When I was six years old, I consciously experienced my first erection with a neighborhood girl of the same age. My curiosity increased when I saw only a small glimpse of her genital area when we played "doctor" and my desire to know more about the female sex increased tremendously. One day after school, the girl came over to my house. We proceeded up to my bedroom where I told her, "You can see me if I can see you." After she agreed, we both pulled down our pants. She asked me what my penis was. I told her that it was my "weiner," and that she didn't have one-only boys had "weiners." I then proceeded to touch my "weiner" to her "doop" (rear). This contact lasted for only a short time, yet I noticed for the first time that my penis was stiff. I had previously seen my friend's penis become erect as we played "doctor," but my penis becoming stiff was something I had never consciously experienced before. The girl and I were age six. I suggested playing doctor. We took off our clothes and then she lay down on her stomach so I could give her a "shot." The closest thing to a shot was a pinch so I did that a few times lightly.... It was my turn to be the patient so I lay on my stomach while she examined me.
Then I turned onto my back and I let her
gaze at me awhile. She messed around a little bit
until I began to get what was for me my first memorable
erection. It didn't make much sense to me
at the time but there wasn't much I could do about
it. She started giggling; I couldn't help giggling
either so we laughed heartily for a few minutes
until she said, almost screaming, "What is
that!? What is it!?" I blurted out, "I don't
know!" and out of amazement sat up to take a look
at this marvelous phenomenon.
She started to touch
it, pulled back quickly (still giggling), then
touched it and finally put her hand on it. At that
time I wasn't exactly prepared for the sensations
I received so I suggested that maybe she shouldn't
do that any more. I seem to remember a strange
feeling when looking at her genitals. I couldn't
figure out what they were for but while looking, I
felt a pleasurable sensation in my own genitals,
and I'm sure that the thought of placing mine near
hers passed through my mind but I dismissed it for
lack of time (her mother would be coming soon).
The six year old son of a colleague of mine told his father re
cently "When I see a pretty girl my penis gets so hard!" Is this an ex
ample of a biological-response to an external stimulus; is it the
outgrowth of childhood sex play? Is it based on the chance remark of
some adolescent? It is difficult to research the motivations for such a
remark. Another parent, a mother, reported to Kinsey that her son mas
turbated frequently when he was small but only incidentally and never
to climax now that he was seven years of age. She noticed that he now
had erections when playing with girls. He would deliberately undress
with a playmate, would occasionally cuddle, and would encourage the
girl to stay overnight. He also cuddled a preadolescent girl. Kinsey
reported that the boy ran around the house in the nude while the sex
history was being taken. (Kinsey, unpublished).
Besides direct erotic encounters with peers, the concrete events
and situations which stimulate the growth of sexual curiosity and aid
in sexual awakening of the infant or child are numerous. Among events
which serve to stimulate the child to explore himself and his environment
directly or indirectly by means of questions, imitation, or otherwise
are such incidences as: the presence of a puppy in the home; the
seeing of a litter of kittens for the first time; seeing members of the
family in the nude; noticing the differences in bodily characteristics
in men and women; seeing the changes that occur in a pregnant woman;
the presence of a new baby; a chance bit of information concerning the
coming of babies or other sexual events which are overheard in the family
or mentioned in discussions with other children.
The bodies of the opposite sex challenged imagination.
The breasts of mature women always seemed to
puzzle me. I realized early that fleshy breasts
were characteristic of females, but yet I noticed
that both boys and girls had nipples.