Girlology: A Girl's Guide to Stuff that Matters

Enough about periods for a while, let’s talk about boys! Now, for this whole thing about having babies—it won’t happen just because you have a period. It takes sperm from a man getting together with an egg from a woman to make a baby. Funny thing about guys is that they don’t start making sperm until they go through puberty. (Remember, we are born with all of our eggs. Guys have to start from scratch.)

So have you noticed your guy friends going through puberty? Girls go through it several years earlier than guys. You are probably already in the midst of it, but your guy friends are just noticing changes around ages eleven to fourteen. That’s partly why girls are sometimes “romantically interested” long before their guy friends are clued in to girls and crushes.

You’ll know they are catching up in the puberty scene when you notice some thin, whispy hair on their upper lips (trying to become a mustache). You might notice more acne, voice changes and fast increases in their height. What you don’t notice is one of their first signs of puberty. Their testicles enlarge and their penises grow (getting more information than you want?). It seems unfair that one of the first signs of puberty for a girl is obvious to everyone (we start growing breasts, and it’s hard to hide that!). For guys this early sign is not so obvious (well, that’s probably a good thing!).

Boy Parts

Well, we have to talk about it a little, so in case you didn’t know yet, a boy’s “private body parts,” or external genitalia, are different from yours, especially in one area (no kidding!). Here are the words:Penis (also known as a dick, a pecker, a unit, a johnson, a tally wacker, a weenie, a prick, a one-eyed monster . . . why so many names?!)— the tubelike thing that boys pee out of. It’s also where sperm comes out. It’s made of soft spongy tissue and is usually soft and floppy. When a guy gets sexually excited, the spongy tissue becomes full of blood (engorged). This makes the whole penis hard, and it “stands up” instead of flopping down—that’s called an erection (or a hard-on, a woody, a boner). The penis needs to be erect to allow it to go into the vagina during sex. An erection is an interesting thing . . . really! So interesting, in fact, that we have more about it in the erection section later in this chapter . . . keep reading!Urethra—connects the bladder (which is where urine is stored) to the penis and outside, so it’s where the urine (pee) comes out. It is also connected with the parts involved in sperm travel. That means it’s how the sperm gets out, too. It contains a valve that is like a door that lets only one of these things happen at a time. So when a guy is peeing, sperm can’t come out, and likewise, when sperm is coming out, he can’t pee. When we get more into the sex stuff later, this will seem more important!Testes (also called testicles)—where guys make sperm and where the male hormone (called testosterone) comes from. Testosterone is the hormone that causes boys to grow facial hair, pubic hair, larger muscles and thickened vocal cords that give them their deeper voice (after it goes through the squeaky phase while the voicebox is growing). Guys have two testes, and they often call them their “balls” or their “nuts.” They can be really tender and painful if hit or bumped hard. That’s why guys in sports have to wear a plastic guard called an athletic cup over their penis and testicles to protect those sensitive parts. Some guys in other sports may wear a jock strap, which holds the penis and testicles close to the body and keeps them from flopping and swinging too much. A jock strap keeps a guy’s privates comfortable and secure, like a jogging bra keeps our breasts snug and comfy during vigorous activity.Scrotum—the sac of skin that hold the testicles. It’s located behind the penis and between the legs. Did you know that sperm can only be made properly at a temperature that is slightly lower than our usual body temperature (in fact, they grow best at precisely 96.6 degrees Fahrenheit)? That’s why the scrotum hangs away from the body and keeps the testicles cooler, so they can do their thing. In really cold weather, the scrotum will pull closer into the body to keep the testicles at the right temperature. So guys kind of have this built-in incubator with its own thermometer . . . wow! But don’t believe for a minute that hanging out in a hot tub will kill a guy’s sperm and make it impossible to get pregnant!