Sexting is so common a practice that, 88% of participants in a 2015 study said that they had done it. It is so common that even high profile people such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos admits to have frequently done it and risks that his nudes will soon be exposed. That is why psychologists are trying to understand and analyse the seemingly age old question that has been lingering in this era of sexting; ‘why do men send pictures of their genitals to women?’ Some theories have been put across to examine this ‘phenomena’. Here are some.
It’s impulsive
Many men lack impulse or control. Someone who is more impulsive will find themselves sending photos especially if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Someone who is less impulsive will actually take time to think it out, even if they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Seeking dominance
Sending pictures of private parts may be a way of seeking acceptance, intimacy, bragging and more so dominance- seeking. Since bragging and dominance-seeking are less conventional expressions of female gender roles, it is not surprising that men, do this far more frequently. It is often unsolicited dominance seeking.
It’s an act of sexualised hostility.
Psychologists consider it as an act of rage against women, now filtered through the cybersphere. It is often unsolicited dominance seeking; guys genital pics are far more often regarded as aggressive.The shocked reactions from the women who get these pictures is a big part of the thrill for the men who send them.
They are attached to their private parts
Men, generally more than women, feel a connection to their genitalia and want the person they are interested in sexually, to share that interest.
Men often mispercieve a woman’s interest
Most women aren’t interested in pictures of penises at all. They’re more turned on by (images of) a man’s eyes or his butt. Men just aren’t good at gauging the level of a woman’s interest in him,they’re bad at it; and (the pictures) are not welcome.
It’s adaptive evolution
Some men are just hard-wired to do this kind of stuff. This affirms that there is an evolutionary basis to this type of behavior. It is sexual signaling that is designed to stimulate conditions from which reproductive sexual behavior can happen.