Last updated on September 17, 2020
Question:
Is it moral to try to get aroused intentionally, but not for pleasure? I heard that testosterone level increases when someone gets aroused. So probably doing things such as fantasizing and looking at porn, which causes arousal, could be beneficial in this case. Since testosterone is responsible for the degree of masculinization in the body, it’s possible that this could make someone grow a beard faster or square the chin (and I have a pointy, effeminate, chin). With the help of aphrodisiacs, this could probably be easier. Is this possible? If yes, is it moral, if I’m after testosterone and not mere pleasure?
Answer:
The male body regulates the amount of testosterone that is in your bloodstream. It is true that when a male becomes aroused, his testosterone level increases, but what most people overlook is that it is a brief spike lasting about an hour. It then returns to normal levels. This spike comes no matter what is the cause of the arousal.
If someone tries to raise their baseline levels of testosterone, the body cuts back on its natural production to keep the baseline steady. Therefore, taking testosterone actually can cause your body to stop producing testosterone, which is not a good thing.
So if being aroused, increases testosterone, your question is why not seek to stay aroused. Being aroused means your penis is erect and your body can’t keep an erection for more than an hour or so without causing you pain due to a lack of oxygen getting to the penis. Also, since the body is self-regulating, I would strongly suspect that after a while the testosterone levels would return to baseline even if the stimulus for arousal continued.
What you are failing to consider is whether your testosterone levels are actually low, or whether you are simply impatient for your body to develop — which it will do without your interference at its own pace. There is a reason that you don’t change overnight from a boy to a man. There are numerous interdependent systems in the body and each needs to develop in a coordinated fashion to support each other. Secondary characteristics are often the last to develop because they are less critical and there is no need to take up vital energy from the critical systems until they are done developing.
Rather than fiddling with God’s design, it is better to allow your body to develop at its own rate. If there is a problem, then address the problem, but don’t create new ones for yourself. Instead, WebMD suggests natural ways to boost testosterone that doesn’t lead to immorality:
- Get enough sleep
- Keep a healthy weight
- Stay active
- Control your stress
- Watch what medication you take
- Forget supplements.
Now, in answer to the moral aspect, pornography and lust remain sinful no matter what your intention might be. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God” (I Thessalonians 4:3-5). Pornography is wrong because it warps your view of women and sex. It presents sex as an end to itself, women as merely an object to receive sexual actions, and falsely declares fornication and lewdness to be normal acceptable behavior. See A Look at Pornography for more information.
The truth of the matter is that you cannot gain good from evil. “And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”? — as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just” (Romans 3:8).
Question:
Thank you very much, Mr. Hamilton. I should’ve told you that I had a feeling that my testosterone levels were slowly declining, as I started to have less sex drive. I was one of the earliest bloomers in my school batch yet a few years after, others have probably surpassed me. Well, either a temporary decline in testosterone or I’m just an early but slower-than-average bloomer.
Answer:
Testosterone levels are not something you can base just on feelings. If you think this might be a problem, then see a doctor. What I suspect is that your hormones are starting to settle down and no longer are wildly fluctuating as they were in earlier stages of development. You are further along than your peers.
That you are developing slower than your peers can be within the range of possibility.