Nipple Lore in the Gay Community

With the Thread on Nipple cylinders brought to mind evolution of nipple etiquette, for lack of a better term, witihin the gay community.

I was aware at 13 yo what my likely sexual orientatiion would be; then I began actively seeking out male sexual partners but I was “trade” until I was 21 when I first 69ed with a lover…and having simultaneous orgasms was like sitting at the feet of singing angels. That was in 1959.

Then, up until I don’t remember when, you did not touch a gay man’s nipples. At that time it was bad enough being gay, but to derive/admit pleasure from stimulation of your nipples, an activity associated with the “feminine” was the last place you wanted to be.

I don’t rembmer when the change occurred, but suddently gay men were deriving pleasure from stimulation of their nipples. I’m 65 yo, and when I realized this a decade or so ago…..I asked some of my age peers if that was their perception and it was.

Now many men, regardless of sexual orientation have discovered the potential erogenous nature of their nipples and that repeated stimulation by various means man enhance this pleasure.

Unless I’m mistaken the nipples has some penile tissue which fills with blood on excitation/stimulation; on repeated stimulation this penile tissue may expand. I’ve seen men with nipples size of pencil erasers and the end of a little finger.

OR eon
GayMan

I had not heard of there being any sort of cultural stigma toward men’s nipples…gay community or otherwise. I got mine pierced several months ago and that by itself…no pumping ever….enlarged them by at least 5 times their original size. Even months after removing the jewelry, they are still the same size…much bigger than before. I dont understand why more men dont just get their nipples pierced rather than screw around with pumping for who knows how long. It’s a quick fix, and probably costs less too.

Stillwantmore,

You don’t give your age….and as I stated I inquired with my age peers and the ones I did agreed that nipples of gay men were off limits.

OR eon
GayMan

We come from about the same era. Your experience might be a regional one. I seldom encountered a man in a sexual situation who did not want his nipples involved in sex play. There were a few whose nipples, though, were exquisitely sensitive and they prefered not to have them touched.

They are usually a major errogenous zone, though.

Avocet8,,
I thought about that later that having been reared in Houston and grad school in Arkansas, at that time both sleepy and provencial; post grad work in Chicago…still the midwest

Both coasts have always been more sexually progressive at least within the gay community.

On the other hand…when you were having sexual encoounters in your 20’s…was that the case, that was the point I wished to make that nipple play was not as widespread then as now, at least in my sexual encounters.

OR eon
GayMan

Could be. You started to be sexually active earlier than I.

Also, men in general are I think far more aware of their sexual possibilites now than then. So much media hype now about sex, etc.

I was amused to be waiting in a super market check out today where the “impulse buy” mags are. Few did not have some sexual article featured. If Better Homes and Gardens begins to do similar pieces, “The Bedroom: Hot To Build Your Sexual Love Nest!!”, maybe we should start worrying.

I don’t know about the gay community but I have enjoyed nipple stimulation since the early 90’s with my first girlfriend. We discovered it almost by accident, she had initated the encounter and was kissing me working her way down when she started kissing and sucking on my nipples. I indicated that it felt good and she continued for awhile. I got a HUGE erection from it too. I didn’t know other men enjoyed this before I came to this site.

I don’t have that many sex partners but like a lot when I can get my nipples stimulated during sex and I sometimes use my other hand to stimulate them when masterbating.

Also as I get back in shape again I am thinking of getting my nipples peirced but I am not sure what kind of jelwerey to get and where to get it done.

Guys,

Here’s a previous thread on Nipple Play - the Overlooked Male Erogenous Zone that may be worth revisiting.
Nipple Play - the overlooked male erogenous zone

For me, it’s still one of the most erotic activities to have done to my body.

Peforeal

Didn’t Tom of Finland artwork have something to do with this change in focus and the eroticization of male nipples? In the mid-to-late 1970s and during the 1980s, Tom of Finland drawings show gay men with huge pecs and big, prominent nipples with large aerolae. He started showing gay men as masculine, macho men rather than the “queens and fairies” look of the 1940s and 1950s, e.g., the Little Richard-style pompadour hair, etc. About that same time, the Village People hit the scene and the leather look and lifestyle became big. I think that Tom of Finland undoubtedly had much influence on the macho, leather crowd and big, pencil eraser nips became something that was sought after. With the nipple/dick connection that Peforeal talks about in his thread referred to above, I’m sure that rest was history and pleasure overcame any previous stigma.

As a heterosexual male coming of age in the early 1980s, I became aware of the erotic potential of nipples when my sitting with my girlfriend on her couch. She put her hand down my shirt and started running her fingers through my chest hair. Next thing I knew, she brushed over the nipples, noted a pleasured response from me, and we both became aware of the erectile and arousal potential of the male nipple.

Love my Hotwired nips.