Elephants and Tea - March 2023 - 13

INTIMATE ISSUES WITH MARLOE Sexuality
describe survivors' experiences with
their bodies after cancer. Therefore, I
may echo these terms when I am relaying
information from one of these references
or sources. However, biological sex and
gender identity are not interchangeable,
nor are they either/or categories. Put
quite simply, not all penises are attached
to men, and not all men have penises. I
have strived to honor and acknowledge
this by using non-gendered language
where I can throughout. Keep in mind
that no matter your gender, if you or
your sexual partner's anatomy includes
a penis, this information is for you!
* Second, difficulties don't make you
dysfunctional.
The medical term or diagnosis for consistent
and persistent (lasting at least
three months) problems with erections
such that penetrative intercourse is not
possible is called erectile dysfunction,
or ED.6
However, I try to avoid the term
dysfunction when I can. To me it implies
that either someone (the penis-owner)
or something (the penis) is broken, and
therefore deemed irrelevant until it can
somehow be fixed or repaired via some
sort of intervention. However, you yourself
are not dysfunctional simply based
on the actions (or inactions) of an organ.
Also, who decided that penetration was
the barometer for successful sex, anyways?
Plenty of perfectly functioning
sex lives don't include hard penises or
insertive activities. Just sayin'.
Whew! So, you guys want to join me up
here on my soapbox? The views are amazing!
OK, let's put the jokes aside. It's time
to get serious.
IS THAT A BANANA IN YOUR
POCKET, OR . . .?
For lots of young people with penises, erections
often seem to just happen, popping up
at opportune (and maybe, sometimes, at
inopportune) moments. However, there's
a surprising number of behind-the-scenes
physiological stuff that must occur for an
erection to come to fruition. At the risk of
oversimplifying, an erection is basically just
trapping a bunch of blood inside a penis.
However, coordinating this event requires the
involvement of specialized nerves, chemical
messengers, blood vessels, and penile structures
that all work together in nuanced and
intricate ways.
PENIS ANATOMY 101
The penis is an organ that's larger than it
looks. The portion that can be seen on the
outside of the body is called the shaft, and at
the tip of the penile shaft is the head or the
glans. The structures of the shaft extend back
inside the body and make up the root of the
penis, which attaches to the internal pelvic
structures. The purpose of the penis is to
carry urine and ejaculate (semen) out of the
body. This is accomplished by the urethra, a
tube that connects the bladder and internal
reproductive organs to the outside world via
its opening (called the urethral meatus) at the
glans of the penis.
There are three cylindrical structures
composed of spongy erectile tissue that
run lengthwise inside the shaft and give the
penis its shape. The corpus spongiosum is
on the underside of the penis and encases
the urethra, and the two corpora cavernosa
run parallel along the top of the penis.
Most of the time the muscles that control
the blood flow into the penis are contracted,
preventing blood from filling these erectile
bodies to capacity. It's this mostly-empty
erectile tissue that keeps the penis soft in
its resting state.
ERECTILE FUNCTION 101
Erections can happen for different
reasons. Sexual erections happen in
response to sexual stimulation, and
non-sexual erections are a reflex of the
body unrelated to sexual stimulation.
* Sexual Erections
When the brain perceives sexually
stimulating information (either
from sexual thoughts or physical
touch), it responds by sending
signals down the spinal cord to
specific nerve centers in the pelvis,
which then carry the signals on to
the penis.10
These signals trigger
relaxation of the tissues and dilation
of the blood vessels via the
synthesis and release of certain
chemicals, causing a sudden influx
of blood flow and quickly flooding
the corpora cavernosa. As the
corpora cavernosa fill, they push
against their tough outer fibrotic
ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM
MARCH 2023
13
encasement, called the tunica albuginea.
The force of the tissue expansion causes
the tunica albuginea to be pulled taught,
and the whole organ begins to feel more
rigid or hard. The pressure of the swelling
eventually compresses vessels on the
outside of the penis, squeezing these veins
closed and preventing the blood from
escaping the tissue. How much the penis
changes in size with erections varies from
person to person.
* Non-Sexual Erections
Interestingly, erections can occur without
the help of the brain as a spinal cord
reflex that's triggered by touch.1,11
This
means that erections aren't always related
to sexual arousal, as anyone with a penis
can probably attest to. Another example
of non-sexual erection events includes the
natural " puff " erections that are caused
by cyclical increases in blood flow to the
penile tissues. 4
This spontaneous process
might be the body's way of keeping the
erectile tissues healthy and in working
order by occasionally bathing them in
oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood. The
side effect of increased blood flow to the
genitals, though, is often a stiffer penis.
Cyclical patterns of increased blood flow
to the genitals occur overnight during the
REM (rapid eye movement) part of the sleep
cycle.1,11
The REM stage of sleep is also the
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