputation of being available to celebrities, pop stars, rock stars, and other public figures.  Led Zeppelin  singer  Robert Plant  is quoted as distinguishing between fans who wanted  brief sexual encounters , and "groupies" who traveled with musicians for extended periods of time, acting as a surrogate girlfriend, and often taking care of the musician's wardrobe and social life. [ 5 ]  Women who adopt this role are sometimes referred to as " road wives ".  Cynthia Plaster Caster ,  Cleo Odzer ,  Barbara Cope  (The Butter Queen) and  The GTOs  (Girls Together Outrageously), with  Pamela Des Barres , in particular, as de facto spokeswoman, are probably the best-known groupies of this type.


A characteristic that may classify one as a groupie is a reputation for promiscuity.  Connie Hamzy , also known as "Sweet Connie", a prominent groupie in the 1960s, argues in favor of the groupie movement and defends her chosen lifestyle by saying, "Look, we're not hookers, we loved the glamour". However, her openness regarding her sexual endeavors with various rock stars is exactly what has enhanced the negative connotations surrounding her type. For example, she stated in the  Los Angeles Times  article "Pop & Hiss" (December 15, 2010): "Hamzy, unlike the other groupies, was never looking to build relationships. She was after sex, and she unabashedly shared intimate moments with virtually every rock star—even their roadies—who came through Arkansas." [ 6 ]  However, some groupies also downplayed the sexual connotations of the term. Speaking about the "groupie" label, former baby groupie  Lori Mattix  stated, "I feel like it's been degraded somewhere along the way, and it was never meant to be negative. Groupies in the old days were girlfriends of the band. They were classy and sophisticated, but now you hear the word groupie and you think of hookers and strippers." [ 7 ]


Des Barres, who wrote two books detailing her experiences as a groupie— I'm with the Band  (1987) [ 8 ]  and  Take Another Little Piece of My Heart: A Groupie Grows Up  (1993) [ 9 ] —as well as another non-fiction book,  Rock Bottom: Dark Moments in Music Babylon , asserts that a groupie is to a rock band as  Mary Magdalene  was to  Jesus . [ 10 ]  Her most recent book,  Let's Spend the Night Together  (2007), is a collection of wildly varied interviews with classic "old school" groupies including Catherine James,  Connie Hamzy ,  Cherry Vanilla , DeeDee Keel, and  Margaret Moser . Des Barres described Keel as: "One of the most intimidating dolls ... a slim strawberry blonde who won the highly prized job of  Whisky  office manager after her predecessor  Gail Sloatman  met Frank Zappa and became what we all wanted to be." Keel was one of the few who has stayed connected in Hollywood and with bands for nearly four decades. Des Barres, who married rock singer/actor  Michael Des Barres , also persuaded cult actress  Tura Satana , singer and model  Bebe Buell , actress  Patti D'Arbanville , and  Cassandra Peterson , better known as "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark", to talk about their relationships with musicians.


Also according to Des Barres' book, there is at least one male groupie, Pleather, who followed female celebrities such as  Courtney Love  and members of the 1980s pop group  The Pandoras . [ 7 ]


The "groupie" label, as it was used in the music scene, has been criticized by some feminist scholars for diminishing the role that women played in supporting and creating music. Norma Coates, a scholar of media and cultural studies, notes that  Rolling Stone 's 1969 special report on groupies also included profiles of women who were not groupies at all but rather musicians in their own right. [ 11 ]  According to model and groupie Bebe Buell, groupies sometimes became music celebrities in their own right. Speaking about "baby" groupies  Sable Starr  and Lori Mattix, she stated, "Every rock star that came to L.A. wanted to meet them, it wasn't the other way around." [ 12 ]  Music critic  Ralph J. Gleason  noted that as the prominence of the most well-known groupies increased, they became the "people that others looked to when determining whether a band was 'cool.' [ 13 ]


During the  Mercury ,  Gemini , and  Apollo  American space programs in the 1960s, women would hang around the hotels of  Clear Lake  in Houston, home to many astronauts, and  Cocoa Beach  in Florida near the rocket launching site at Cape Canaveral, "collecting" astronauts. Joan Roosa, wife of  Apollo 14  Command Module Pilot  Stu Roosa , recalled: "I was at a party one night in Houston. A woman standing behind me, who had no idea who I was, said 'I've slept with every  astronaut who has been to the Moon .' ... I said 'Pardon me, but I don't think so'." [ 14 ]


Groupies also play a role in sports. A  puck bunny  is an  ice hockey   fan  whose interest in the sport is primarily motivated by  sexual attraction  to the players rather than enjoyment of the game itself. [ 15 ]   Primarily a Canadian term, it gained popular currency in the 21st century, and in 2004 was added to the second edition of the  Canadian Oxford Dictionary  which defines it as follows: [ 16 ]


Puck bunny : a young female hockey fan, especially one motivated more by a desire to meet the players than by an interest in hockey. [ 17 ]


The term is somewhat analogous to the term "groupie" as it relates to  rock and roll  musicians. Sociological studies of the phenomenon in minor league hockey indicate that self-proclaimed "puck bunnies" are  " 'proud as punch' to have sex with the [players]", as it confers social status on them. However, these transitory relationships are often contrasted with those of  girlfriends , with whom players have more stable, long-term relationships. [ 18 ]


"Buckle bunnies" are a well-known part of the world of  rodeo . [ 19 ]  The term comes from a slang term for women ("bunnies"), and from the prize  belt buckles  awarded to the winners in rodeo, which are highly sought by the bunnies. [ 20 ]  According to one report, bunnies "usually do not expect anything more than sex from the rodeo participants and vice versa". [ 19 ]


In a 1994  Spin  magazine feature,  Elizabeth Gilbert  characterized buckle bunnies as an essential element of the rodeo scene, and described a particularly dedicated group of bunnies who are known on the rodeo circuit for their supportive attitude and generosity, going beyond sex, to "some fascination with providing the most macho group of guys on Earth with the only brand of nurturing they will accept". [ 21 ]


Recently, in Irish sport, particularly in  Gaelic Athletic Association  sports the term "Jersey Puller" or "Jersey Tugger" has been used to describe females who are romantically interested in players. [ 22 ]  The term refers to the pulling of a player's top. The term can range from who look to be romantically linked with senior intercounty players to local players playing for their parish. [ citation needed ]


Human sexuality  and  the Holocaust  is a topic explored in  witness testimony , fiction, and academic research. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ]


This article related to  Nazi Germany  is a  stub . You can help Wikipedia by  expanding it .


Human sexuality  is the way people experience and express themselves  sexually . This involves  biological ,  psychological ,  physical ,  erotic ,  emotional ,  social , or  spiritual  feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied with historical contexts over time, it lacks a precise definition. The biological and physical aspects of sexuality largely concern the  human reproductive functions , including the  human sexual response cycle .


Someone's  sexual orientation  is their pattern of sexual interest in the opposite and/or same sex. Physical and emotional aspects of sexuality include bonds between individuals that are expressed through profound feelings or physical manifestations of  love , trust, and care. Social aspects deal with the effects of human society on one's sexuality, while spirituality concerns an individual's spiritual connection with others. Sexuality also affects and is affected by cultural, political, legal, philosophical,  moral ,  ethical , and religious aspects of life.


Interest in sexual activity normally increases when an individual reaches  puberty . Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, there is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males. Hypothesized social causes are supported by only weak evidence, distorted by numerous confounding factors. This is further supported by cross-cultural evidence because cultures that are tolerant of  homosexuality  do not have significantly higher rates of it.


Evolutionary perspectives on human coupling, reproduction and  reproduction strategies , and  social learning theory  provide further views of sexuality. Sociocultural aspects of sexuality include  historical developments  and  religious beliefs . Some cultures have been described as  sexually repressive . The study of sexuality also includes human identity within social groups,  sexually transmitted infections  (STIs), and  birth control  methods. ( Full article... )


Pedophilia  or  paedophilia  is a  psychiatric disorder  in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive  sexual attraction  to prepubescent children, generally age 11 years or younger. As a medical  diagnosis , specific criteria for the disorder extends the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. A person who is diagnosed with pedophilia must be at least 16 years of age, but adolescents who are 16 years of age or older must be at least five years older than the prepubescent child before the attraction can be diagnosed as pedophilia.


Pedophilia has a range of definitions, as found in  psychiatry ,  psychology , the vernacular, and  law enforcement . The  International Classification of Diseases  (ICD) defines it as a "disorder of adult personality and behaviour" in which there is a sexual preference for children of prepubertal or early  pubertal  age. It is termed  pedophilic disorder  in the  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders  ( DSM-5 ), and the manual defines it as a  paraphilia  in which adults or adolescents 16 years of age or older have intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and  fantasies  about prepubescent children that they have either acted on or which cause them distress or  interpersonal  difficulty. ( Full article... )


•  ... that because of an effort to curb the spread of  STDs ,  prostitution in Germany  has been legal since the  1920s ?  (German prostitute pictured)
 •  ... that some people in the  BDSM   community  are  sexually aroused  by being  gagged ?  (ball gag pictured)
 •  ... that a  strap-on dildo   (pictured)  may be used by  heterosexual  couples for the sexual practice of  pegging ?
 •  ... that the  Exotic World Burlesque Museum  is located on the site of an abandoned  goat   farm ?
 •  ... that the story of  Sada Abe   (pictured) , a woman who cut off her dead lover's  genitals  and carried them around with her for days, is one of  Japan 's most notorious  scandals ?


