Do penises twitch when erect?

94 comments

• 

  I always think the twitch refers to that first rush of blood in arousal when the penis begins ‘perking up’, so to speak. It can feel like a twitch. But yeah, thumping never works. Thinking of Margaret Thatcher does, though.

• 

  Sean
  I cannot recall a lover whose equipment twitched and I always wondered why M/M authors love to write about this!

  **

  Re thumping – Margaret Thatcher? How horrible.:) That would deflate any man’s penis.

  • 

    Obviously you never dated anybody with a tic.

    • 

      Sean
      I guess if he had a tic his apparatus would twitch.:)

• 

  Well, I’ve seen it twitch after it’s happy. Maybe its just a saying, like “my heart stopped”. It doesn’t REALLY, it’s just a way of saying it was a dramatic moment. “my brain spazzed” it doesn’t REALLY spazz. Kind of to indicate your penis is showing interest, as in it would twitch if it could? That’s my rationale. Can’t comment on the other but Sean’s solution is probably sound. 🙂
  *
  I should also add that my bits have never really “tingled” but that’s often used to describe a woman being excited. But I know what they mean so I don’t have to have accurate language, it’s a way of explaining a surge of arousal.

  • 

    Tam
    Hey it’s Friday – what can I say? I guess it’s a way for the cock to say “I’m happy to see you”?

    **

    You have two more weeks (or more) of questions that would appeal to someone whose interest tends to be in prurient topics such as this one.:)

• 

  I’ve seen guys thump their penises. Now, mind, these were college guys, so I’m not saying they were the brightest bulbs in the box. They always did seem to regret it afterward….

  As for the twitch… sometimes, under clothes, it can very much look like a penis becoming erect is twitching. Have seen this one more times than a lesbian should really admit, but I DO hang around silly boys a lot. I swear, the euphemism of “a snake in the pants” really does seem to apply to some boys I’ve met… I could’ve sworn the damn thing was moving. And some porn has made it look as if it was twitching, though that could be an off-camera trick.

  So maybe SOME men have erections that twitch? I dunno. I do know that there are bizarre differences in the appearance of arousal in individual women. *coughs*

  • 

    Jules
    Where do you hang out? I want to be with you when you see the guys thumping their cocks.:) How do you know so much about guys if you’re not in the sack with them? You have a very interesting life – girls and guys – no shortage there.:)

    • 

      Wave:

      Well, I am a bit genderqueer, so that’s what I’m going to blame for all the straight guys I know seeing me as “one of the guys” and telling me all their secrets. 😉 It’s been that way even before I knew I liked girls, and once I did, that just made them twice as happy. Every straight guy I know likes to “compare” girls with me. *snorts*
      *
      And yes, women twitch too. Or some do, anyway.
      *
      And some guys thump their cocks on purpose, but these are the ones I categorize as masochists. Usually the other guys who are around when they do it clutch themselves and curl into a fetal position in imagined sympathetic pain. It’s really funny.

  • 

    “And some porn has made it look as if it was twitching, though that could be an off-camera trick.”
    *
    Dying laughing. I have an image now of someone with a string hooked up to their penis and someone off camera giving it a tug every now and then to simulate twitching. “What’s your job?” “Porn special effects.” ROFL

    • 

      Tam
      I want that job. Porn Special Effects Technician! Looks good on the resume.:)

  • 

    I don’t know about the twitching but the thumping – maybe it’s straight guys that do that? My husband used to thump his erect penis on my head. Irritated the hell out of me cos I’d be reading in bed and suddenly, “thump! thump!!”

    • 

      Yeah, the good ol’ mushroom stamp! That’s the only thumping I ever see! LOL
      As far as twitching it think its also just another way to not keep using the same words over and over. They can and do twitch when happy but I can see why some people coorelate the word ‘twitch’ with a nervous ‘tic’ and it could take them out of the story. But it sure beats saying ‘his purple helmeted rod leapt in his breeches’ or other such nonsense! :o)

• 

  I hate to argue, really, but a penis can and will twitch. The next time you ladies and gents go down, pay attention to what’s happening. Now I’m not saying it’ll jerk around like your man’s having a seizure, but there are subtle jerks. Or maybe my man’s junk is the only one who twitches when he’s happy. Who knows…

  • 

    Amanda, I’m so glad you piped in! I know my husband’s twitches too, although it may not always be unconsciously done!

