One in twenty people have supernumerary nipples. Men usually only have two, but the question is why
If you just Google "why do men have nipples", you will get hundreds of thousands of answers. It's as if people have nothing better to do than to address just why men's nipples exist at all if they are not for breastfeeding. Despite the search for their "origin", they are classically labelled as useless - much like the appendix, for example. But they certainly deserve attention nonetheless. After all - unlike the female ones, they can be portrayed in the media without any restrictions, and so we "meet" them practically at every turn. And so it is appropriate to reflect on their meaning.
How did men get nipples...
If we want to know why nipples evolved in both women and men, we need to be clear about biology. That is to say, humans acquire genetic makeup from both mother and father, and it is precisely because of this that children exhibit traits from both parents, regardless of gender. Of course, it must be said that all embryos begin to develop as females (e.g., the male penis develops from the clitoris). It is not until around the fifth week of pregnancy that the various hormones that cause the differentiation between girls and boys come into play, and therefore the development of the external sex organs. In fact, one could say that men have nipples because women have them...
Even at birth, the nipples of boys and girls look basically identical - they change only at puberty, again under the influence of hormones. They do enlarge in both sexes, but women's nipples do enlarge more. At the same time, the mammary glands also shrink in boys. "Nipples are classically part of the mammalian body and are not related to sex. But as a result of sex chromosomes, female nipples have the ability to grow into milk-producing structures later on. But because male hormones do not induce the same chemical signal, they remain small similar to other male mammals," explains dermatologist Tanya Kormeli.
It may thus be quite surprising that, under certain circumstances, men are also able to produce milk in a similar way to women. Most often, this condition is related to a certain hormonal imbalance or medication. In any case, the milk that men produce in such situations is very similar to breast milk. Regardless of this, scientists say there is basically no evolutionary reason why men should have nipples. Of course, although they do not benefit from them, they are not threatening to them and so have not naturally disappeared.
Why do men find nipples "useful" too?
So if we were to really look for a reason why men have nipples, we could head into the sexual realm. Although nipples are not classically classified as erogenous zones, some people cannot imagine sex without nipple teasing. But even in this case, a rather surprising stereotype applies. As sociologist and sexologist Carol Queen points out, "some men are so influenced by gender stereotypes that they think it is effeminate to have sensitive nipples. But it's not. Everyone has nerves in their body and not everyone necessarily has sensitive nipples, which is true for both women and men," she points out.
Zdroj: Giphy
Of course, nipple piercings can also have a certain sexual connotation (allegedly first used by sailors, but certainly not for sex; piercings are a sign that they have crossed the equator on a voyage), which can enhance sexual experience, often in BDSM activities. However, there is also scientific evidence that the vast majority of men experience increased sexual arousal when their nipples are stimulated. There is even a medical report of a man who wished to enlarge his breasts to increase the sexual function of his nipples. In this case, however, it should be added that the increasingly common problems of so-called gynaecomastia, i.e. the growth of male breasts most often due to fat accumulation or hormonal imbalance, are certainly not desirable. And as far as sexual experience is concerned, it is rather diminished - men who suffer from gynaecomastia suffer from low self-esteem and, not infrequently, depression.
The third nipple
As with other parts of the body, things can go wrong with nipple development. Approximately one in 20 people have supernumerary nipples, for example, but these usually resemble tiny pigmented moles and are virtually never "functional". As science then suggests, approximately 1-2% of men have a third nipple. And just for the record, the highest number of nipples ever recorded in a man is seven...
However, male nipples can also bleed - as proven by running practice, for example, sensitive nipples can easily react with irritation and bleeding during intense friction. That's why some marathon runners even apply patches or lubricant to their nipples to prevent bleeding.
The unnecessary fascination with male nipples...
So although there is no objective reason for men to have nipples, at least there are situations where men can find them useful too. So, even if evolutionarily male nipples still haven't disappeared (and don't seem to be anytime soon...), at least the related research on why men have them on their bodies at all could disappear.
But according to Carol Queen, one of the reasons people have a constant need to question the reason men have nipples is simply the cultural belief that men and women are much more different than they actually are. And many simply refuse to accept that men have nipples just because women have them. Yet men's nipples are proof that human beings are more alike than they are different, regardless of gender itself.
