ana.words, why does the penis shrink?

Dear Straight Dope:

Why does the penis shrink when it's cold? --Peter Klein

SDSTAFF Jill replies:

To be accurate, the testicles are the part of the apparatus
that draws up close to the body when it's cold, and pulls
the rest of attached body parts up with them.  The reason
the testicles hang below the body is because sperm can only
be produced at a slightly cooler temperature than the rest
of the body.  They are cooler down there, but if it gets too
cool, they self-regulate by snuggling closer to the warm
body.  My husband says that he feels his genital area shrink
or withdraw when he looks over a frightening precipice or is
otherwise startled.  I don't have an explanation for that
other than the body may see the sperm factory as it's only
hope for the immortal future, so tries to protect that
first.

My father lives in Singapore, and he sent me an article once
about a health scare in that part of the world.  Apparently
they had many reported cases of men having their genitals
sucked up inside their bodies, never to see the light of day
again.  I'm not sure why this might have happened in
southeast Asia and not here, but I prefer to think it's a
hoax.

--SDSTAFF Jill

Straight Dope Science Advisory Board

Copyright 1998 Chicago Reader, Inc.




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