For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Human sexuality-related articles, see  WikiProject Sexology and sexuality .


The following  Wikimedia Foundation  sister projects provide more on this subject:


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The  Klein Sexual Orientation Grid  ( KSOG ) developed by  Fritz Klein  attempts to measure  sexual orientation  by expanding upon the earlier  Kinsey scale . Fritz Klein founded the  American Institute of Bisexuality  in 1998 which is continuing his work by sponsoring  bisexual -inclusive sex research, educating the general public on sexuality, and promoting the  bisexual community .


Klein first described the KSOG in his 1978 book  The Bisexual Option . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]  In response to the criticism of the  Kinsey scale  only measuring two dimensions of sexual orientation, Klein developed a multidimensional grid for describing sexual orientation. Unlike the Kinsey scale, the Klein grid investigates sexual orientation in the past, the present and in the idealized future with respect to seven factors each, for a total of twenty-one values. The KSOG uses values of 1–7, rather than the 0–6 scale of the Kinsey scale, to describe  a continuum  from exclusively  opposite-sex  to exclusively  same-sex attraction . [ 5 ]


The KSOG is often used as a tool in research. [ 6 ] [ 7 ]  Introduced in Klein's book  The Bisexual Option  the KSOG uses a seven-point scale to assess seven different dimensions of sexuality at three different points in an individual's life: past (from early adolescence up to one year ago), present (within the last 12 months), and ideal (what would be chosen if it were voluntary). [ 8 ]


Studies using the KSOG have used  cluster analysis  to investigate patterns within the KSOG's twenty-one parameters, in one case suggesting a five-label (straight, bi-straight, bi-bi, bi-gay, gay) model of orientation. [ 9 ] [ 10 ]


The KSOG has also been used in studies of  conversion therapy . [ 11 ]


Klein, while recognizing that the grid explores many more dimensions of sexual orientation than previous scales, acknowledged that it omits the following "aspects" of sexual orientation: [ 12 ]


Additionally, factors not addressed by Klein include:


While Klein held the belief that including more dimensions of sexual orientation was better, Weinrich et al. (1993) found that all of the dimensions of the KSOG seemed to be measuring the same construct. [ 13 ]  The study conducted a  factor analysis  of the KSOG to see how many factors emerged in two different samples. In both groups, the first factor to emerge loaded substantially on all of the grid's 21 items, indicating that this factor accounted for a majority of the variance. They further found that a second factor emerged containing time dimensions of social and emotional preferences, suggesting that those dimensions may have also been measuring something other than sexual orientation. Therefore, despite the scale being helpful in promoting the concept of sexual orientation as being multidimensional and dynamic, the additional dimensions measured do not necessarily reveal any more of an accurate description of one's overall sexual orientation than the Kinsey scale.


Another concern with the KSOG is that different dimensions of sexual orientation may not identify all people of a certain orientation in the same way. Measures of  sexual attraction , sexual activity, and  sexual identity  identify different (though often overlapping) populations. Laumann et al. (1994) found that of the 8.6% of women reporting some same gender sexuality, 88% reported same gender sexual attraction, 41% reported some same gender sexual behaviour and 16% reported a lesbian or gay identity. [ 14 ]


A  love-in  is a peaceful public gathering focused on  meditation ,  love ,  music ,  sex  and/or use of  recreational drugs . The term was coined by Los Angeles radio comedian  Peter Bergman , creator of comedy group  The Firesign Theater , who also hosted the first such event on  Easter , 26 March 1967 in  Elysian Park . [ 1 ]


The term  love-in  has been interpreted in varying manners, but is often connected to  protesting  local, social or  environmental  issues. [ 2 ] [ 3 ]  Such protests were often held in opposition to the  Vietnam War . [ 4 ]  As such, love-ins are largely considered a staple of the 1960s  hippie   counterculture .


More recently the term is occasionally used figuratively to describe a situation in which people shower praise on one another in excess. [ 5 ]


The First  Love-in  was preceded by the  Heavenly Happening , at midnight, on November 16, 1966, on the  Sheep Meadow  in  Central Park , organized by  New York Parks Commissioner ,  Thomas Hoving . [ 6 ]


The  Human Be-In  at the  Polo Fields  in  San Francisco 's  Golden Gate Park  on January 14, 1967. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ]


The First  Love-in  started before dawn. [ 10 ]  The  Los Angeles Free Press  promoted the event. [ 10 ]  15,000 people [ 11 ]  crowded in a natural amphitheater in Elysian Park, and listened to the  psychedelic rock  bands  Strawberry Alarm Clock ,  The Peanut Butter Conspiracy ,  Clear Light , and the  Flamin' Groovies . [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ]


The New York Easter 1967 [ 15 ] [ 16 ]  be-in was organized by  Jim Fouratt , an actor; Paul Williams, editor of  Crawdaddy!  magazine; Susan Hartnett, head of the  Experiments in Art and Technology  organization; and Chilean poet and playwright Claudio Badal. [ 17 ]


Founded in 1967 at Harvard Square by J. Robert “Bob” Gordon, it recurred for nearly eight years, until 1975. [ 18 ] [ 19 ]


This  culture -related article is a  stub . You can help Wikipedia by  expanding it .


Makeup sex  is an informal term for  sexual intercourse  which may be experienced after conflict in an intimate personal relationship. These conflicts may range from minor arguments to major arguments. Sex under these circumstances may be more gratifying and invested with additional  emotional  significance. It is sometimes conceived as a physical expression of reconciliation and rediscovery of one's partner following the  cathartic  experience of a fight and may resolve underlying conflicts. [ 1 ]


Makeup sex has been attributed to increased sexual desires stemming from romantic conflict. [ 1 ]  After conflict during a relationship, arousal transfer may occur which shifts anger into arousal. [ 2 ]  Experts disagree on the outlook of makeup sex, some believe makeup sex is unhealthy as it rewards "fighting, drama, and generally bad behavior". Sexologist and television personality Jessica O'Reilly describes makeup sex as positive, settling conflicts that can only be resolved through sex. [ 3 ]  Makeup sex may be more intense, as it may assist in releasing underlying emotions. [ 4 ]


Additionally, makeup sex can be used as a form of manipulation in PUA ( Pickup Artist ) tactics. Some people may believe that resolving any conflict through initiating sex will appease their partners. Over time, this can lead to being easily controlled or manipulated by their partners. [ 5 ]


In the nineteenth and early twentieth century,  hysteria  was a common  psychiatric   diagnosis  made  primarily in women . The existence and nature of a purported  male hysteria  ( hysteria masculina [ 1 ] )  was a debated topic around the turn of the century. It was originally believed that men could not suffer from hysteria because of their lack of uterus. [ 2 ]   This belief was discarded in the 17th century when discourse identified the brain or mind, and not reproductive organs, as the root cause of hysteria. [ 3 ]  During  World War I , hysterical men were diagnosed with  shell shock  or  war neurosis , which later went on to shape modern theories on  PTSD . The notion of male hysteria was initially connected to the  post-traumatic  disorder known as  railway spine ; later, it became associated with  war neurosis .


In the second half of the nineteenth century, hysteria was well-established as a diagnosis for certain psychiatric disorders. Although the original anatomical explanation of hysteria, the so-called  wandering womb , was by this point abandoned, the diagnoses remained associated with (gender stereotypes of) females and  female sexuality  in the minds of physicians. [ 4 ] : 24   Hysteria was joined in 1866 by a diagnosis for a very similar set of symptoms:  railway spine , a nervous disorder caused by witnessing the accidents that the dangerous  railways  of the time generated in large numbers.  John Eric Erichsen , who first diagnosed railway spine, explicitly rejected the hysteria diagnosis for his patients, arguing that diagnosing men with hysteria was unreasonable, "this term [being] employed merely to cloak a want of precise knowledge as to the real pathological state". [ 4 ] : 25   Herbert Page, by contrast, argued for the hysteria label, finding what Erichsen called railway spine a  functional disorder  that was too similar to hysteria to warrant a separate diagnosis. [ 5 ] : 438


The situation gradually began to change: in 1859,  Paul Briquet  remarked that "we saw little hysteria in men because we did not want to see it", [ 6 ] : 193   and between 1875 and 1902, some three hundred medical articles were devoted to the topic of male hysteria, as well as dozens of dissertations. [ 6 ] : 180


Statistical work in the 1880s finally turned the conception of hysteria on its head. In 1882,  Jean-Martin Charcot  had made a "radical" move by citing Briquet's estimate of hysteria having a 1:20 ratio of incidence in males compared to females, [ 6 ] : 183   and added a section for male sufferers of hysteria to his Paris hospital, the  Salpetrière . [ 4 ] : 25
A subsequent German study came up with a 1:10 ratio,  Georges Gilles de la Tourette  then published a 1:2 or 1:3 estimate, and finally Charcot and his student  Pierre Marie  did a study of 704 cases of patients displaying symptoms of hysteria, finding that 525 of them were males. [ 6 ] : 183   Before long, the French army became interested in the diagnosis and the nervous condition of its soldiers. Despite the notion of hysterical soldiers clashing with nationalist and  revanchist  ideas of the time, diagnoses of hysteria were soon made by military medical personnel. [ 6 ] : 186   Male "traumatic hysteria", as defined by Charcot, was a distinct disease from female hysteria in that it was linked to  traumatic shock  rather than sexuality or emotional distress, so the gendered stereotyping was still at work to an extent in Charcot's thinking. [ 4 ] : 26–27   This new category subsumed what British and American physicians had understood as railway spine. [ 5 ] : 439


