Random erections, a plague of acne, and discoloration
of… well, down there- some facts of male puberty are absolutely weird. One of the strangest, and messiest, parts
about male puberty occurs while the male is fast asleep. It is during this time that wet dreams can
happen, and the reason for these unwanted nocturnal ejaculations is pretty surprising. In fact, wet dreams have more to do with what
is being produced in the body than what the male is actually dreaming about. If you didn’t already know, it is completely
normal for males to ejaculate in their sleep. There doesn’t need to be any kind of physical
stimulation, and wet dreams are not necessarily caused by dreams about sex. It isn’t completely clear why males going
through puberty have wet dreams, but it’s theorized that they occur due to the balancing
of hormones and the development of different parts of the brain and genitalia. The crazy thing is that even after puberty
males can still experience wet dreams. It is much less common, but can still occur. Some researchers suggest that having frequent
orgasms during the waking hours will reduce the amount of wet dreams. This is a fancy way of saying: more masturbation
reduces the number of wet dreams someone may have. Other research suggests that wet dreams are
just a coping mechanism to help males deal with this stressful time in their lives. This is because during wet dreams, and any
time a male orgasms, dopamine and other pleasure chemicals are released into the brain. Sticking with genitalia for a moment, males
who are not circumcised may find a unique ability develops during this time in life. Uncircumcised males have a flap of skin that
covers the head of the penis called a foreskin. As a young male the foreskin does not retract
on its own, but after puberty that all changes. During puberty, the foreskin becomes wider
and the penis becomes larger. This is most likely to make procreation easier,
but as a result, the foreskin is now retractable. One reason this new ability develops may be
to ensure that when the male ejaculates there is nothing impeding the sperm from entering
the female. And this leads us to one of the most awkward
things that happen to males during puberty: the curse of the unexpected erection. For young men, it seems that there is no rhyme
or reason for when arousal occurs. To be fair, it can be obvious why a male going
through puberty gets an erection like when they are around someone they find attractive,
but other times it’s a mystery. In fact, getting an erection during puberty
does not necessarily mean the male is thinking about sex at all. Erections can occur unexpectedly because of
a sudden surge of testosterone in the body. That is why a male going through puberty may
be in the middle of a lecture on the Pythagorean theorem and end up with an erection. It is not that the male finds the Pythagorean
theorem sexy, just that the hormones in their body are all out of whack due to the changes
they are going through. Before a male even begins to go through his
growth spurt in height, he goes through a growth spurt in his testes. One of the first things that happens in a
male during puberty is their testicle size increases. This growth occurs because the testes are
where testosterone is produced, and males need a lot of this hormone to undergo the
rest of the changes associated with puberty. With the growth of the testes, more testosterone
can be produced, and the male can start his awkward journey into becoming a man. Soon after the testes start to grow the penis
will follow. The time between these two sex organs growing
can vary, but at some point, both the testicles and penis will become larger. And the genitalia are not the only part of
the body that grows. Surprisingly, many males find that their breasts
also increase in size. During puberty, some males experience growth
in their chest. This swelling eventually slows down and the
chest returns to its normal size as time goes on. The enlargement of the breasts occurs in about
two-thirds of males going through puberty, so it is more common than not. It is unclear why the male’s chest needs
to increase in size, but a side effect of the swelling is more sensitivity in the region. Many males find that increased sensitivity
occurs in other parts of the body during puberty as well, including the brain. Males go through mood swings during puberty
due to the flood of hormones surging through their bodies. There are measurable changes that occur in
the brain during this time of life in both males and females. Obviously, there are many differences between
what the two sexes go through, but there are similarities as well. Both male and female brain composition changes
during puberty, yet they tend to change in different ways. In one study researchers measured the changes
in the brains of 300 young adults going through puberty. The study consisted of 150 males and 150 females. The researchers focused on the regions of
the brain that are associated with mood fluctuations and emotional control that may be responsible
for certain illnesses such as depressions. What they found was very interesting. The researchers discovered that the regions
of the brain connected to mental and emotional illnesses increased in connectivity by about
6.5 % in males. The same regions in the female’s brains
decreased by around 7.2%. This data suggests that there are some key
differences in the way that female and male brains develop during puberty. But it also may be an indication that females
are more resilient to mood disorders than males while going through this period of life. However, much more research needs to be done
before a final conclusion can be made. An obvious change that males go through during