• 

  Interesting question…thanks for asking it, Stuart and thanks for starting the discussion, Wave.
  *
  For me, I think there is a fine balance for authors to find a way to say things and keep the writing interesting while at the same time not veering into ridiculous (think, “pulsing star fruit”). While in reality cocks may “become erect” or “get hard,” if that’s all an author could say, the writing (and subsequent reading) would get really dull really fast…LOL.
  *
  L

  • 

    Leslie
    The “pulsing star fruit” really got to me:DDD

    **

    I understand your comment about taking a bit of artistic license but M/M authors are trying to attract new readers to this sub genre, and gay men, in particular, who are gradually being won over, are not going to be enthused about the books if they can’t suspend disbelief.

    **

    Personally I have never met a twitching cock but that’s probably because I wasn’t observant. *note to self – check next time*:)

    • 

      I understand artistic license and like I said, it’s a balance. I don’t think twitching requires a suspension of belief. It does seem like a reasonable reaction (and Erastes says it is. I am trying to think of my own experiences but it is too early in the morning for that. LOL). On the other hand…I just read a book and because of a certain piece of jewelry the character was wearing (and it was not a piercing), he was “semi-erect most all of the time.” Sorry, to me, that’s not believable. Similarly, same book: said character was getting it on with his partner and the partner had 8 (!) orgasms before the other guy was “allowed” to have one. Um, really? No mention of crystal meth or Viagra, either.
      *
      L

• 

  Amanda

  “Or maybe my man’s junk is the only one who twitches when he’s happy.”

  **

  I will bow to your superior knowledge.:) I’m just the messenger here! I hope that Stuart sees this post and can give his expert opinion, since he’s probably more familiar with penises than many of us.*g*

• 

  Well, It’s a phenomenon I’ve seen often first hand – so , like most things, it’s up to the individual. I just did a google search to back up my experiences for “do penises twitch” and found a load of other people who have found this happens to them. The most twitching is found when it first starts to “inflate” as it were – some men definitely say it feels like a twitch, and a heat as the blood moves to that spot. Women actually have the same reaction – or some do, I do.

  I’ve seen teenage boys thumping their cocks to try and reduce them, so i guess it must work with some.

• 

  Erastes
  I haven’t seen the twitching first hand like you and can only accept your statement that you’ve seen it as well as others, based on your “research”:)

  **

  Women twitch too? Damn! where have I been living?

  **

  I think the “thumping” thing with teenage boys is a measure of showing off to their friends and doesn’t really happen in RL with men.

• 

  What a conversation to read with the morning coffee, eh? Better than the newspaper!
  *
  I can’t speak to the thumping, but I agree that it takes me out of the story for a second – long enough to say “ouch.” I much prefer the guy thinking of something. Although, I suppose if he’s young, he hasn’t figured that out yet?
  *
  Regarding twitching, however, my husb can and does. Sometimes it is on purpose, sometimes it’s in reaction to something I’m doing, and sometimes it is during the erection (oh he would die if he knew I told you all).
  *
  At the same time, I agree with Leslie that the writing could get boring if the same words were used all the time (thus the development of interesting phrases such as star fruit, and creative names for the dangly bits).

• 

  The twitching and thumping action doesn’t just happen in M/M romance, you trip over it even when reading straight romance and erotica. But I have to say, I’d rather read about twitching junk than some purple prose about bananas or loaded guns in his pants.

  The twitching happens IRL too, you just have to be observant.

  • 

    Elinara

    “The twitching happens IRL too, you just have to be observant.”
    *
    I think that’s going to be my next project – to really look the next time I’m down there to see what I’ve been missing.:)

• 

  I would back Amanda and Erastes up, as I have personally observed twitching. Though, having said that, I think “his cock twitched” is a somewhat boring way of describing a rush of desire. I’m sure there must be more interesting ways to say it. (Not ways that involve star fruit or bananas, I hasten to add!)

• 

  Guys
  I’ll be out for most of the day but please leave your comments. I will respond when I return and maybe some of you will answer each other’s comments too.