From Paris, Charcot's theories traveled east, carried by visitors to Charcot's hospital: the Germans  Max Nonne  and  Hermann Oppenheim , and the Austrian  Sigmund Freud . Nonne was originally skeptical, but ultimately became a proponent of the male hysteria diagnosis when dealing with the  neurotics  produced by the  First World War . Oppenheim, on the other hand, was critical of Charcot's theories and sought to distinguish "traumatic hysteria" from "traumatic neurosis"; [ 4 ] : 29   he and his colleague Thomsen found that the symptoms in their cases of railway spine were different enough from what was regarded as the symptoms of hysteria, at least in severity. [ 5 ] : 438


Freud, in 1886, gave a paper about the topic of male hysteria to the  Imperial Society of Physicians  in Vienna. [ 5 ] : 437   By this point, the incidence of "classical" hysteria in males was accepted by Freud's audience, but Charcot's traumatic variant was still controversial and evoked discussion among the present medical doctors. [ 5 ] : 438–440   In later works, Freud would reject Charcot's distinction between the two types of hysteria, arguing that trauma is the cause of hysteria in both men and women, though he broadened the definition of trauma to include  repressed memories  of sexual experiences, and believed that recalling traumatic memories could cure hysteria. [ 7 ] : 315   Freud even diagnosed himself and his brother with hysteria, but eventually dropped his own efforts and reverted to a theory of hysteria as a condition of the female body. [ 8 ] : 173   His followers similarly would exhibit a gendered view of hysteria, associating it with  latent homosexuality  and the  Oedipus complex . [ 7 ] : 324


In Britain, Charcot's theories took on a different guise when it was suggested that hysteria in men was a disease of the "Latin races", to which Anglo-Saxon men were virtually immune. In Germany, too, a majority of the medical profession rejected Charcot's ideas, and medical journals circulated papers that labeled French men as more prone to hysteria than Teutons – "which, in the context of the time, meant that they were weaker, less virile, and more susceptible to degeneration". [ 6 ] : 201   An 1889 case study of hysteria in a German soldier gave the French doctors the ammunition they needed for a counterattack. [ 6 ] : 203   Aside from French and Germans,  indigenous  inhabitants of various remote regions, colonial populations, Jews and (retroactively) pre- Civil War   American slaves  were charged with high incidence rates of hysteria by European and white American doctors and  anthropologists . [ 6 ] : 205–207


Toward the end of the century, female hysteria became increasingly an anti- suffragist  label in the popular press and came under attack from rising  feminism , while the wars of the early twentieth century brought new attention to the male variant. The  Boer War  and the  Russo-Japanese War  produced hysterical symptoms in veterans in large enough numbers that in 1907 the label "war neurosis" was introduced to describe their specific condition. For the disorders seen in World War I veterans, additional terms such as  shell-shock  (coined by  Charles Samuel Myers ), and (in France)  pthiatiques  and  simulateurs  were invented to prevent labeling soldiers with the "feminizing" label of hysteria. [ 7 ] : 320–2   Charcot's earlier work, meanwhile, was ignored, and shell-shock sufferers were regarded by their physicians as displaying the symptoms of "womanish,  homosexual  or childish impulses". [ 7 ] : 324


Shell shock or war neurosis are forms of hysteria that manifested in soldiers during war time, especially World War I.  Symptoms that were previously considered somatic were reconsidered in a new light; trembling,  paralysis , nightmares,  mutism  and  apathy  were grouped together in a broad spectrum psychological disorder known as "war neurosis".


By 1916 40% of casualties were in fighting areas were diagnosed with shell shock. As a consequence twenty more military hospitals were established specifically to treat these sufferers. The physical and emotional symptoms of war neurosis varies based on the military rank of the sufferer. However,  sexual impotence  stemming from a sense of powerlessness was common to all. Some of the physical symptoms displayed by low ranking officers were:


The symptoms displaying by ranking officers were more emotional/psychological in comparison to their soldiers:


World War I was the first instance in which a war neurosis and mental trauma was rampant and affected soldiers considerably. This could be attributed to the particular form of fighting –  trench warfare  – which was impersonal and constantly kept the soldier on edge for the next attack. Eric Leed writes that war neurosis was a result of the breakdown of the previously personal relationship of the soldier and his means of fighting. Rivers considered the idea that the traumatized men resorted to neurotic behavior because of a loss of their usual  defense mechanism  – physical hand-to-hand combat. [ 9 ]


It was especially difficult for officers to maintain British ideals of masculinity. They were expected to be perfectly dressed, always motivated, and have a hunger for enemy blood, even though they were just as afraid and disillusioned as their soldiers. [ 10 ]  It does not come as surprise that war neurosis occurred four times more in officers than ordinary soldiers. [ 11 ]  Showalter argues that mental breakdowns of soldiers during the war was a form of protest against pre-conceived notions of Edwardian manliness that demand unifying  patriotism  and stoic lack of emotion. [ 12 ]


Treatment also depended on rank. Soldiers had to undergo disciplinary, quick treatments while officers had the luxury of  psychotherapy .


Charcot was born in 1825 and received his M.D. from the  University of Paris  in 1853. He was appointed as associate professor of medicine in 1860, followed by a position of Head of Hospital Service at Salpêtrière in 1862. [ 13 ]   Charcot published over sixty case reports of hysteria in boys and young men between 1878 and 1893.  He was dedicated to breaking the stereotype that hysteria manifested in wealthy or homosexual men, and insisted that it occurred in manual laborers as well. He was of the belief that the physical signs and symptoms of hysteria were identical in both sexes but claimed that the condition presented itself differently in the minds of men and women. Most noticeable was that he did not attribute sexual factors to the conditions of his male patients. He was thus able to diagnose men with hysteria because he kept away from theoretically controversial issues such as sexuality. [ 3 ]


Rivers  was a Royal Army Military Corps physician who was the first Englishman to support Sigmund Freud's work in  psychoanalytic theory , and went on to pioneer the  British Psychoanalytic Society  after the war. He was a supporter of the " talking cure ".  Rivers' treatment drew heavily from Freud's 'talking cure', because he focused primarily on discussing hidden memories of trauma and dissecting war nightmares.  Siegfried Sassoon  records that he would record his dreams to be dissected by Rivers. Both Freud and Rivers were united in their conviction that addressing traumatic memories was the only way to give full recovery. [ 14 ]


Sassoon was diagnosed with war neurosis by the military review board following a dramatic anti-war declaration in May 1917. He was ordered to receive treatment at Craiglockheart War Hospital headed by Rivers. [ 9 ]  It is difficult to tell of Sassoon was truly suffering from war neurosis. Rivers diagnosed him as having a "strong anti-war complex", and thus Rivers set about trying to convince Sassoon to rejoin battle by hinting that  pacifism  was unpatriotic. Sassoon's interactions with Rivers along with his poetry hinted at a possible homoerotic element in the physician-patient relationship.


Craiglockheart  was the birthplace of innovation in psychoanalytic therapy as evidenced by Rivers' work. Unlike other shell shock hospitals of the time, Craiglockheart allowed officers to engage in therapeutic hobbies such as writing, sports and photography. The hospital magazine, Hydra was a wonderful insight into the minds of lower-ranked officers, physicians and nurses alike – "Within its pages are a series of fascinating and revealing cartoons depicting, among other things, the traumatic nightmares most of those at the hydro suffered, Rivers' mystical reputation, and the often mixed feelings of soldiers on leaving the place". The most famous anti-war poem,  Dulce et decorum est , was written at the hospital in 1917 by a renowned poet and war neurosis sufferer,  Wilfred Owen . [ 15 ]


A Canadian-born medic,  Yealland  was an aggressive supporter of disciplinary treatment for war neurosis. He worked in Queen's Square during the war and to has been established that he and other medics tortured patients into recovery. [ 12 ]  He was among the first British physicians to use  electric shock treatment  and has been criticized heavily for doing so. In Yealland's view, patients were more amenable to the suggestion that they suffered from a physiological disturbance that could be potentially remedied by a physical treatment such as  faradism . [ 16 ]


Regeneration  (1991)   is the first of a series of novels that deals with the psychological trauma caused by World War I on English officers who fought on the front lines. The plot revolves around the character of  Siegfried Sassoon , a decorated officer who is sent to   Craiglockhart War Hospital  in Edinburgh because he is said to be suffering from "Shell Shock".


