# SD Classic: re Male Nipples **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 1, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520 "2002-09-01T04:17:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andertroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Andertroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andertroid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/1 "2002-09-01T04:17:09Z")
The SD staff provided the writer with an excellent explanation of why males have nipples that are not (genetically) intended to peroduce the same results as those of females. The article dealt with similar issues of male/female similarities but not very directly/explicitly. Example, the male scrotal tissue becomes labia for females (or vice versa), while the clitoris is the female analog of the male penis. For much more on this subject, I recommend the extremely enjoyable essay by the (sadly) late Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard University: ‘Male Nipples and Clitoral Ripples\*’ (sic). The essay appears on pages 124 through 138 in a collection of Mr. Gould’s essays, entitled “Bully for Brontosaurus” (W.W. Norton & Co., 1991). This large collection is/has been available through bookstores and book clubs (I got my copy through a history-oriented book club). Even if you are not that interested in male nipples, etc., you will find that Mr. Gould’s other works are so enjoyable, often so amusing, that you’ll wish you’d attended Harvard University if only to sit in on his biology, geology, and history of science courses. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/2 "2002-09-01T17:36:08Z")
Yeah, I think most of us here are already card-carrying members of the SJG Fan Club. He was one of the few writers to get his own [obituary thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116170), in MPSIMS. But thanks for the tip, anyway. And welcome to the SDMB! And the column in question is [Why do men have nipples?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_093.html) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/3 "2002-09-01T17:39:51Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **Andertroid**. A link to the column is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as copying the URL and pasting it into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_093.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_093.html) Since this is a comment on one of Cecil’s columns and not on a Staff Report (which are written by Cecil’s unworthy minions), I’ll move this thread to the Comments on Cecil’s Columns forum. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/4 "2002-09-02T04:05:52Z")
While we’re discussing the thread, I have to wonder about something in the present version of the column: > [@](#): > > Luckily today the women can avail themselves of corrective surgery while the rest of us can watch Jenny Jones. This is supposed to be from 1979? Give it to me straight, guys - somebody’s cheating here, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2002, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/5 "2002-09-02T05:43:50Z")
yeah, **Some Guy** , i was gonna ask that, too. also, don’t some species of bats have male that lactate? i thought they were fruit bats or some shit. finally, Cecil talks about two urogenital tracts. where can i find out more about the other vestigal tract? jb ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/6 "2002-09-03T05:03:30Z")
Yes **jb** there is a species of bat in which the male lactates. I’ve got two cites here, the first is a short snippet where the fact was mentioned in the Scientific Frontiers magazine, the May-June 1994 issue. [http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf093/sf093b10.htm](http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf093/sf093b10.htm) The second actually seems to be an example for how to write a minor science-oriented term paper, from a professor’s site at the University of Minnesota. The professor seems to have taken the page down, but it still available through the wonders of the Google Cache [http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:TPa6KEsojLUC:www.cbs.umn.edu/class/eeb/5327/termpaper/example2.html](http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:TPa6KEsojLUC:www.cbs.umn.edu/class/eeb/5327/termpaper/example2.html) Here’s a choice quote > [@](#): > > In August 1992, ten male Dayak fruit bats, Dyacopterus spadiceus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), were captured in the rainforests of the Krau Game Reserve in Malaysia. All ten males were judged to be sexually mature based on ossification of wing joint and descended testes, and each had functional mammary glands containing small amounts of milk (Francis 1994). Histological examination of three of the males showed that the secretory tissue was not as well developed as that of a lactating female, but that the males did have large mammary ducts and multiple lactiferous ducts entering the nipple and opening on its surface (Francis 1994). Measurements of the diameter of the alveoli indicated that at least one male been suckled recently (Francis 1994). The paper does note that this seems to be a unique occurance so far. No other instances of male lactation in the wild. There is a cite in there for the scientific magazine Nature, wherein we could probably find more info. The cite is: Francis, C. M. 1994 Lactation in Male Fruit Bats. Scientific Correspondence. Nature Issue 367: Pg. 691-692. I don’t have a membership to their site so I can’t do a more detailed search for you. Maybe some helpful doper could? As a reward you might get a cite from Unca Cecil when he publishes a post-script to this article. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/7 "2002-09-03T05:11:16Z")
PS- Unca Cecil’s article was published in 1979(well except for the questionable bit about Jenny Jones) and the Dayak bats were not found until 1992. Unca Cecil was accurate, to the best of known scientific knowledge, at the time of the article’s publication. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![metatron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@metatron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metatron)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2002, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/8 "2002-09-06T10:24:11Z")
There’s another factoid that may have escaped detection when the column was written: certain male bodybuilders who lactate. Granted, there’s no telling what kinds of hormones some of these guys shoot up, but a correspondent from New York tells us that a close friend of his lactated and, with his exceptionally developed pectoral muscles, could shoot a stream of milk at will. This man is generally reliable, but we wonder whether any similar rumors, or attested cases, have ever come into anybody’s view. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/9 "2002-09-07T05:43:34Z")
Regarding male lactation, Cecil addressed that here: [Is there any mammal species in which the males breastfeed the young?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_321.html) > [@](#): > > In fact, there are a couple cases on record in which elderly men treated with estrogen for prostate cancer were induced to lactate. No mention of bats, but that was from 1984. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/10 "2002-09-14T03:29:22Z")
Oldfashioned antipsychotic drugs! The neuropharmaceutical guys had this figured out 40+ years ago: too much dopamine in the cortex is associated with hallucinations, paranoia, altered states (and no, that’s _not_ why they call it dope-amine.) Your Haldol or whatever charged in to foil the deeds of the dopamine, whenever and wherever it found any, including the black stuff (substantia nigra), where only dopamine stands between us and Parkinsonism; in the up-against-the-wall nucleus (nucleus accumbens septi), where dopamine gives joy, reward, satisfaction, etc.; and in the thing-under-the-honeymoon-suite (hypothalamus), where dopamine blocks the flow of prolactin. So, a few good hits of Haldol (Prolixin, Thorazine, whatever), and you’re not hallucinating, but stiff as a board, lactating and dripping milk, and not enjoying life one little bit. Menstrual periods also tend to be suppressed, along with the dread PMS, which doesn’t bother the guys at all but really upsets women (go figure.) Miracle drugs in their day, but now it’s 30-40 years later and the newer ones can generally do their jobs without such horrendous side effects. The brain, the brain, you gotta love it or go crazy! BTW, hi, folks! I’m new in these parts; but the kindness of strangers glows ubiquitous and I’m confident. Kind of. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/11 "2002-09-14T09:36:50Z")
Welcome, oldbat. I’m a little confused by your post. Nothing specific in your post, but the whole post. I’m not sure what it has to do with male nipples. Did you perhaps get the wrong thread? ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/12 "2002-09-14T14:50:47Z")
Sorry, I got a little carried away. Male mammary glands can be stimulated by the hormone prolactin to develop and produce actual milk, to the great distress of the patient. So, not only do we all have nipples, but also the hormonal wherewithall to put the milk factory into active production. Guys’ usual overall balance, with the preponderance of testosterone, can usually be trusted to keep milk gland development suppressed, by means of dopamine secretion at the proper location in the hypothalamus. But when you introduce a chemical that interferes with the dopamine activity, the prolactin faucet is stuck in the open position,so to speak. Does that sound a little clearer? Again, I apologize for degeneratng into unclarity. oldbat ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520/13 "2002-09-20T06:18:46Z")
Thanks, that’s much better.