# Are men able to have genital sex if they no longer produce any testosterone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2023, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930 "2023-12-01T00:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/41 "2023-12-04T21:26:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It **may** be a sign of prostate cancer. More often it’s not, for mild elevations. But yes, regular screening is important, that’s how my aggressive prostate cancer got found early. They watched mine slowly climb, until it hit the threshold, which was when I got an MRI to help in the probing. It is nice to catch it early. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/42 "2023-12-04T22:52:51Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s quite contentious, as your statement is not considered correct by medical experts. Consensus is that sex happens in the brain. When it comes to how words are used, the consensus among scientific experts often differs radically from that of the general populace. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the general populace is wrong; often the experts are using their own narrower definition. Dictionaries, many of which try to capture all typical usages, often do define sex (in at least one of many senses) with respect to genitals. (Merriam-Webster, for one, lists one sense that refers specifically to vaginal penetration by the penis.) The fact that medical experts use “sex” to mean an activity that happens in the brain does not trump the fact that an even larger segment of speakers use “sex” to mean an activity that involves the genitals. TLDR: You’re not wrong, but neither is @Common_Tater. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/43 "2023-12-04T23:28:35Z")
And hence why the OP used the phrase “genital sex” to clarify, until this rather odd nitpick occurred that isn’t all sex genital? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/44 "2023-12-04T23:42:26Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > When it comes to how words are used, the consensus among scientific experts often differs radically from that of the general populace. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the general populace is wrong; often the experts are using their own narrower definition. The general populace definition also includes a lot of non-genital acts as “sex”. If you found our that your spouse were engaging in anal penetration with someone else, would you consider that cheating? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/45 "2023-12-05T00:25:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The general populace definition also includes a lot of non-genital acts as “sex”. If you found our that your spouse were engaging in anal penetration with someone else, would you consider that cheating? If we’re going to nitpick, cheating doesn’t have to include any kind of sex. If my partner was secretly hanging out with someone and snuggling alone together, I’d consider that cheating. There are also emotional affairs. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/46 "2023-12-05T01:44:50Z")
Edit: I got irritated and forgot you don’t always have to say what you’re thinking. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/47 "2023-12-05T02:35:29Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > and misc. other regions uninvolved in reproduction. Some quadriplegic folk find they can have orgasms by stimulating the vagus nerve through the ear canal. I don’t fully understand how this is done, but I read it somewhere. And it’s now a matter of law in the “Great” State of Florida that simply wearing a dress and heels can be a sexual act. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/48 "2023-12-06T14:53:41Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Some quadriplegic folk find they can have orgasms by stimulating the vagus nerve through the ear canal. Brings to mind Jack Nicholson, _The Last Detail_ > **Buddusky** : [pause] Well kid, there’s more things in this life than you can possibly imagine. I knew a whore once in Wilmington. She had a glass eye… used to take it out and wink people off for a dollar. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930/49 "2023-12-18T22:48:42Z")
2 posts were merged into an existing topic: [Rondav’s Troll Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rondavs-troll-posts/994789/4) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-able-to-have-genital-sex-if-they-no-longer-produce-any-testosterone/993930.md?page=2)