Phil Klay is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in Iraq's Anbar Province from January 2007 to February 2008 as a Public Affairs Officer.  Redeployment (2014)   is a collection of short stories that transports the readers into the minds of the soldiers in Afghanistan as well as those who have recently returned from the frontline. The book shows the struggle of its characters as they grapple with guilt, hopeless and fear as they try to rationalize life on the front lines and back home. [ 17 ]


The  masculine beauty ideal  is a set of  cultural  beauty standards for men which change based on the historical era and the geographic region. [ 1 ]  These standards are ingrained in men from a young age to increase their perceived  physical attractiveness . [ 2 ]


Masculine beauty ideals are mainly rooted in  heteronormative  beliefs about  hypermasculinity , but they heavily influence men of all  sexual orientations  and  gender identities . [ 3 ]  The masculine beauty ideal traits include but are not limited to:  male body shape ,  height ,  skin tones ,  body weight ,  muscle mass , and  genital size . [ 4 ]  Men oftentimes feel social pressure to conform to these standards in order to feel desirable, and thus elect to alter their bodies through processes such as extreme dieting, genital enlargement, radical fitness regimens, skin whitening, tanning, and other bodily surgical modifications. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ]


Because masculine beauty standards are subjective, they change significantly based on location. A professor of anthropology at the  University of Edinburgh , Alexander Edmonds, states that in Western Europe and other colonial societies (Australia, and North and South America), the legacies of  slavery  and  colonialism  have resulted in images of beautiful men being "very white." [ 8 ]


Standards of beauty vary based on culture and location. While Western beauty standards emphasize muscled physiques, this is not the case everywhere. [ 9 ]  In  South Korea  and other parts of  East Asia , the rise of  androgynous   K-pop  bands have led to slim boyish bodies, vibrant hair, and make-up being more sought-after ideals of masculine beauty. [ 8 ]


Beauty standards have evolved over time, changing based on various factors. Youth was seen as beautiful in places such as  ancient Egypt , with  art  as an example of this. [ 1 ]  Egyptian art pieces showed youthful figures in an idealized form.  Greek  and  Roman sculptures  continued this theme of idealism but chose to represent beauty through qualities such as muscles and intellect. [ 1 ]


Over time, wealthy and powerful figures moved away from the idealistic nature and grew to see wealth through access to scarcities as more ideal. One of these scarcities was the amount of food accessible at the time. When food shortages were a problem, excessive  adipose tissue  was a symbol of wealth. [ 10 ]  Paintings that represented the beauty of the  early modern period  were of prominent and powerful figures, many showing their wealth through their excess adipose tissue. [ 11 ]  Due to this, they were not painted in an idealistic way, focusing especially on the clothes and other material possessions to accentuate this wealth.


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Human mate guarding  refers to behaviours employed by both males and females with the aim of maintaining reproductive opportunities and sexual access to a mate. It involves discouraging the current mate from abandoning the relationship whilst also warding off  intrasexual  (same sex) rivals. It has been observed in many non-human animals (see  mate guarding  and  sperm competition ), as well as humans. [ 1 ]   Sexual jealousy  is a prime example of mate guarding behaviour. Both males and females use different strategies to retain a mate and there is evidence that suggests resistance to mate guarding also exists. [ 2 ]


Male mate guarding is the act of guarding a potential partner from other competing males. Mate guarding behaviour in males is much more likely to be elicited by the threat of  sexual infidelity  in a female partner, in comparison to emotional involvement outside the mateship. [ 3 ] [ 4 ]  According to a 2004 study across multiple countries, 62% of men have attempted to mate poach for a short-term relationship, as opposed to 40% of women. “In most world regions, women report less frequent poaching attempts for short-term and long-term relationships than men. (Hudek-Knezevic et al., 2022) Schmitt et al. (2004) report that, across countries, an estimated 62% of men and 40% of women have attempted to mate poach for a short-term relationship.” (Fisher M., Wade J., and Moran J., 2023).


For long-term poaching, the difference was smaller, but still existent nonetheless, with 60% of men and 53% of women having attempted to mate poach for a long-term relationship. “The sex difference was smaller for long-term mate poaching, but still present—60% of the men and 53% of the women.” (Schmitt & Buss, 2001). These results are similar to those found in a prior 2001 study among college-aged individuals, where 64% of college-aged men were found to mate poach, as opposed to 49% of college-aged women. Mate poaching attempts among older adults constituted 60% of men and 38% of women. “Schmitt and Buss (2001) found college-aged men (64%) are more likely than college-aged women (49%) to have attempted poaching a short-term mate. These rates are higher than those observed in older adults (60% of men, 38% of women).” (Fisher M., Wade J., and Moran J., 2023).


“The first scientific study of mate poaching (Schmitt & Buss, 2001) found that substantially more men (60%) than women (38%) admitted to having attempted to poach an already mated person for a sexual encounter.” (Tierney J., 2009). Another study sampling participants across ten different countries showed that 57% of men and 35% of women have attempted to mate poach. “Across ten world regions, 57% of men and 35% of women indicated they had engaged in an attempt at mate poaching.” (Hanson R., 2009). This especially raises concern primarily due to the risk female infidelity poses for male paternity, or 'genetic cuckoldry'. [ 2 ]


In other words, as  fertilisation  takes place within females, males do not have paternal certainty in the way that females do (females can always be certain that the offspring is theirs, whilst a male cannot). There is supporting evidence for this cross-culturally in a varied range of countries such as China, Germany, Japan and Sweden. [ 5 ]  Moreover, in physiological tests such as  skin conductance  and heart rate, men show greater levels of distress when asked to imagine a partner having sexual intercourse with another person. [ 6 ]  It is also worth noting that mate guarding tactics are more likely to be used if the partner is of high reproductive value e.g. if the female displays signs of high fertility such as youth and physical attractiveness. [ 7 ]


If a male does not successfully prevent a rival's attempt at mating, there are many risks. If the female becomes fertilised, then the male loses the opportunity to reproduce with that partner for an extended period of time and his genes will not be passed on to the offspring. Moreover, the male may invest years of time, resources and energy into a child that is not genetically his own. If this becomes public knowledge, the individual may also face  public humiliation , and as a result this could reduce his social status and affect his future chances to reproduce. There are also 'opportunity costs'; wherein the male could have been spending lost time pursuing alternative mating options. [ 2 ]


Male mate guarding behaviour also needs to ensure that the female does not leave the  mateship  as this would reduce future chances the male may have to reproduce. Moreover, the male would also lose any maternal efforts the female would have invested in any potential offspring. Additionally, access to any social benefits or helping networks that the female brought to the relationship could be lost. Finally, the female could also use information, such as strengths or weakness, about the male to exploit him in the future. [ 2 ]


Mate guarding tactics employed by males tend to be hiding the female from intrasexual threats; this could be not bringing the mate to social events in which other competing males may be present. Another is to request that the female wear items that indicate possession, this could be a wedding ring or the male's jacket for example. Males may also demonstrate the quality of resources they have to offer (e.g. buying the mate gifts, or paying for a meal). [ 7 ] [ 8 ]  Men are also more likely to employ threatening and violent behaviour towards intrasexual rivals. [ 7 ]


Female mate guarding is the act of guarding a potential partner away from other competing females. It occurs when women mate with males that are seen as desirable due to their paternal value (see  mate value ), and are therefore more likely to attract other females. [ 2 ]  Despite women being 44% less likely than men to mate poaching, one study showed that over 50% of females asked in a survey admitted to poaching for long-term relationships (see  Human mate poaching ), as well as 50% of men admitting that they were unfaithful when presented with a poaching female. [ 9 ]  It is therefore a balancing act between having close female friendships that can help with childcare, and the sharing of resources, [ 10 ]  but not letting friends become too close that they have easy access to poach successfully. Females have therefore come up with tactics to ward off any potential threats.


Female mate guarding concentrates on avoiding attractive, fertile females. [ 7 ]  Research suggests that females are more likely to avoid women that are attractive and exclude them from the group, as these women are interpreted as potential poachers. [ 11 ]


Ovulating women are also seen as a threat. Research has shown that women subconsciously change their behaviour across their menstrual cycle, such as dressing more provocatively, which is noticed by men. [ 12 ]  In one study, men rated photos of ovulating (fertile) women as more attractive, compared to photos of women who were in the luteal (infertile) stage of the menstrual cycle. It is suggested that men are therefore more likely to pursue ovulating women, which become potential threats to their female mates. [ 13 ]


Krems, Neel, Neuberg, Puts and Kenrick (2016) also found that women created larger social distance between themselves and a competing female, but only if she was ovulating and attractive. Similarly, this only occurred if the woman was partnered with a desirable mate. This is suggested to be because other females, especially those who are ovulating, are less likely to desire men that have limited resources. [ 14 ]


Across the world, it is common for people to sleep in the same bed as one another after copulation. Humans are more likely to engage in sexual activity at night, [ 15 ]  so therefore night-time brings the highest danger of infidelity. Due to females  investing more in the relationship , women receive more benefits from sleeping with their mate during the night. Keeping close proximity with a partner acts as a mate guarding technique as it minimises the likelihood of unfaithfulness by the male, and also assures their partner of her fidelity. [ 16 ]  As a result of the paternal confidence, the male is also more likely to stay and provide resources. In one study it was found that 73.7% of participants said that females are more likely to want to sleep together after sexual intercourse. Mate guarding is a very likely explanation to this, but it may also have the benefits of increasing the female's protection, potentially from male poachers. [ 16 ]


One way to overcome this issue is to avoid introducing threatening friends (potential mates of  higher value ) to desirable mates. In one study women were shown three pictures of the same female. In one picture the model was dressed conservatively, in the other two she was dressed provocatively, but in the third the model had been photoshopped to have a larger frame. All the women tested rated the thin, provocatively dressed women as the sexiest. Participants were also twice as likely to avoid introducing the model to their partners compared to the conservatively dressed model, who was rated as the least threatening. The authors interpreted these findings as, women who are dressed provocatively are seen as more promiscuous, so therefore are less likely to be introduced to partners due to the possibility of poaching. [ 17 ]  Not introducing an attractive female to a mate, minimises the likelihood that poaching will occur as it is a form of indirect aggression that minimises contact between a mate and a potential threat. [ 17 ]