  **

  Be nice to Stuart if he shows up and no more star fruit.:)

• 

  I’ve never encountered, nor written, the thumping thing, but the twitching I have both encountered and written. I’ve watched the things damn near do little dances when a man is lying on his back, turned on, and his cock’s laying against his lower abdomen. It might be a reaction to flexing of some kind (it’s most noticeable when the cock isn’t being touched but the man is doing something at the time, going down on his partner has been the most common time I’ve observed it. It could also be described as a sort of throb.

  But it definitely occurs. Whether a man’s partner notices (after all, if your man’s going down on you, you might be a wee distracted lol) or not, I’ve seen it many a time in action.

  • 

    Fae

    “I’ve watched the things damn near do little dances when a man is lying on his back, turned on, and his cock’s laying against his lower abdomen.”

    **

    I have obviously been living under a fig leaf because obviously I’m missing out or I’m not very observant. Next time I’m down there I’ll have to do some additional research.:)

• 

  Ooh, I feel the need for some research. Hub will be pleased :).
  *
  I like the use of ‘twitched’ in regard to sexual arousal. Possibly it isn’t entirely accurate, but I think it does convey a certain state of excitement so I’m happy to keep the phrase.
  *
  Thumping? Ouch!

  • 

    You are a bad girl Jen. Have fun at the beach. 😉

• 

  I suppose thumping is better than having him snap “Down, Sir!”

  • 

    Batboy
    I’m so glad you’re here to bring a measure of decorum to these proceedings.*g*

    **

    I agree that thumping is better than saying “Down Sir” but what about the twitching? You never said whether men twitch when in a state of full arousal. Are all of these women crazy when they swear that their men not only twitch but jump merrily all over the place?

    • 

      Wave: “You never said whether men twitch when in a state of full arousal.”
      Not that I’ve noticed, but I may have been preoccupied.
      .
      ” Are all of these women crazy when they swear that their men not only twitch but jump merrily all over the place?”
      Possibly it was a pre-existing condition.
      .
      I don’t know if this falls into the same category, but the SO can make his bounce by using the surrounding muscles. He can also wiggle his ears simultaneously. Simultaneously with each other, that is. Not sure what, if anything, this means.

      • 

        Batboy
        *
        “I don’t know if this falls into the same category, but the SO can make his bounce by using the surrounding muscles. He can also wiggle his ears simultaneously. Simultaneously with each other, that is. Not sure what, if anything, this means.”
        *

        You’re just trying to make me excited:DDD. I hope that the M/M authors don’t include your comments in some of their new books.:)

        *

        Next Thursday my post on Stuart’s question is on a more serious question and I hope you will comment. Thanks for stopping by BB.

• 

  I’ve seen ’em twitch. Some even kind of jump and dance, too, like Fae said. Depending on the guy, it can get pretty animated, which is fun. 😀 You can say things like “Is that a squirrel jumping around in your trousers, or are you just happy to see me?”

  This is definitely one of the more realistic descriptions.

• 

  I have to chime in and say I’ve seen the twitch too….

  Now, what I think of as the cock twitch is usually actually a guy moving other muscles in his groin that cause the cock to move or jump a little bit too. Maybe Stuart is taking issue with what part is actually doing the twitching here? Even so, I like the cock twitch in erotica of all sorts.

  The thumping, I’ve only ever seen in gay porn flicks, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t trying to get RID of that hard on, since he had such a handy place to put it.

  Elle Parker

• 

  Heh, I can’t even believe this is a question. LOL

  First hand knowledge– yes they twitch and they thump and they bounce as well. I thought it was common knowledge since I’ve not known any man’s penis to NOT react this way often. Especially on the way to a hard-on and then when very excited.

  But since this is a man who wrote to you, I guess it’s not a universal experience for men.

  • 

    Leah

    “First hand knowledge– yes they twitch and they thump and they bounce as well. I thought it was common knowledge since I’ve not known any man’s penis to NOT react this way often. Especially on the way to a hard-on and then when very excited.”

