Puberty

silhouette of human torso with pink anatomically correct heart

Entering puberty will mean different things for different people. Your body and voice may change, you might sweat more and grow hair on your body. Your mood may change and many people start thinking more about sex, and experience more sexual feelings than before. If you’ve got a pussy, you may start having periods. If you’ve got a dick, you may start getting ejaculations.

What is puberty?

Puberty is the name for the time-span where the body develops in many different ways from what we label the body of a child to the body of an adult. Most commonly, you’ll have your first period if you have a pussy, or your first ejaculation (secreting sperm)  if you have a dick, during puberty. Both periods and ejaculations are signs of the body being sexually mature, meaning ready to have children. Puberty is started by hormones. Hormones are substances that regulate a lot of things in the body, like how the body grows and how it uses nutrition.

When does puberty start?

For most people, puberty starts at around 8 to 14 years old, and keeps going for about four to six years. However, it can begin both later and earlier. You can’t know or decide when puberty starts for you specifically, but it’s common that it starts at around the same age as it did for your biological parents.

If you are younger than eight years old and suspect that your puberty is starting, you should talk to your school nurse or another adult. It’s the same if you suspect that your puberty hasn’t started at all when you’re 14 (you can also talk to a youth clinic). If it’s necessary, an early puberty can be stopped and a late puberty can be started using medicines. Talking so someone about how it feels to develop faster or slower than your friend can feel good.

What happens to the body during puberty?

The shape of the body changes

Most people grow a lot, when puberty is over, you are not going to grow taller. The body can change in other ways too. The hips grow wider and the breasts grow for some. For others, the torso grows wider and bigger.

Hair

You may start growing more body hair, and grow hair in new places. Usually, hair starts growing in the armpits and by the genitals, some also start growing facial hair.

Sweat

A lot of people start sweating more, especially on their feet, hands, genitals and in their armpits.

Acne

The sebaceous glands in the skin start producing more fat than before. This can cause your hair to get greasy faster than before, and also cause your facial and body skin to get blackheads and zits. Zits are not caused by bad hygiene, they affect everyone in different amounts.

Voice

Because of the growth of the vocal cords, your voice will deepen and become lower. As your voice develops, you will probably occasionally experience that it gets raspy or quickly breaks between high and low pitches. Everyone goes through voice changes, but it’s more noticable for some than others.

Groin and genitals

Both your groin and genitals will change in different ways during puberty. You might notice bumps around your groin, they are caused by sebaceous glands. Smegma, another kind of secretion, is produced under the foreskin and in folds of the labia. The groin may also smell differently, because of increased sweating and other secretions in the groin area. Both the dick and testicles grow, as do the labia and clitoris for people with cunts.

Sex drive

You can be horny, masturbate and have sex before puberty, but a lot of people start thinking more about sex, getting horny and having a sex drive during puberty. If you’ve got a dick, you can start getting erections often, sometimes without knowing why. Even if it might feel strange or embarrassing, just know that it’s neither unusual, nor weird.

Menstruation

Most people with cunts will get their first period sometime during puberty. Menstruating means that you are sexually mature, your ovulation has started, and you can get pregnant.

Sperm

If you’ve got a dick, your testicles will grow and start producing sperm. Sperms are secreted as a part of the cum when you ejactulate. Ejaculating means that you are sexually mature, and can get someone pregnant. Nightly ejaculations (“wet dreams”) are common during puberty.

There is a lot more to read about everything that happens during puberty at umo.se

Text by Line Janson, Förenade tjej-, trans- och ungdomsjourer

Translated by Dannie Milve, Förenade tjej-, trans- och ungdomsjourer

We’ve borrowed a lot of good information in this text from Umo - www.umo.se!