Responses to mate guarding, specifically female resistance to it, have also been observed in both humans and other animals. [ 18 ] [ 19 ]   Responses to mate guarding by males has not been extensively studied. Resistance to mate guarding has been suggested to provide some benefits to partners who do so. [ 18 ]  In animals, particularly  crustaceans , it is argued that resistance allows females to reduce the amount of time the male guards her, giving her more control over mating, as the benefits of mate guarding by males are not worth the costs of trying to overcome resistance from the female. It is therefore suggested that resistance to mate guarding in animals could be a  mate choice strategy  for female animals. [ 19 ]  Seeing as mate guarding serves to reduce mate choice, resistance may allow females to ensure they have access to resources from one mate and also look for higher genetic quality extra pair mates to ensure her children are more likely to survive and reproduce themselves. This is known as the female dual mating strategy theory and relates to sexual selection. [ 20 ]


Research suggests that female animals exhibit resistance to mate guarding behaviours. [ 21 ]  There have also been a few studies focusing on mate guarding resistance in female humans. There are numerous tactics that have been recognised as female mate guarding resistance strategies. [ 18 ]  These include:


Female resistance to mate guarding has also been researched in the context of the  menstrual cycle . Pillsworth, Haselton and Buss (2004) found that women are more likely to want to mate with males they are not currently pair bonded with during the ovulation period of their menstrual cycle. [ 22 ]  They also show higher mate guarding resistance in general during oestrus. [ 14 ]  This is supported by the finding that during ovulation women who are both single or in a  monogamous  partnership with a man are more likely to desire to go to social gatherings where they may meet alternative mates. [ 23 ]  This is said to support the female dual mating strategy theory, as during  oestrus  women may be seeking out mates with strong genes.


Different qualities of the male partner have also been found to affect the existence of resistance to mate guarding in females. Research has found women with partners who have a low  genetic  quality, as defined by low  sexual attractiveness  in comparison to available resources, are more likely to show mate guarding resistant behaviours. [ 23 ]  This is supported as recent research by Abell and Brewer (2016) suggests that women who believe alternative mates compared to her pair bonded male are of a higher quality are also more likely to resist mate guarding too. [ 24 ]


Women married to more possessive, controlling or jealous husbands are more likely to be unfaithful as well. [ 7 ]  Women who experience this type of behaviour from their partners are more likely to show mate guarding resistance particularly by using covert tactics. [ 18 ]


There is also research into individual differences in female resistance to mate guarding. A recent study by Abell and Brewer (2016) has focused on  Machiavellianism . They found that women high in this trait are more likely to resist mate guarding attempts and use covert tactics to do so. They suggest that this reflects the characteristics of machiavellianism – using glibness and manipulation to get what is wanted and it is argued that this is their way of controlling their partners. [ 24 ]  This is supported by the finding that females who are more controlling themselves will use more mate guarding resistant tactics too. [ 18 ]


Women who have a more unrestricted sociosexual orientation index may also be more likely to resist mate guarding too. [ 18 ]  This type of sociosexuality is defined by more  promiscuity  and low levels of intimacy in relationships. [ 25 ]  Related to this, females who report less investment in their current relationship also exhibit more resistance to mate guarding by avoiding contact with their partner. This strategy along with resisting control has also been found to be more widely used for women who report less intimacy in their relationship. [ 18 ]


There has been some research looking into attachment style and mate guarding resistance too. It has been found that women who show more avoidant  attachment styles  are more likely to resist their partners mate guarding attempts. They are most likely to use avoiding public displays of affection, covert tactics and resisting a partners control as resistance strategies. Those who express anxious attachment styles are more likely to resist mate guarding via covert methods. [ 18 ]


The  mechanics of human sexuality  or  mechanics of sex , or more formally the  biomechanics  of  human sexuality , is the study of the mechanics related to  human sexual activity . Examples of topics include the biomechanical study of the strength of  vaginal  tissues [ 1 ]  and the biomechanics of  male erectile function . [ 2 ] [ 3 ]  The mechanics of sex under limit circumstances, such as  sexual activity at zero-gravity in outer space , are also being studied. [ 4 ]


Pioneering researchers studied the male and female genitals during  coitus  (penile-vaginal penetration) with  ultrasound technology  in 1992 [ 5 ]  and  magnetic resonance imaging  (MRI) in 1999, mapping the  anatomy  of the activity and taking images illustrating the fit of male and female genitals. [ 6 ]  In the research using MRI, researchers imaged couples performing coitus inside an MRI machine. [ 6 ]  The magnetic resonance images also showed that the penis has the shape of a boomerang, that one third of its length consists of the root of the  penis , and that the vaginal walls wrap snugly around it. [ 6 ] [ 7 ]  Moreover, MRI during coitus indicate that the internal part of the  clitoris [ 8 ] [ 9 ]  is stimulated by penile-vaginal movements. [ 10 ] [ 5 ]  These studies highlight the role of the clitoris and indicate that what is termed the  G-spot  may only exist because the highly innervated clitoris is pulled closely to the anterior wall of the vagina when the woman is sexually aroused and during vaginal penetration. [ 11 ]


A  meet market  (or  meat market ) is a location or activity in which people are viewed as commodities, or a business like a nightclub where people typically look for a  casual sex  partner. [ 1 ]  The term is also used metaphorically, for example, to refer to the process of deciding which man to "buy" for a husband, [ 2 ]  or for finding a man to date at the grocery market. [ 3 ]


In general, the term has evolved to mean a place or activity at which  single  people congregate, [ 4 ]  and while formerly a  pejorative  has become neutral. [ 5 ] [ 6 ]


The  sexual revolution  of the 1960s and the internal migration of Americans to big cities meant that singles events in mid and large-size cities quickly replaced local town activities where participants previously knew each other.  By the 1970s, singles events had developed a reputation as a "ritual of lies and mistrust", replete with men in search of casual sex, cold and unfriendly women, and frequent misunderstandings. [ 7 ]


Events and bars, lounges, and nightclubs frequented by singles became known as meet/meat markets, or places where attendees rapidly sized up members of the opposite sex with objectifying criteria, such as attractiveness, wealth, and fashion sense, before taking the time to get to know attendees on a deeper level. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]


In recent years, the term meet market has become neutral or even been  reclaimed  largely by commentators on the single scene and event promoters. [ 9 ]  For example, a number of singles event promoters have chosen to name their events after some variation of the term.  These uses include "Meet Market" for a singles mixer, [ 10 ]  " Meet Market Adventures " for a company catering adventure experiences to singles, [ 11 ] [ 12 ]  and "'meet market' for Moses" for a Jewish singles event designed by religious organizations trying to ensure Jewish marriage and continuity. [ 5 ]


Dating commentators and city guides now discuss meet markets in benign or positive terms, counseling readers to make use of meet markets to find a refined established gentlemen who desires marriage, [ 13 ]
an enjoyable short-term young professional dating partner, [ 14 ]  new friends of the same sex, [ 15 ]  or a long-term committed relationship, if desired. [ 16 ]


The  National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior  is a decade-long nationally representative study of  human sexual behavior . The research has been conducted in the United States by researchers from the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of Public Health at  Indiana University in Bloomington .  Time  magazine called the NSSHB "the most comprehensive survey of its kind in nearly two decades and the first to include teenagers." [ 1 ]  Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders has written the following about NSSHB findings: "These data are important for keeping the nation moving forward in the area of sexual health and well being. In the absence of scientific data available to construct an accurate and up-to-date view, opinions in the field of sexual science can vary widely from person to person." [ 2 ]


There have been a total of seven waves of the NSSHB, all conducted between 2009 and 2018. More than 30 scientific articles have been published from these data. [ 3 ]  Articles based on the first wave of the study, the 2009 NSSHB, were initially released in a supplement to the October 2010 issue of  Journal of Sexual Medicine . [ 4 ]  Since the NSSHB's inception in 2009, there have been a total of six additional waves of data collection. The NSSHB was the first U.S. nationally representative probability survey of sexual behavior in the United States conducted since the 1992  National Health and Social Life Survey . In Fall 2018, the researchers were honored with Indiana University's Outstanding Faculty Collaborative Research Award Lecture. [ 5 ]


The 2009 NSSHB surveyed nearly 6,000 individuals between the age of 14 and 94, living in the United States. Findings showed a wide variety of sexual behavior. According to one of the lead investigators,  Debby Herbenick , PhD, of Indiana University in Bloomington, "Adult men and women rarely engage in just one sex act when they have sex." [ 4 ]  In addition to Dr. Herbenick, the original core NSSHB team included Drs. Michael Reece, J. Dennis Fortenberry, Brian Dodge, Stephanie Sanders, and Vanessa Schick. [ 5 ]  Significant findings include use of  condoms  in about 25% of instances of vaginal sex by adults, about 33% if they were single, with teenagers using condoms 70 to 80% of the time. Only a low level of sexual activity among the approximately 800 teenagers surveyed was found with incidence increasing with age. It was discovered that about one third of women reported pain during intercourse. A discrepancy was discovered between men's perception that their female partner had experienced  orgasm , about 85%, and women's self-reporting of 64%. [ 4 ]