    ***

    Obviously I’m missing out on a lot or I’m not observant. They thump and bounce too? OMG!*g*

• 

  I just grabbed my husband, went back to the bedroom and experimented. Yeah, it twitched. Now we have a new nickname for it, “Lil’ Twitchy.”

  • 

    Stephani
    We live in a world where partners of the non twitchers are now jealous thinking about all the fun they missed.:)

• 

  Grin. Thanks for all the responses to my question! One of the many things I like about this site is how engaged and civil everyone is in the comments section!

  *
  Yes! I agree with everyone that penises twitch: during and after orgasm. What I didn’t understand was twitch-as-arousal. I don’t have an uncontrollable spasm in my pants every time I see an attractive man or when I’m turned on. If so, I wouldn’t be able to read M/M fiction on the train during my two-hour commute to work!! I’d be exhausted from all the tiny cock-seizures. And, thankfully, I don’t have to thump my penis with a water bottle to make a fiction-born erection go away, if it occurs!

  *

  I now understand that “twitch” is a symbolic term for male arousal, not a literal one. It’s not a term I find aesthetically pleasing. It reminds me of that high school science experiment where they attach electrodes to a frog’s leg and it uncontrollably spasms. Not hot. I don’t like word “spasm,” either!

  *

  Tam, grin, I didn’t think women “tingle,” but it’s good to know for sure!!

  *

  In order to help you all understand how I feel when I read a piece of M/M fiction with cocks twitching, I wrote the following short scene. Please forgive me for any clumsiness, I’m not a writer.

  *

  “Margaret walked slowly down the beach, slowly because her peg-leg dragged in the wet sand at the water’s edge. Margaret was a pirate, commanding a crew of depraved, yet deeply honorable, vampire were-ferrets. Unfortunately, they couldn’t cross running water and were forced to seek merchant prey in the still, dark waters of deep Lake Rila. The sight of her ship, “The Sea Monkey,” had caused many a merchant captain’s balls to shudder in unutterable terror as their man-sacks tightened like a miser-woman’s reticule. Women sailors on these doomed vessels, seeing their death approach, would feel their labia ripple in fear, the amorous linings of their sweet love-canals suddenly dry as beef jerky. Margaret walks along the beach at night, the moon-light on the water like a turgid penis on a sleeping man’s thigh. She loves Lake Rila. She loves being a pirate. Margaret loves murder and dismemberment and the clink of gold doubloons as they fall from her fingers back into iron-bound oaken chests of treasure. But she needs love, Margaret is lonely and passionate and hungry. Suddenly, Margaret is as filled with lust as a pirate ship with bed-bugs. Thinking of sex, she becomes moist like the trough her peg-leg leaves in the lake-shore sand. Margaret’s nipples harden, their tips pulsing with fire as if they had been set afire with black powder and her swelling clitoris twitches…. rests…. and twitches again. No! Margaret is a captain and will not be undone by base lust! She grabs a piece of drift-wood, for a moment distracted from the overwhelming clitoral twitching by curiosity as to how drift-wood could be created when a lake has no tides. But her native curiosity cannot quell the rush of desire. Now, not only her clitoris is twitching and her nipples burning, but her vulva is tingling like fire ants have run up her thighs and are building a nest in her piratical pudenda. NO! She lifts the unlikely, but luckily present, piece of drift-wood and thumps herself mightily between her legs. She thumps again, the drift-wood snaps, and her unruly, twitching clitoris is driven to quiesence by the smack of the wood. Margaret smiles. It is good to be a pirate, it is good to be strong.”

  *

  I hope you now understand how I feel about the twitch!!

  Sincerely,
  Stuart

  • 

    Stuart
    I’m very happy you could drop by to fend off all of these nay sayers and defend your position.:) As you can see, they really needed a kick start to their day because many of them were commenting very early this morning. *wonder where they work?*

    **

    Are you sure you’re not an M/M writer in disguise?

• 

  I’m so glad someone finally brought up the thumping thing. Every time I read a Carol Lynne book, it just drives me insane. And makes me cringe, because I’m pretty sure it would be uncomfortable, at the very least. Aren’t there better ways to make an erection go away? (I’m a girl, so I’ll admit I’m just guessing.) Margaret Thatcher, as someone pointed out. Or Denis Franz. Or maybe you could just talk it down politely? It might appreciate that more. Self abuse is not the answer (well, not *that* kind of self abuse).

