S&M | the IoS Sex Column, with Suzi and Mel ; It's Hard to Ignore an Erection, Literally and Figuratively. They Pop Up Regularly in Art, History, Myth and Religion. Priapus, the Well- Endowed Greek God of Fertility, Was Usually Depicted with an Impressive One

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In Dorset, the Cerne Abbas Giant sports an erection that is 12 metres long. Even back in the first century BC size mattered.

An erection is basic hydraulics. When you get horny your heart beats faster and sends blood rushing to your penis. The force of the pumping fluid creates a rigid pressure, and hence an erection.

This process is a reflex action, but one that you can consciously influence, although the general assumption that if a guy has an erection he wants sex is not necessarily the case. A friend of mine once told me that her boyfriend woke up every morning with a huge erection that he never wanted to do anything with. She naturally assumed it was her …