The NSSHB has been supported by funding from  Church and Dwight , maker of  Trojan condoms . The sponsor offered limited input on the survey development, mostly with respect to gathering information on how often Americans use condoms, settling with a formulation which requested information on whether condoms were used or not during the last 10 sexual encounters of each respondent. [ 4 ]


With respect to condom use results were encouraging especially with respect to teenagers. Ethnic populations impacted by  HIV/AIDS  showed a higher rate of condom use than then general population as did dating adults. Discrepancies remain between the level of condom use considered optimal for public health and reported rate of use particularly by people over 40. [ 4 ]


Women reported less satisfaction with sexual activity than men with less pleasure, less arousal, and fewer orgasms. This was hypothesized by one of the researchers as being related to the greater incidence of pain also reported by women. [ 4 ]


In the 2012 NSSHB, researchers found that pain during vaginal intercourse was reported by 30% of women and 7% of men. Additionally, pain during anal intercourse was reported by 72% of women and 15% of men. [ 6 ]


In a publication from the 2016, the researchers found that although most sexually active adults between ages 18 and 50 were aware that Zika could be transmitted by mosquitos, only about 40% identified sexual intercourse as a possible route of transmission.  [ 7 ]


In a 2018 NSSHB publication, it was found that about 60% of Americans who reported on a recent sexual event reported having ejaculated somewhere outside of the vagina at least once. Looking at the most recent sexual event, findings showed a lack of concordance between the percentage of people indicating they used "withdrawal" at their most recent sexual event compared with where they said they ejaculated. [ 8 ]


Neotantra ,  navatantra  ( Sanskrit : नव,  nava  'new'), or  tantric sexuality  is a Western  new religious movement  influenced by the  Eastern esoteric  spiritual traditions of  Tantra . Rooted in elements of  Hindu  and  Buddhist tantras , neotantra blends  New Age  interpretations with modern Western perspectives, often emphasizing the sexual aspects of these ancient traditions. While some proponents reference traditional texts and principles, [ 1 ] [ 2 ]  many utilize tantra as a broader term encompassing  sacred sexuality , occasionally incorporating unconventional practices. However, neotantra does not always adhere to the complete range of  Indian tantric practices , particularly the reliance on a  guru .


The perception of Tantra in the West has evolved, deviating from its original traditions. Initially seen as a "cult of ecstasy", [ 3 ]  it has come to be associated with "spiritual sex" or "sacred sexuality", [ 3 ]  wherein sexual experiences are considered sacred acts capable of elevating participants spiritually. This shift in understanding has grown alongside the increased interest in Tantra in Western culture, often emphasizing its sexual components. Key figures such as  Sir John George Woodroffe ,  Pierre Bernard , and  Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh  have played pivotal roles in popularizing these ideas. Criticisms and debates exist, with some scholars highlighting the potential for misinterpretation and the blending of Tantric principles with Western attitudes towards pleasure and spirituality. Despite these debates, neotantra continues to evolve, creatively integrating aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Western culture.


Sir  John George Woodroffe , also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon, was a British  Orientalist  whose work helped to unleash in the West a deep and wide interest in  Hindu philosophy  and  Yogic practices . Alongside his judicial duties he studied  Sanskrit  and  Hindu philosophy  and was especially interested in Hindu  Tantra . He translated some twenty original Sanskrit texts and published and lectured prolifically on  Indian philosophy  and a wide range of  Yoga  and  Solo Tantra  topics. [ 4 ]  Woodroffe's  The Serpent Power – The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga , is a source for many modern Western adaptations of  Kundalini yoga  practice. It is a philosophically sophisticated commentary on, and translation of, the  Satcakra-nirupana  ("Description of and Investigation into the Six Bodily Centres") of Purnananda (dated around AD 1550) and the  Paduka-Pancaka  ("Five-fold Footstool of the Guru"). The term "Serpent Power" refers to the  kundalini , an energy said to be released within an individual by meditation techniques. [ 5 ]


Pierre Bernard  was a pioneering American  yogi , scholar, occultist, philosopher, mystic, and businessman. He claimed to have traveled to  Kashmir  and  Bengal  before founding the Tantrik Order of America in 1905. [ 6 ]  He eventually expanded to a chain of tantric clinics in places such as  Cleveland ,  Philadelphia ,  Chicago , and  New York City . Bernard is widely credited with being the first American to introduce the philosophy and practices of  yoga  and  tantra  to the American people. [ 6 ]  Many teachers of this version of tantra believe that sex and sexual experiences are sacred acts, which are capable of elevating their  participants to a higher spiritual plane. [ 7 ]  They often talk about raising  Kundalini  energy, [ 8 ] [ 9 ]  worshiping the divine feminine and the divine masculine, activating the  chakras . [ 10 ]


Guru  Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh , later known as Osho, used his version of tantra in combination with breathing techniques, bio-energy, yoga, and  massage  in some of the groups at his ashram.  He is the author of many books on meditation,  taoism ,  buddhism , and  mysticism , and at least six on tantra. One of them is  Tantra, The Supreme Understanding , in which he unpacks the verses of the " Song of Mahamudra ", by  Tilopa . In addition out of his discourses on the Vigyan Bhiarav (or Vijnaya-bhairava), the 112 practices for enlightenment resulted in the much longer  The Book of Secrets . [ 11 ]


Georg Feuerstein , a German Indologist who also trained in tantra, writes in the epilogue of his book  Tantra: Path of Ecstasy :


Many are attracted to Neo-Tantrism because it promises sexual excitement or fulfillment while clothing purely genital impulses or  neurotic  emotional needs in an aura of spirituality. If we knew more about the history of Tantra in India, we would no doubt find a comparable situation for every generation." He goes on to say, "Today translations of several major Tantras are readily available in book form... This gives would-be Tantrics the opportunity to concoct their own idiosyncratic ceremonies and philosophies, which they can then promote as Tantra. [ 12 ]


Responding to criticism of modern Western Tantra,  Geoffrey Samuel , a historian of Indian and Tibetan Tantra writes:


'Tantra' as a modern Western sexual and spiritual practice, however complex and contested its origins in Asia, was and is more than a fringe phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture. On the contrary, it took up themes of considerable depth and significance within Western culture, and synthesized them creatively with borrowings from Buddhist and Hindu sources. Its slow but steady growth since the 1970s suggests that its potential has not yet been exhausted, and I would contend that to dismiss it as an empty and superficial expression of the “spiritual logic of late capitalism” is to miss the possibility of a development of real value. [ 13 ]


According to author and critic of religion and politics Hugh Urban:


Since at least the time of  Agehananda Bharati , most Western scholars have been severely critical of these new forms of pop Tantra. This "California Tantra" as  Georg Feuerstein  calls it, is "based on a profound misunderstanding of the Tantric path. Their main error is to confuse Tantric bliss [...] with ordinary orgasmic pleasure". [ 3 ]


Urban says he does not consider this wrong or false, but "simply a different interpretation for a specific historical situation." [ 3 ]


"Night hunting" , known in  Bhutan  as  Bomena , is a traditional courtship custom that is practiced in some parts of  Bhutan . [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
Similar customs have also existed in other cultures,  namely in Japan . [ 3 ]


"Night hunting" is a traditional culture of nightly courtship and romance that is practiced mostly in eastern and central rural Bhutan. There is neither the word "night" nor the word "hunting" in the original terms. The original words can be best rendered as "prowling for girls".


Young men go out at night to sneak into girls' windows to engage in sexual activities. The prowling can be solo or in groups depending on whether or not the man has a fixed date. It is the rural equivalent of an urban date. If one has talked with the girl in advance then it can be a solo activity but usually it happens after a gathering when friends decide to go prowling for girls. Most boys would have a girl in mind. Although they set out as a group, they disperse gradually as they find a partner.


Traditional two-story buildings makes the prowling difficult but the sliding window shutter with only wooden latches from inside makes it easier. Strategies vary from sneaking in the door to climbing up the side of a house to enter a window or even dropping in from the roof. The uniform architecture of Bhutanese houses, with same design of doors and windows also make it easier. The age old tradition has also come up with special tools to undo doors and windows. If the boy successfully infiltrates the dwelling, he still may be rejected by the girl he is pursuing.


The prowling may be foiled due to wrong footing, which may wake up the whole family. The intruder may get chased away with hot water splashed on him, or be thrown out of the window. Strict parents chase the intruder or threaten him with marriage or a stick while liberal ones pretend to be asleep even if they know the prowler is around. This is more likely if they know the prowler is a suitor they would like to have for their daughter. It is not difficult to guess who the prowler might be in small close-knit villages.


Boys generally attempt to complete the task and make a quick exit if the parents of the girl are in and may stay longer if the girl is alone. It is in some places a custom that a boy discovered in the morning by the parents shall become the husband of the girl, but usually the boy  and the girl make sure that the boy exits before the parents get up in the morning. If he oversleeps, they may still find a way to sneak out.


The practice is far more dramatic because this happens under pitch darkness and traditionally the whole family sleep in one large room, which is the kitchen and living room. The prowler must know pretty well where the girl sleeps in order to find the right bed. There are stories of boys getting into the wrong bed and the grannies yelling the boy out or having a good laugh or even quietly enjoying the visit.


