Nocturnal Emissions: An Apposite Subject for the Study of Masculinities. A Historiographical Overview

Abstract

The history of nocturnal emissions reveals the shifting boundaries between physiology and pathology, as well as the transformation of medical knowledge surrounding masculinity. They have played a central role in the construction of the male body, interpreted differently according to the era, as a sign of illness or a natural physiological process of transition to adulthood.

Keywords

• gender
• masculinities
• sleep
• nocturnal emission
• wet dreams