• 

  “Say hello properly to the nice person who just kissed you.” *penis bobs up and down*

  Some men have twitchy cocks. Some have warped senses of humor. And don’t get me started about penile fedoras.

  That’s all I have to say on the subject

• 

  Oh Stuart!

  *laughs and laughs and squirms*

  Fire ants, ouch!

• 

  My husband’s penis most certainly twitches/pulses – he can make it happen by flexing his kegel muscles, but it also happens unconsciously. If we’re snuggling in bed (especially if he is sleepy), his errect penis will twitch against my leg – kind of like if he was poking me with a finger…

  I have no idea about the thumping. Sounds painful!

  • 

    D
    Not only does your husband’s thing twitch but it pulses as well? Is that like a blender speed – high, low and pulse?

    **

    I really need to get out more obviously.

• 

  Stuart!!! What do you mean you’re not a writer!!
  that was possibly one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. I nearly spewed coke out my nose…
  you bad boy.

  Love how she thumped her vagina into submission. priceless.

  D said… his errect penis will twitch against my leg – kind of like if he was poking me with a finger… I thought that was the cue for me to snore louder….

• 

  Oh, Stuart. “tiny cock seizures” and “vampire were ferrets” *snort*

• 

  The twitching does not pull me from a scene, but what always does, and really makes me wonder is the copious leaking. I asked my husband if he ever leaked copiously throughout the day or during a meeting, and the look on his face was beyond words.

  • 

    Marcella
    You’re right. I sometimes wonder whether I need a bucket for all the pre and post come. I think there must be magic properties there – maybe a rejuvenating face cream? :DDD

• 

  Stuart, OMG! LOLOL! “Piratical pudenda” = new Best Phrase Ever *ggg*

  *

  Joining the crowd to say my hubby’s bad boy does the Twitch a fair bit when he’s happy. He sometimes does it on purpose after sex to make me laugh 🙂 I have no idea why him doing it on purpose makes me giggle, it just does. Go figure…

  *

  I have never seen a guy thump his cock. I hope I continue to never see that. Yikes o_O

• 

  I am a prepublished m/m author – and though I never have wrote those two things, I have read them as well.

  I went directly to the source – asked the mate and the adult son.

  Mate – agrees his penis twitches when filling. He also can squeeze muscles to make it bob/twitch/jump just for shits and giggles.

  adult son – rolled his eyes, refrained from answering, and asked why he couldn’t have a normal mother.

  Mate – has never thumped penis to make it go down – but has heard of men thumping theirs to get it up…

  Adult son – says when pitching a tent, one dones the manuver called ‘the boner tuck’ – discreetly tuck it up between the waist and the waist band of his boxers. He made a face at the thought of ‘thumping’ and said he never heard of that either. (then he left the room, afraid I would ask anymore embarressing questions)

  • 

    Abby
    I guess this comes under the heading of research.:) Your son must have been so embarrassed at your questions – I’m surprised that he answered any of them.*g*

• 

  Greetings everybody! Friday will soon be over and we’ve spent a hard day engaging cock. I believe a summation to be in order.

  *

  I think we can now safely divide the male world into cock twitchers and non-twitchers.

  *

  May we all live together in peace and enjoy our cocks whether they calmly pulse or twitch excitedly.

  *

  Despite my dislike of the word, I feel more reconciled to reading about twitching as a result of your comments.

  *

  Any authors who care to reach out to those like me and my partner who do not twitch when our penises become erect may feel free to end our isolation and include us in the world of M/M romance.

  *

  I think there’s been a general rejection of cock thumping as a form of erection control, despite some anecdotal evidence to the contrary. I will, then, continue to twitch with irritation when I read about that strategy used by a protagonist to manage arousal in a M/M romance.

  *

  For the people who laughed at my little pirate vignette, I am deeply gratified. There’s nothing better than being able to make someone laugh!

  Sincerely,
  Stuart

• 

  Stuart
  Thank you for that wonderful summation. We can all rest easy now. The authors thank you also for the little pirate story. You do realize that you’re probably the only person who has mentioned female genitalia on this site since it became 100% M/M don’t you?