The culture of night prowling is fading away due to socio-economic changes. With new metal latches and locks in many houses, it is difficult for young boys now to get into the house. With modern education, modern western form of romance and dating tradition is growing and young people are no longer keen on this traditional practice, preferring to exchange love letters and fix dates.


One potential issue is the abuse of this cultural practice leading to sexual assault and rape. Perhaps a more common downside of night prowling has been rampant  bastardy . Bastardy and single motherhood were less of a problem in the traditional setting with extended families and grandparents always around to look after the child.


However, the growing culture of nuclear families, the requirement for marriage certificates, requirement of a father to register the child as citizen, the increasing practice of western styled wedding culture are leading to an increased stigma for single motherhood. This subsequently is leading to the fall in sex outside wedlock and practices such as prowling for girls.


Modern education and the literature associated with it are spreading fast and with them a worldview and culture heavily influenced by a Western, Christian moral ethos. This is fast replacing a more liberal Buddhist attitude toward sex which was prevalent in Bhutan.


In the book “Love, Courtship and Marriage in Rural Bhutan” by Kyle Bauer, [ 4 ]  the Centre for Bhutan Studies, discusses night hunting. According to the author, Bomena, a “custom whereby a boy stealthily enters a girl’s house at night for courtship or coitus with or without prior consultation”, is commonly misunderstood in Bhutan as ‘night hunting’. The use of a vernacular word Bomena, not ‘night hunting’, a term loaded with ethnocentrism and ignorance of the custom, tells a lot of this original village ethnography.


The current discourse and understanding of Bomena, according to the author, are naïve, biased and misrepresented, heavily influenced by changing values especially among the urban societies. One common notion is that any rural culture is ‘inferior’ and all urban cultures are ‘superior’, and replacing the rural culture with urban culture is seen as a way of emancipating the Bhutanese farmers from their ‘primitive’ culture and advancing the country.


The  nipple  is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the  breast  from which, in  lactating  females,  milk  from the  mammary gland  leaves the body through the  lactiferous ducts  to  nurse  an infant. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]  The milk can flow through the nipple passively, or it can be ejected by  smooth   muscle contractions  that occur along with the ductal system. The nipple is surrounded by the  areola , which is often a darker colour than the surrounding skin. [ 3 ]


Male mammals also have nipples but without the same level of function or prominence. A nipple is often called a  teat  when referring to non-humans. "Nipple" or "teat" can also be used to describe the flexible mouthpiece of a  baby bottle .


In humans, the nipples of both males and females can be  sexually stimulated  as part of  sexual arousal . In many cultures, female nipples are  sexualized , [ 4 ]  or regarded as sex objects and evaluated in terms of their physical characteristics and sex appeal. [ 5 ]  Some cultures have little to no sexualization of the nipple, and going  topless  presents no barrier. [ clarification needed ]


The word "nipple" most likely originates as a  diminutive  of  neb , an  Old English  word meaning "beak", "nose", or "face", and which is of  Germanic origin . [ 6 ]  The words "teat" and "tit" share a Germanic ancestor. The second of the two, tit, was inherited directly from Proto-Germanic, while the first entered English via  Old French . [ 7 ] [ 8 ]


In  mammals , a nipple (also called mammary papilla or  teat ) is a small projection of  skin  containing the outlets for 15–20  lactiferous ducts  arranged cylindrically around the tip.  Marsupials  and  eutherian mammals  typically have an even number of nipples arranged bilaterally, from as few as 2 to as many as 19. [ 9 ]


The skin of the nipple is rich in a supply of special  nerves  that are sensitive to certain stimuli: these are slowly-adapting and rapidly-adapting  cutaneous   mechanoreceptors . Mechanoreceptors are identified respectively by Type I slowly-adapting with multiple  Merkel corpuscle end-organs  and Type II slowly-adapting with single  Ruffini corpuscle end-organs , as well as Type I rapidly-adapting with multiple  Meissner corpuscle end-organs  and Type II rapidly-adapting with single  Pacinian corpuscle end-organs . The dominant nerve supply to the nipple comes from the lateral cutaneous branches of fourth  intercostal nerve . [ 10 ]  The nipple is also used as an anatomical landmark. It marks the T4 (fourth thoracic vertebra)  dermatome  and rests over the approximate level of the diaphragm. [ 11 ]


The arterial supply to the nipple and breast originates from the anterior intercostal branches of the internal thoracic (mammary) arteries; lateral thoracic artery; and thoracodorsal arteries. The venous vessels parallel the arteries. [ 2 ]  The lymphatic ducts that drain the nipple are the same for the breast. [ 2 ]  The axillary nodes are the apical axillary nodes, the lateral group and the anterior group. [ 12 ]  75% of the lymph is drained through the axillary lymph nodes located near the armpit. The rest of the drainage leaves the nipple and breast through infroclavicular, pectoral, or parasternal nodes.


Since nipples change throughout the life span in men and women, the anatomy of the nipple can change and this change may be expected and considered normal. [ citation needed ]


Almost all  mammals  have nipples. Why males have nipples has been the subject of scientific research.  Differences among the sexes (called  sexual dimorphism ) within a given species are considered by  evolutionary biologists  to be mostly the result of  sexual selection , directly or indirectly. There is a consensus that the male nipple exists because there is no particular advantage to males losing the trait. In consequence, some biologists would call the male nipple a  spandrel . [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ]


In humans, the nipples are often surrounded by  body hair .


The physiological purpose of nipples is to deliver  milk , produced in the female  mammary glands  during  lactation , to an  infant . During breastfeeding, nipple stimulation by an infant will stimulate the release of  oxytocin  from the  hypothalamus . Oxytocin is a  hormone  that increases during pregnancy and acts on the breast to help produce the  milk-ejection reflex . Oxytocin release from the nipple stimulation of the infant causes the uterus to contract even after childbirth. [ 16 ] [ 17 ]  The strong uterine contractions that are caused by the stimulation of the mother's nipples help the uterus contract to clamp down the uterine arteries. These contractions are necessary to prevent  post-partum haemorrhage . [ 18 ]


When the infant suckles or stimulates the nipple, oxytocin levels rise and small muscles in the breast contract, moving the milk through the milk ducts. The result of nipple stimulation by the infant helps to move breast milk out through the ducts and to the nipple. This contraction of milk is called the "let-down reflex". [ 19 ]  Latching on refers to the infant fastening onto the nipple to breastfeed. A good attachment is when the bottom of the areola (the area around the nipple) is in the infant's mouth and the nipple is drawn back inside his or her mouth. A poor latch results in insufficient nipple stimulation to create the let down reflex. The nipple is poorly stimulated when the baby latches on too close to the tip of the nipple. This poor attachment can cause sore and  cracked nipples  and a reluctance of the mother to continue to breastfeed. [ 20 ] [ 21 ]  After birth, the milk supply increases based upon the continuous and increasing stimulation of the nipple by the infant. If the baby increases nursing time at the nipple, the mammary glands respond to this stimulation by increasing milk production.


Nipple pain  can be a disincentive for breastfeeding. [ 22 ]  Sore nipples that progress to cracked nipples is of concern since many women cease  breastfeeding due to the pain . In some instances, an ulcer will form on the nipple. [ 23 ]  One reason for the development of cracked and sore nipples is the incorrect latching-on of the infant to the nipple. If a nipple appears to be wedge-shaped, white and flattened, this may indicate that the attachment of the infant is not good and there is a potential of developing cracked nipples. [ 24 ]  Herpes infection of the nipple is painful. [ 25 ]  Nipple pain can also be caused by excessive  friction  of clothing against the nipple that causes a  fissure .


Nipple discharge refers to any fluid that seeps out of the nipple of the breast. Discharge from the nipple does not occur in lactating women. And discharge in non-pregnant women or women who are not breastfeeding may not cause concern. Men that have discharge from their nipples are not typical. Discharge from the nipples of men or boys may indicate a problem.  Discharge from the nipples can appear without squeezing or may only be noticeable if the nipples are squeezed. One nipple can have discharge while the other does not. The discharge can be clear, green, bloody, brown or straw-coloured. The consistency can be thick, thin, sticky or watery. [ 26 ] [ 27 ]


Some cases of nipple discharge will clear on their own without treatment. Nipple discharge is most often not cancer (benign), but rarely, it can be a sign of breast cancer. It is important to determine what is causing the discharge and to get treatment. Reasons for nipple discharge include: [ 26 ]


Sometimes, babies can have nipple discharge. This is caused by hormones from the mother before birth. It usually goes away in two weeks. Cancers such as  Paget's disease  (a rare type of cancer involving the skin of the nipple) can also cause nipple discharge. [ 26 ]


Nipple discharge that is not normal is bloody, comes from only one nipple, or comes out on its own without squeezing or touching the nipple. Nipple discharge is more likely to be normal if it comes out of both nipples or happens when the nipples are squeezed. Squeezing the nipple to check for discharge can make it worse. Leaving the nipple alone may make the discharge stop. [ 26 ]


Nipple discharge in a male is usually of more concern. Most of the time a mammogram and an examination of the fluid is done. A biopsy is often performed. A fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy can be fast and least painful. A very thin, hollow needle and slight suction will be used to remove a small sample from under the nipple. Using a local anesthetic to numb the skin may not be necessary since a thin needle is used for the biopsy. Receiving an injection to prevent pain from the biopsy may be more painful than the biopsy itself. [ 28 ]


Some men develop a condition known as  gynecomastia , in which the breast tissue under the nipple develops and grows. Discharge from the nipple can occur. The nipple may swell in some men possibly due to increased levels of estrogen. [ 29 ]


Changes in appearance may be normal or related to disease.


