A standard maneuver during lovemaking for even uninitiated male lovers involves fondling and kissing the female partner's breasts, stimulating her nipples both manually and orally.

Female sexual arousal associated with the varied techniques used to stimulate the nipples is the stuff of urban legends. Nipple stimulation is usually assumed to be a sexual technique applied to women. Nipple stimulation in men tends to be thought of as kinky, as in some sado-masochistic piercing scenarios.

A recent study, however, indicates that many men as well as most women enjoy having their nipples stimulated. Dr. Roy Levin of University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom and Dr. Cindy Meston of the University of Texas at Austin surveyed approximately 300 sexually experienced undergraduate students. The results strongly indicate that men enjoy nipple stimulation as much as women.

Almost 82 percent of the women responding to the survey reported that stimulation of their nipples increased their sexual arousal, and 78 percent said that, if they were already sexually aroused, nipple stimulation increased their arousal. Among the men, about 52 percent reported that nipple stimulation increased their arousal, while about 40 percent indicated that if already aroused such stimulation would arouse them more. Interestingly, 59 percent of the women reported that they routinely asked to have their nipples stimulated during sex while only 17 percent of men did so.

Apparently, social stigma may still prevent men from asking for this form of sexual stimulation, even though many of them find it arousing and enjoyable.