puberty is the lowering of their voices. But what is crazy about this process has to
do more with what is happening to the body than the changing of the voice itself. As a male goes through puberty testosterone
is dumped into their bloodstream and carried around the body by the cardiovascular system. The testosterone signals the voice box to
go through changes to allow the voice to become lower and deeper. This happens due to the cartilage in the voice
box growing in size and thickness. With larger vocal cords, and more space for
them to vibrate in, the pitch of the voice becomes lower. During puberty, the larynx itself starts to
move down and the “Adam’s apple” begins to protrude from the neck. At the same time, the bones of the face begin
to grow larger as well. All of this new space, and the increased size
of the voice box, allow the male voice to resonate at a lower frequency. But there is a weird side effect that occurs
because of this process. It is the growth and shifting of structures
in this area of the body that causes the embarrassing voice cracking which some males go through
during puberty. Since the voice box, vocal cords, and the
skeletal structure itself is changing, the brain needs to adjust to produce the proper
sounds. Unfortunately, since this is all new to the
male, mistakes happen. Sometimes too much air is pushed through the
larynx causing the voice to crack. This is no fault of the male, it is just a
strange side effect of them going through puberty. And just as a side note, human males are not
the only animal that goes through a voice shift during puberty. Male apes and other animals also develop lower
sound ranges as well. It is not entirely clear why males need to
develop a lower register, but some evolutionary biologists believe that it has to do with
attracting a mate after puberty. A male cannot successfully reproduce until
puberty begins because this is when sperm production starts. Therefore, in both humans and other animals,
the change in voice may be a signal to females that the male is now sexually maturing and
ready for procreation. Another weird fact doesn’t so much have
to do with what is happening during puberty, but when puberty occurs in males. Everyone is different. This means that every male will have slightly
varied experiences during this time in life. Some males will start puberty as young as
8 years old, while others won’t go through it until sometime after 14. Most males begin the process somewhere in
the middle of this range, but the exact age at which puberty starts can differ widely. The weird thing is that puberty is beginning
to occur in males at a young and younger age. Researchers have found that as the 20th century
progressed the average age a boy went through puberty started to shift. Interestingly, this isn’t just happening
in males, but in females as well. Some researchers have claimed that this may
be a result of exposure to certain synthetic chemicals that interfere with the way the
body regulates its hormones. If the chemicals are causing testosterone
and estrogen to be produced and released at an earlier age, this could be one explanation
for why males and females are going through puberty younger than before. Other researchers attribute this shift to
biological factors. It has been proposed that the higher levels
of stress associated with living in developing cities or a fast-paced society may cause the
endocrine system, which produces hormones, to get out of whack. It has also been suggested that childhood
obesity may throw off the hormone regulation in a young person’s body, which may result
in puberty occurring at a younger age as well. A final theory about why this strange shift
is happening has to do with living conditions. The consumption of less nutritious foods may
result in the body undergoing puberty at an earlier age. This may be occurring in communities that
do not have access to healthy foods or the resources they need. This is no fault of the communities themselves,
but a result of a society that places more importance on some populations than others. In areas that are considered “food deserts,”
families may have to travel hours to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, while less nutritious
and more artificial foods may be all that’s available close to home. Other than when it happens, there are further
differences that occur between males during puberty. All male genitalia is slightly different. This goes for size, shape, curve, and even
at the rate at which they develop. But one really weird thing that happens to
a male during puberty is that the color of his genitalia may change slightly. That’s right, during puberty the penis and
scrotum not only change in size but in coloration as well. Normally when this happens the genitals become
slightly darker. It is not clear why this is, but it most likely
has to do with slight changes in the pigmentation produced by the cells during puberty. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit or
harm to the changing color of the penis and scrotum, but it is definitely weird. Finally, we reach one of the uglier parts
of puberty: acne. Some males are plagued by large amounts of
pimples during this stage of life. But why is this? The main reason males and females develop
acne during their puberty years is because the body produces massive amounts of a sex
hormone called androgens. A side effect of this hormone is that the
body produces more oils. These oils in turn clog the pores of the skin,
while simultaneously providing a source of food for bacteria causing acne. So, the weirdest part about this whole thing
is that acne is a result of the body feeding bacteria its own dead skin cells and oils. Gross right? Now watch “Even Weirder Facts About Male
Body.” Or check out “Weird Facts About Testicles.”
