54: Why Do Men Have Nipples?

Rosie (00:00)
I've got a bit of a silly question for you, Rula. This came up in conversation with somebody. In fact, it was a question her husband had, and I think he was joking around, but I...

Roula (00:13)
I love

it when you bring questions from husbands.

Rosie (00:15)
Yeah, I think he was joking around, but he said it and I thought that's a really good question.

Now Rula, do not answer this in a boring way, okay? Just saying that, we're having fun with this question. Do not come at me with biology, okay? So the question is, why do men have nipples?

Roula (00:36)
Alright, Okay.

goodness, I know exactly why they have nipples, but then this is biology.

Rosie (00:51)
Exactly. So, okay, fine. Give us the boring answer and then we'll get into it.

Roula (00:57)
Because it happened. I'm listening to a book, excuse me, Raising Boys. I think in another episode I mentioned it. And they explain exactly why boys have nipples. Because when the embryo is created, all embryos are girls.

Rosie (01:05)
Mm.

Hmm.

Hmm. That's why girls are better.

Roula (01:23)
and then they develop into a boy or a girl. So this is why they have nipples but they did not develop breasts. That's the end of the episode. Here we go. Please tell the husband of your... So I wonder why is he asking this question?

Rosie (01:42)
I

don't know, do we want to know?

Roula (01:45)
Yeah, I do!

Rosie (01:47)
I don't know, but-

Roula (01:49)
So what was the take of your girlfriend? What did she think?

Rosie (01:52)
Well, she didn't, she, she

just thought it was a funny question. She didn't provide an answer, but I, I went away and thought, Hmm, I need to ask all of this question. But even if you come at it from a biological point of view, wouldn't you think evolution would have intervened here? Because what purpose do nipples serve on men? They're not breastfeeding children. What

Roula (02:01)
Did she die?

well it's sometimes

sometimes they have piercings nipple piercings

Rosie (02:19)
But does

that help people live longer? Like from an evolutionary perspective, survival of the fittest, men with nipples live longer than those without?

Roula (02:31)
There aren't men without, so we cannot prove anything.

Rosie (02:34)
So why are nipples still a thing?

Roula (02:36)
No, evolution didn't

change evolution of a human, of the embryo of the human. We still we still need sperm and and.

Rosie (02:48)
You've been so boring right now. Ovum, egg, egg.

Roula (02:50)
What's the other word?

Egg, egg, my God.

Rosie (02:56)
You need to go back to science class.

Roula (02:59)
Okay, okay, okay. This question is, I cannot turn around it and give you a non-biology answer. And I'm not a biologist, so I can't go into that. And I can't make it funny because they have nipples because this is how the embryo is created. They need to have piercing. But maybe, do you think they, if someone stuck on their nipples, do they have like a...

Rosie (03:20)
This is... Yeah, go on.

Roula (03:28)
Like women, get pleasure from it.

Rosie (03:28)
Probably.

I've never asked. You can ask your husband.

Roula (03:36)
No, some some some questions and conversations are better left. Yes.

Rosie (03:40)
And not for the podcast. Yeah.

I would think the answer is yes, but is that helping from a survival point of view? I don't know. So why on earth are nipples? Why do embryos have nipples so early? Okay. You're saying they're both female before the sex is determined or whatever. I'm using the wrong language, but

Typically, women will not have a penis or be born with one.

Roula (04:11)
No, because the embryo

has already the vulva and then this vulva develops into testicles and penis or not. Yes.

Rosie (04:19)
I said I didn't know that. my god, so

all men have vaginas. Fucking love it.

Roula (04:25)
As an embryo, And look, and I'm not an expert. I'm just recalling what I have read in the book because it was explaining in very details the biology of becoming a boy.

Rosie (04:37)
Hmm. Hmm.

What was this book called? Raising Boys. Hmm. Right. Well, you didn't give me the answer I wanted, but this was fascinating. The vulva turns into a penis and testicles.

Roula (04:43)
Raising boys.