  **

  I’m so happy you had fun with the comments. That’s the best part of this site I think. Sometimes we take things to extremes because we can’t stop!*g* Hope you had fun — I don’t know if the cocks will now stop twitching pre- arousal, but if they don’t maybe you’ll be able to suspend disbelief and keep on reading!:)

• 

  I’m surprised no nurses have weighed in on the thumping. It used to be regularly taught as part of how to insert a catheter. A certain number of patients will get erections during this procedure, or immediately beforehand. Whether the patient is gleeful or mortified, a quick matter-of-fact thump right across the top of the head will take care of the problem and the catheter can then be inserted.

  • 

    Amber,

    over here the thumping thing isn’t taught to nurses. However, may I pipe up with an entirely different experience:
    When I was very young, I trained as a nurse. One of my tasks was to shave male patient’s private areas preceding certain surgical procedures. So, when I was doing this on my own for the first time, I covered the patient’s penis with a cloth to tauten the skin and started to shave, as I’d been shown by my instructor. The cloth wouldn’t stay down, it kept raising against my restraining hand, and I kept pushing it down none too gently with the heel of my hand. I was nervous to begin with and the stubborn cloth irritated me a great deal. I also wondered why the patient would flinch or hiss occasionally, but he didn’t say a word and it never ocurred to me that there was something else underneath that cloth. (I was very young then) Only when the doctor came in and prepared the local anaesthesia, and I saw the cloth suddenly smoothen down across the patient’s groin, I realized what just had happened – and what I had just done.

    So I must contradict some m/m authors here: Thumping seems not to be effective with EVERY man, unfortunately.

  • 

    Seriously??? I certainly never learned any such thing (cock-thumping, that is). We just had to wait for the erection to go away. Nursing school 1986-88, if it makes any difference. The times, they do change, after all 🙂

• 

  Amber
  Oh my! The things I learn. I had no idea that this was part of nurses’ training.:) Somehow I don’t think that this was the kind of thump that Stuart was talking about.:)

• 

  My only memory of the catheter insertion class is that I desperately needed to go to the bathroom after watching the video! LOL
  *
  L

  • 

    LOL! I can relate in a round about way…

    I went to a BDSM festival and one of the classes offered was cock and ball torture.
    Masters and Mistresses graciously volunteered their male slaves so we could have ‘hands on training’.

    One of the many things we were taught was the proper cleansing and care of sounds (slim steel rods) and the correct way to insert them into the penis to give the desired effect (pain or pleasure).

    After watching our first live demonstration, we students (both male and female) – who had never seen/done something like this, complained we had to go to the bathroom to pee.

    The Master who taught the class laughed and gave a 10 minute potty break – saying this usually happens to newbies watching. Of course, when we came back to start the hands on training, we were concentrating so much that it wasn’t a problem.

• 

  Abby
  Why is it I never get to attend classes where I get to touch penises? I never knew that you could attend classes in BDSM and the students actually are able to handle the merchandise.:)

• 

  I know I am late to the game, but yeah my boyfriend’s penis does twitch… but I don’t think I am going to be able to touch it for a few days after reading about “slim steel rods” – yikes…
  *
  Oh and I so want a “were-ferret”! 🙂

  • 

    Diane
    This site should be billed as an educational website, don’t you think? I had read about the “sounds” in many BDSM books, so wasn’t surprised that a reader brought it up in the discussion. You should try it – who knows, your boyfriend might like it. There are different sizes -there is sort of a training wheel size before you graduate to the big boys.:DDD

• 

  Twitching penises? Man the things I miss when I get busy for a couple of days. Am I the only one thinking of George Costnanza now? “I think it moved.”
  ~
  As for the fellas who can make it move under your control… there are probably clubs where that act would bring in a lot of money. 😀
  ~
  I can’t say I’ve run across men thumping their erections to make them go down, in either m/m or m/f romance. Sounds like the kind of thing a boy would try – once! And anyway, the way the guys in some romances seem to get hard at the drop of a hat they’d be thumping them pretty much continually. “Uh oh, there’s an attractive guy/girl somewhere in a half mile radius – instastiffy!!”

