whats the function of the male nipple?
602450
Without Nipples the Male Chest Looks Strange.  The nipples provide a focus point for the male chest. They direct the eye to the curve of the pectoral muscle. \n\nMen and women are mammals (from the Latin mamma breast) a species that have breasts and feeds its young with milk. The human embryo has tissue that will evolve into breasts. Both male and female babies are born with nipples and ducts intact. It is the presence of genes that direct hormones to differentiate the breast tissue. The Y chromosome stimulates hormones such as testosterone to form male features.\n\nInsufficient or defective testosterone, poor tissue responsiveness, or an unbalance of other hormones like Estrogen and Prolactin can cause female like breasts even in men (Gynecomastia). At birth, the small amount of the mother's estrogen in the baby can result in small breasts that usually resolve. There can be an inbalance of hormones during male puberty that can result in temporary breast growth, which for most resolves. There are many medical problems and drugs that can cause male breast growth. \n \nThe nipple is actually the central protrusion inside of the pigmented areola. There is a thin muscle just under the skin that when stimulated, tends to flatten the puffed male nipple areola. This muscle when stimulated in a breast feeding woman, projects the nipple for the baby. Nerves that innervate the nipple / areola can produce pleasure for both men and women.
734061
Men don't develop breast tissue, but they do have nipples.  All humans at one point in time are a woman.  It all depends if the Y chromosome is present or not.  If it is, the body sends out testosterone changing the woman to a male.  The organs "down there" change to male organs, but the nipples just stay where they are.  So in a sence, men have nipples because women have them.
40121
Men and women both start out the same.  We all have the same parts.  Eventually, men develop testicles and they descend.  Women develop ovaries and they remain in the abdomin.  But by then we all have nipples.  The ovaries produce chemicals that turn those nipples into male enticing and baby fueling glands.  For men, they remain as useless as the day they were born.
25734
Every egg starts developing in the womb as a female. The male genes kick in only later during the gestation. Consequently, an egg developing into a foetus develops nipples. After a certain stage, when the male genes kick in, the development of the breast is stopped. Thus men have nipple but don't have breast.
658338
Males and females develop from a similar template in the womb. Before about 3 months the fetus is sexually undifferentiated, and distinctively male or female genitalia develop from a similarly structured organ, i.e. testes and ovaries both develop from an undifferentiated gonad. So males have nipples because of similarities between males and females before sexual differentiation occurs. \nHowever, it actually is possible for some men to produce milk in small quantities under some circumstances. Apparently men who play with their nipples alot may start to produce milk! Some men also produce milk when their wives are pregnant! Sort of like a sympathy response.
301942
no. men have nipples to prevent drowning when wading in water. watch men and you see them stop wading out when water reaches nipples, if we had buttons we would keep going and drown
989312
first, human male nipples are not useless, nor are they "vestigial" (more about "use" in a moment)\n\nto answer the latter part of your question...yes!\n\nmales actually can lactate under certain conditions (stress, medicinal/hormonal stimulation, and others); males do have, unbeknown to many, mammary glands\n\nbut male lactation is an unusual, rare event\n\nand human males would not be able to produce the quantities of milk needed to adequately nurse offspring\n\nthe primary purpose of the human male nipple is to serve as an erotic stimulus\n\nthe very first command that god gave to man and woman (adam and eve) was reproduce and fill the earth (ie, have sex and make babies)\n\n(of course the sexual relationship was always and only intended to be addressed within the marriage relationship...on the other hand, neither was it intended to be limited to some simple act of nothing more than making babies; it was also intended for pleasure according to the "song of songs"\n\nin the physically fit male, which men were originally intended to be, the nipples serve to sexually stimulate the female when they gaze at their husbands while working or relaxing; they also serve to sexually stimulate the male when his wife offers manual or oral stimulation\n\nin short, the primary function of male nipples is to serve as an erogenous zone (through visual and/or tactile stimulation)
13909
I remember hearing it this way:  (in layman's terms) When we are in the womb, the genetics that determine whether we will become a man have not "kicked in" yet. At that time the mammary glands are beginning to develop. Then the "male" codes kick in and stop the process after the nipples have developed. They then become just decorative.
1144209
psychologically, the nipple represents the breast, and they do not look completely topless unless you can see the nipple. same reason you dont notice a womans breasts as much untill her nipples get hard....you ate from them for a long time as a child, they hold fasination
720164
it's Nipple.  and...\n\nSeveral things causes the tissue around the nipple to become "hard"...\n\nEmotions, cold, and yes... sometimes excitement.\n\nPersonally, I suggest you look for OTHER behaviors and conversation to determine the level of arousal.
1152389
"To tell you the truth, nobody really knows. The best explanation I've been able to find (and frankly it doesn't explain very much) is that nipples aren't a sex-linked characteristic. In other words, nipples are just one of those sexually neutral pieces of equipment, like arms or brains, that humans get regardless of sex. "\n\nSee the Straight Dope for more information.
1129775
ALL nipples are sexy (thats' cause I love women so much, \nespecially their breasts). Leave nature alone, I'm sure you're\nbeautiful just as you are.
406989
In my undergrad biology days, this was actually discussed in a developmental biology class.\n\nMen have nipples because, at one time in the womb, they were female.  As the embryo develops, it takes the influence of genes located on the Y chromosome to allow the fetus to develop primary male sexual characteristics.  Up until that point, only the X chromosome is active, and nipple formation has already taken place.\n\nThe nipples are not a purely female trait; it's the mammary tissue in the breasts that are the real indicator.
754531
Your breasts are made of fat, skin, muscle and milk ducts, and other assorted things (like tubes to connect your milk ducts to your nipple, blood vessles, lymph nodes, etc)\n\nIn fact a male breast is made up of the same thing.\n\nMale and female babies can be born lactating because they are exposed to their moms hormones.\n\nSo you do not have breastmilk in your breasts but you are capable of making it if your hormones tell you to.
141834
we don't have them...you always hide them...\nperhaps since you have no appendage hanging out to get visually hard...but you do have nipples...maybe some men think when they are hard your hot and ready...
392368
Men's nipples don't have a purpose.  When a baby is developing in the uterus, they all start out as female, hence the nipples developing.  Basically in order for a male to develop from there is a genetic fluke which sends signals to start developing male organs.  The only sign that is left that all men started as females at the most basic level of life is the nipples.\n\nFascinating, huh?
358587
'Male and female human embryos are identical in the early stages of their development. If the fetus receives a Y chromosome from its father, a hormonal signal is produced: the labia fuse to form a scrotum, the gonads develop as testicles and a male results. Otherwise the "default" female remains.  Various structures in the adult reflect the symmetry of male and female and their common embryonic source. Men have nipples because they have already begun to develop when the "switch to male" signal is received. The development of breasts is halted in most--but not all--cases but the nipples are not reabsorbed.'