Is the “blue balls” syndrome a myth that especially sets the culture of rape?

If you’re in a relationship with cisgender men, you may have heard of “blue balls” syndrome. This refers to the discomfort that people with penises may experience in their testicles after strong sexual arousal that hasn’t gone as far as ejaculation. Since it is often mobilized as an argument to obtain or prolong sexual intercourse, one may wonder if this phenomenon really exists or if it is just a myth to coerce one’s partners…

There are as many blue balls as there are blue pussies…

For a study published in early May 2023 on sexual medicine called “Blue balls” and sexual coercion: An investigation of genitopelvic pain after sexual arousal without orgasm and its implications for sexual progress, psychologist Samantha Levang and her team surveyed 2,621 people with penises and vaginas to find out what they really were. This online survey was answered by 1,483 people with penises and 1,138 people with vaginas, who are therefore interested in the belief in blue balls, and what could also be called “blue vulva” or “blue pussy”, its frequency, its characteristics and how it could serve as pressure to continue sexual activity for fear of causing pain to partners.

Of those surveyed with penises, 56% said they have ever felt some kind of pain at the level of the testicles following an excitement that would not have caused an ejaculation. But only 7% characterize this experience as very painful.

Another most surprising result for the general public is the number of people with vulvas who say they have already experienced discomfort similar to the blue ball phenomenon: 42% of them experience it.

In other words, arousal not followed by orgasm that results in a feeling of discomfort affects both sexes.. It’s just that cis men are more likely to moan on rooftops than cis women.

… But cis men claim it more, sometimes to coerce their partner

And surprise (no), the report also states this significantly more cis women than cis men report ever feeling pressured to have sex out of fear of causing discomfort to their partner :

” Significantly more people with vaginas than with penises reported being forced to have sex out of fear that their partner would experience pain without an orgasm. Findings from the thematic analysis indicated that participants believe that people with vaginas should act out sexually to prevent their partners from experiencing blue balls, despite agreement that this phenomenon should not be used to coerce or manipulate partners. to engage sexually. »

In other words, the myth of the blue balls held by cis men, and which really manifests itself only in very few of them, allows them to obtain and/or prolong sexual intercourse by coercion by their partners. While people with vaginas, including cis women, may experience just as much discomfort, they try to use it much less as an argument to coerce them into obtaining or prolonging sexual intercourse. In short, another myth that fuels the culture of rape.

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