The average projection and size of human female nipples is slightly more than  3 ⁄ 8  inch (9.5 mm). [ 32 ]


Symptoms of  breast cancer  can often be seen first by changes of the nipple and areola, although not all women have the same symptoms, and some people do not have any signs or symptoms at all. A person may find out they have breast cancer after a routine  mammogram .
Warning signs can include: [ 33 ] [ 34 ]


Changes in the nipple are not necessarily symptoms or signs of breast cancer. Other conditions of the nipple can mimic the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. [ 33 ]


Some infections are transmitted through the nipple, especially if irritation or injury to the nipple has occurred. In these circumstances, the nipple itself can become infected with  Candida  that is present in the mouth of the breastfeeding infant. The infant will transmit the infection to the mother. Most of the time, this infection is localized to the area of the nipple. In some cases, the infection can progress to become a full-blown case of  mastitis  or breast infection. [ 35 ]  In some cases, if the mother has an infection with no nipple cracks or ulcerations, it is still safe to breastfeed the infant.


Herpes infection  of the nipple can go unnoticed because the lesions are small but usually are quite painful. Herpes in the newborn is a serious and sometimes fatal infection. [ 25 ]  Transmission of Hepatitis C and B to the infant can occur if the nipples are cracked. [ 36 ]


Other infections can be transmitted through a break of the skin of the nipple and can infect the infant.


A  nipple-sparing/subcutaneous mastectomy  is a surgical procedure where breast tissue is removed, but the nipple and areola are preserved. This procedure was historically done only prophylactically or with mastectomy for the benign disease over the fear of increased cancer development in retained areolar ductal tissue. Recent series suggest that it may be an oncologically sound procedure for tumours not in the subareolar position. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] [ 41 ]


The cultural tendency to hide the female nipple under clothing has existed in Western culture since the 1800s. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 42 ]  As female nipples are often perceived an  intimate part , covering them might have originated under  Victorian morality  as with riding side saddle. Exposing the entire breast and nipple is a form of protest for some and a crime for others. [ 42 ] [ 43 ]  The exposure of nipples is usually considered  immodest  and in some instances is viewed as  lewd  or  indecent  behavior. [ 44 ]


A case in Erie, Pennsylvania, concerning the exposure of breasts and nipple proceeded to the  United States Supreme Court . [ 45 ]  The Erie ordinance was regulating the nipple in public as an act that is committed when a person "knowingly or intentionally, ... appears in a state of nudity commits Public Indecency." Later in the statute, nudity is further described as an uncovered female nipple. But nipple exposure of a man was not regulated. An opinion column credited to  Cecil Adams  noted: "Ponder the significance of that. A man walks around bare-chested and the worst that happens is he won't get served in restaurants. But a woman who goes topless is legally in the same boat as if she'd had sex in public. That may seem crazy, but in the US it's a permissible law." [ 43 ]


The legality around the exposure of nipples is inconsistently regulated throughout the US. Some states do not allow the visualization of any part of the breast. Other jurisdictions prohibit any female chest anatomy by banning anatomical structures that lie below the top of the areola or nipple. Such is the case in West Virginia and Massachusetts. West Virginia's regulation is very specific and is not likely to be misinterpreted, stating: "[The] display of 'any portion of the cleavage of the human female breast exhibited by a dress, blouse, skirt, leotard, bathing suit, or other wearing apparel [is permitted] provided the areola is not exposed, in whole or in part. ' " [ 43 ]


The  Instagram  social media site has a "no nipples" policy with exceptions: material that is not allowed includes "some photos of female nipples, but photos of post- mastectomy  scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too". [ 46 ]  Previously, Instagram had removed images of nursing mothers. Instagram removed images of  Rihanna  and had her account cancelled in 2014 when she posted selfies with nipples. This was incentive for the Twitter campaign  #FreeTheNipple . [ 47 ] [ better source needed ]  In 2016, an Instagram page invited users to post images of nipples from both sexes; @genderless_nipples, which displays close ups of both the nipples of men and women for the purpose of spotlighting what may be inconsistency. [ 48 ]  Some contributors have circumvented the policy. [ 49 ] [ 50 ]  Facebook has also been struggling to define its nipple policy. [ 48 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ]


Filmmaker  Lina Esco  made a film entitled  Free the Nipple , which is about "laws against female toplessness or restrictions on images of female, but not male, nipples", which Esco states is an example of  sexism  in society. [ 53 ]


Nipples can be sensitive to touch, and  nipple stimulation  can incite  sexual arousal . [ 54 ]  Few women report experiencing  orgasm  from nipple stimulation. [ 55 ] [ 56 ]  Before Komisaruk et al.'s  functional magnetic resonance  (fMRI) research on nipple stimulation in 2011, reports of women achieving orgasm from nipple stimulation relied solely on  anecdotal evidence . [ 57 ]  Komisaruk's study was the first to map the female genitals onto the sensory portion of the brain; it indicates that sensation from the nipples travels to the same part of the brain as sensations from the vagina, clitoris and cervix, and that these reported orgasms are genital orgasms caused by nipple stimulation, and may be directly linked to the genital sensory cortex ("the genital area of the brain"). [ 57 ] [ 58 ] [ 59 ]


Some companies and non-profit organisations have used the word  nipple  or images of nipples to draw attention to their product or cause. [ 53 ] [ 60 ]


Citations


The  one-sex and two-sex theories  are two  models  of  human anatomy  or fetal development discussed in  Thomas Laqueur 's book  Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud.  Laqueur theorizes that a fundamental change in attitudes toward human  sexual anatomy  occurred in  Europe  in the 18th and 19th centuries. He draws from scholars such as  Aristotle  and  Galen  to argue that prior to the eighteenth century, women and men were viewed as two different forms of one essential sex: that is, women were seen to possess the same fundamental  reproductive structure  as men, the only difference being that female  genitalia  was inside the body, not outside of it. [ 1 ]  Anatomists saw the  vagina  as an interior  penis , the  labia  as  foreskin , the  uterus  as  scrotum , and the  ovaries  as  testicles . [ 2 ]  Laqueur uses the theory of interconvertible bodily fluids as evidence for the one-sex model. [ 3 ]  However, he claims that around the 18th century, the dominant view became that of two sexes directly opposite to each other. [ 4 ]  In his view, the departure from a one-sex model is largely because of political shifts which challenged the way women's sexuality came to be seen. [ 5 ]  One result of this was the emerging view of the female orgasm as nonessential to conception after the eighteenth century. [ 6 ]  Women and men began to be seen as opposites and each sex was compared in relation to the other. [ 4 ]   Freud 's work further perpetuated the sexual socialization of women by dictating how they should feel pleasure. [ 7 ]


Laqueur's theories have been subject to criticism by scholars including  Katharine Park , Robert Nye,  Helen King ,  Joan Cadden , and Michael Stolberg for misrepresenting and omitting evidence by earlier scholars, as well as for drawing an overly concrete portrayal of the shift from one-sex to two-sex models.


According to Laqueur, prior to the eighteenth century it was acknowledged that there were physical differences between the  sex organs  of men and women, but these differences were never made to be of significance; "no one was much interested in looking for evidence of two distinct sexes, at the anatomical and concrete physiological differences between men and women, until such differences became politically important." [ 8 ]  Until the beginning of the eighteenth century, Laqueur claims, the one-sex model dominated medical and philosophical literature and there was a web of knowledge to support it.


Laqueur uses examples from ancient thinkers to help support his claim to the dominance of the one-sex model prior to the eighteenth century. He mentions  Galen  who asks readers to "think first, please, of the man's [external genitalia] turned in and extending inward between the rectum and the bladder. If this should happen, the scrotum would necessarily take the place of the uterus with the testes lying outside, next to it on either side." [ 9 ]  For Galen, "women have exactly the same organs as men, but in exactly the wrong places" [ 10 ]  Women are seen as less perfect versions of men, albeit still a version of them. Laqueur cites Galen's comparison between the eyes of a mole and the genitals of a woman. For Galen "the eyes of the mole have the same structures as the eyes of other animals except that they will not allow the mole to see. They do not open…so to do the female genitalia 'do not open' and remain an imperfect version of what they would be were they thrust out." [ 11 ]  There were very few specific words associated with either male or female anatomy at the time of Galen. The ancients "regarded organs and their placement as epiphenomena of a greater world order". [ 11 ]  The absence of words associated with female anatomy shows that people did not want to see a difference between the male and female body. [ 12 ]  Laqueur argues that philosophers like  Aristotle  share Galen's views about the one-sex model. Aristotle was committed to the idea of there being two different sexes, but he saw males and females as having certain roles in society, and these roles were not necessarily tied to their bodies. [ 11 ]  Aristotle said that "all of the male organs are similar in the female except that she has a womb, which presumably, the male does not." [ 13 ]  Laqueur believes that men and women were seen as comparable variations of one type of sex; that there were many genders at this time, but there was only one sex. [ citation needed ]