  • 

    JFM
    That will teach you to stay away.:) Who knows, next week I may actually have a thumper on the site with the Friday Guys!:)

    **

    “As for the fellas who can make it move under your control… there are probably clubs where that act would bring in a lot of money”
    **
    I would pay to see such an act.

• 

  There is at least one documented case of a man thumping his penis hard enough to give himself a penile fracture.

  It does happen.

  And I learned about sounds when I was asked to write a story for an anthology that was short. Oddly, it’s one of the better selling ones.

  • 

    Angelia
    “There is at least one documented case of a man thumping his penis hard enough to give himself a penile fracture. It does happen”

    **
    I can’t believe anyone would be crazy enough to try something like that to the point where they ended up in hospital, but they do say that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.:)

• 

  The question–specifically the degree to which the questioner goes to explain that cocks don’t twitch, etc,–sort of implies a belief that m/m should reflect reality.

  Imo, whether cocks really twitch or not is pretty much irrelevant. This sort of ‘sex reality’ question tends to come up a lot and the answer to why fiction veers off from realism is generally ‘because its hot’, or at least because someone thought it was.

  Though personally I think they do twitch. 😉

• 

  Kendra,

  I think the degree to which a m/m story presents itself as naturalistc dictates the level of accuracy I expect from the author. A story with two Orthodox Jewish protags who chew each other’s foreskin might be hot to the author but it would be an absurdity. If an author is setting their story in the contemporary gay community or a historical, I believe author’s have to do their homework or just switch to fantasy (a perfectly respectable genre). I guess the underlying question for me is whether m/m fiction really has anything to do with gay men and their various struggles to be recognized as fully human or if it’s really a way for straight women to enjoy the erotic, similar to the way lesbian sex functions in porn primarily consumed by straight men.

  -Stuart

  • 

    >”I guess the underlying question for me is whether m/m fiction really has anything to do with gay men and their various struggles to be recognized as fully human or if it’s really a way for straight women to enjoy the erotic, similar to the way lesbian sex functions in porn primarily consumed by straight men.”
    .
    Is this even in question? It seems obvious to me that it’s the latter. In which case realism would be much less important.

    • 

      “Is this even in question? It seems obvious to me that it’s the latter. In which case realism would be much less important.”

      Batboy126, I guess I hope there’s a real and abiding respect for the realities and varieties of struggle among the women who write M/M fiction. I’d hate to think that all the work we’ve done over the last few decades to create a world where our relationships are semi-licit is simply a backdrop for them to write what they find to be “hot” sex scenes.

      -Stuart

      • 

        Stuart,

        Of course I can’t speak for everybody else, and I may not have the same viewpoint as everyone else since I’m not straight, but that struggle is the thing I love best about these stories. They wouldn’t mean half as much to me without it.

    • 

      Batboy
      See, there you go again. I keep telling you not to generalize.:)
      I actually prefer the M/M books that have very little sex and more plot. I’m not interested in reading and reviewing PWP. If a story is 2/3 sex then it’s more than likely it will end up as DNF.

      • 

        Wave,

        What’s PWP and DNF mean?

        -Stuart

        • 

          Hi Stuart,
          *
          PWP: Porn without Plot
          DNF: Did not finish
          *
          there is also DIK: Deserted Isle Keeper.
          *
          L

• 

  Kendra

  “The question–specifically the degree to which the questioner goes to explain that cocks don’t twitch, etc,–sort of implies a belief that m/m should reflect reality. Imo, whether cocks really twitch or not is pretty much irrelevant.”

  **

  As Tom Clancy said

  “The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense”.

  ****

  As a reader of the genre who switched from het a few years ago because most of the stories and heroines were too ridiculous to be believed, I expect some level of accuracy in M/M. Sure these stories are fantasies, but the plots of contemporary stories should be believable and the characters should act in a way that makes sense, to a reasonable degree. If the story is speculative fiction then believability doesn’t matter because it’s a fantasy.

• 

  My husband said he would actually enjoy the thumping, and that I should try it some time. o.O

  • 

    Jen
    You should be very careful – you don’t want to break it!