I

wonder what the experts will call in and tell us. And I would be glad to have good information.

Rosie (04:58)
yes, yes, yes, that

would be so fun. And you know what? All things in science really are theories and theories are made to be tested. I'm not saying the information we've got is wrong, but asking a question like this is not a bad thing. We've got to test the theories.

Roula (05:18)
But why he asked and he didn't go looking it up on Google to GPT or somewhere?

Rosie (05:21)
I don't

think it was a serious question. He was being funny. Maybe it was a serious question, but he was saying it as a joke so he didn't get embarrassed. Yeah.

Roula (05:32)
Okay,

here's the essence of this episode. Your girlfriend needs to know why he asked this question because then the fun will begin.

Rosie (05:37)
Yeah.

Okay,

why do you think he asked? Should we speculate? Let's speculate. Why do you think he asked the question?

Roula (05:53)
Because he's an idiot. I don't know.

Rosie (05:55)
He's an idiot!

That's a bit mean. Okay, that's potential, yes.

Roula (06:01)
Because he wants to know how it feels and he wants something from her to do. Pinch him, suck on them.

Rosie (06:09)
Okay. So he maybe

wants to explore his sexuality a bit more with nipples and just maybe, hmm? Maybe he doesn't like having nipples.

Roula (06:16)
Maybe.

Maybe.

I really, really am much more intrigued by why he asked the question than the question itself.

Rosie (06:29)
Okay, well, I'm

not sure we're gonna get that answer, but yeah, there we go.

Roula (06:32)
No. Why not

ask your friend and let her speak into our messages.

Rosie (06:40)
Well, she's tried sending in messages, Rula, and it's not working for her. I don't know why. It's working for other people.

Roula (06:45)
but you know, Rosie, how

does she feel knowing that you brought this question on the podcast?

Rosie (06:52)
Haven't asked her yet.

Roula (06:55)
But probably this is the end of your friendship.

Rosie (06:58)
Yeah,

whoopsies. She's a fairly new friend too, so crash and burn. Yeah.

Roula (07:01)
I shouldn't have mean that much to me anyway.

Rosie (07:08)
No! Alright, well,

you're a know-it-all, Roula You're know-it-all. You came at the- Why? It's true! You're not.

Roula (07:14)
Don't tell me this! No, I'm not. It happened

that I'm reading a book that mentioned this. That's all. That's all.

Rosie (07:22)
But you weren't able

to think outside of that, which is interesting. You became very close-minded when I asked this question. It's just like, this is the way it is.

Roula (07:29)
Yeah.

See, sometimes not knowing makes you creative. And my creativity was killed by the fact that I knew why.

Rosie (07:35)
Mmm, totally.

Right? Right. But

science, what we believe and what we think is fact, it changes over time. So what if, what if in an alternative universe or perhaps in this one that we find out that is incorrect?

Roula (07:57)
What are you talking about?

Rosie (07:59)
What am I talking about? That embryos

are all are all female and that is why they all have nipples and vulvas and all the things.

What if that

Roula (08:10)
No, these

are facts and studied, etc. This is not something that it can be.

Rosie (08:14)
So are you saying everything in science

has never been disproven?

Roula (08:18)
I'm not saying everything in science. I'm saying this is a very something that can be checked very well. Like this, you can have an embryo in your hands and check this.

Rosie (08:26)
Okay.

my god, you monster

Roula (08:36)
No! If you want to check fact-checked science you have to have an embryo in your hand. Just like people when they dissect dead bodies. They're not monsters, not people. mean like you know CSI and to know the cause of death and all of the stuff. Yeah. All right, all right. Let's, let's... Very weird. Bye Rosie. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Rosie (08:41)
Hmm.

the cadavers or whatever they are, This is going in a very weird direction. Let's just wrap it up. This is weird. Bye, don't wanna talk to you anymore,

Roula (09:03)
Guys, if you don't want to call in for this question, we also understand. So thank you so much. Bye.