• 

  Yes, they twitch. I’ve seen it, and felt it. Morning wood, anyone? It usually twitches a few times before it gets, um, woody. Or it stirs. Or it rustles. And then someone complains if an author uses those verbs, too.
  ***
  A lot of women who write m/m have, you know, slept with men. I promise we aren’t all just making this stuff up, copying each other, or getting it from the Internet. 😛
  ***
  (For the record, my male characters’ cocks twitch in my het stories, too.)

  • 

    Katrina

    ” It usually twitches a few times before it gets, um, woody. Or it stirs. Or it rustles. And then someone complains if an author uses those verbs, too”

    ***
    Stirs and rustles too? Guys seem to have much more fun than women. Life is so unfair.:)

• 

  “There is at least one documented case of a man thumping his penis hard enough to give himself a penile fracture”

  Why? Why would anyone do this to themselves. *head meets desk*

• 

  heh – as for the “thumping” – I couldn’t help but think of http://emailsfromcrazypeople.com/2009/08/25/let-me-explain/

  A perfect “stranger than fiction” example, yes?

• 

  My Source:
  http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/608/is-it-true-men-can-suffer-penile-fracture
  *
  Cecil Adams doesn’t mince words:
  “Frequently the victim suffers the injury while kneading his member in order to reduce an erection, a technique that in my experience usually has the opposite effect. One moron “awoke during the night with a desire to urinate,” whereupon he “hit his erect penis with his hand in order to alleviate this desire.” ”
  *
  The Wikipedia page for Penile Fracture also has THIS gem. Apparently you can pop your penis like you pop your knuckles.
  *
  The practice of taqaandan also puts men at risk of penile fracture. Taqaandan, which comes from a Kurdish word meaning “to click,” involves bending the top part of the erect penis while holding the lower part of the shaft in place, until a click is heard and felt. Taqaandan is said to be painless and has been compared to cracking one’s knuckles, but the practice of taqaandan has led to an increase in the prevalence of penile fractures in western Iran. Taqaandan may be performed to achieve detumescence.
  *
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penile_fracture
  *
  My world just got weirder.

• 

  Mine twitches when it is not being directly stimulated but I am elsewhere,ie someone chewing on my ear or neck.

• 

  I’m pretty sure the reference is to when the man contracts the groin muscle when erect… You know it sorta gives a little bob 🙂

• 

  Neither I, nor my partner ever have the need or desire to “thump” our dicks in discouragement. In fact, touching them at all just encourages at that point.
  And there might be a slight “twitchy” thing we can do with them, but it’s far more like “check this out! Pretty cool, huh?”, and less a reaction to extreme sexual arousal. That’s just ridiculous.

  Don’t these authors have any gay friends who can answer these questions? I’m inundated with them all the time from female friends.

  • 

    Michael
    Thanks for responding here to my other post yesterday. You should have commented on that one so that the M/M authors would see it 🙂 because this post is over a year old.

    One of the reasons I do these posts is to lift the veil on the gay lifestyle because the guys complain to me all the time about how unrealistic the characterizations are, and people like you help me reinforce this, (just in case they think it’s all my idea). 🙂

    Thanks for writing and if you have a chance to comment on the other post which I wrote yesterday about strange goings on in M/M romances, that would be great.

• 

  I twitch.

  • 

    Hey Brian
    I never saw this comment. lol. That’s good to know. 🙂

• 

  Penises definitely do twitch! It is a function of the pc muscle. Voluntarily or involuntarily. Once one strengthens his pc muscle with the kegels, he can twitch inside his partner. I am a woman and have had many experiences with men causing me to have an orgasm from them “twitching” inside of me, both vaginally and anally, so I assume it’s possible for m/m, also.
  I knew a guy once who had such good control over his pc muscles that he could keep his penis in various states of erection and therefore various angles for quite a long time. Good control works lots of ways!
  I was a body work sex therapist before I was a writer/editor/publisher, so learned these techniques as part of therapy.

  • 

    Wow Sally, I never knew one could do so much with muscle control of the penis. These posts are a way of educating myself as well as the other readers. Thank you for this information. 😉

• 

  This is false because I have first hand knowledge that my boyfriend’s penis twitches while he is erect/hard.

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