History Main / LactatingMale

The same usually applies to cartoon mammals, but there are some exceptions. In some cartoons, it is expected that any mammal will have the ability to produce milk, even if the mammal in question has been established to be, or otherwise evidently is, male. This will be treated as perfectly normal. Nobody will even [[LampshadeHanging hang a lampshade]] on it. Sometimes the trope is defied and discussed when characters think a male can produce milk, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only for other people to point out that's not possible]].

* An article in ''ComicBook/{{Viz}}'' about Creator/ITV'' presenter, Eamonn Holmes claimed that he lactates cottage cheese out of his left nipple when he hears the cry of a newborn baby.

In real life, male mammals do not generally produce milk. [[note]]There are some exceptions - male lactation is well-documented in the Dayak fruit bat and the Bismarck masked flying fox. Male goats also lactate on occasion.[[/note]] Not even all female mammals produce milk -- only post-pregnant mammals do.

In real life, male mammals do not produce milk. Not even all female mammals produce milk -- only post-pregnant mammals do.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Equius' lusus slash butler, the centaur Aurthour, is described as a male and has masculine traits such as a long mustache and a sculpted, distinctly not female chest, but also has prominent cow udders and is implied to produce the milk he serves to Equius himself.

[[folder:Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In "Does This Duckbill Make Me Look Fat?", Candace switches bodies with Perry the Platypus. While in his body, she is able to sweat milk. Maybe when she and Perry switched bodies they also switched hormones.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* There are several instances of male Bismarck and Dayak flying foxes lactating. Why this is remains a mystery as neither animals show male parental care and their nipples are in fact not as tough as those of females.
* Pigeons, flamingos, and male emperor penguins all produce a substance similar to mammalian milk known as crop milk for their young (though in the case of flamingos this substance is blood red). Lacking mammary glands they regurgitate the milk for their chicks. Just like with mammals, production of crop milk is controlled by the hormone prolactin.
* Galactorrhea, or lactation not associated with breast feeding, can occur in both men and women who are not breastfeeding. It is generally caused by a prolactin-secreting pituitary adenoma. Such lactation in men has in some folk traditions been referred to as "witch's milk."
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In "Does This Duckbill Make Me Look Fat?", Candace switches bodies with Perry the Platypus. While in his body, she is able to sweat milk.

[[/folder]]

* ''Series/{{House}}}'': In the B-plot for "Skin Deep", House is treating a man with couvade syndrome (sympathetic pregnancy) who is experiencing lactation among other symptoms. When his wife goes into labor, he gets contractions too. This gives House his "Eureka!" moment and allows him to diagnose his primary patient, a beautiful model [[spoiler: with testicular cancer. What she didn't know was that she was genetically male but androgen insensitivity syndrome led her to develop externally as female. Her undescended testicles has been mistaken for ovaries in early scans]]. House handles this with his usual [[SarcasmMode sensitivity and tact]].

* Galactorrhea, or lactation not associated with breast feeding, can occur in both men and women who are not breastfeeding. It is generally caused by a prolactin-secreting pituitary adenoma.

* There are at least some cases of male Bismarck masked flying foxes lactating.

* Pigeons, flamingos, and male emperor penguins all produce a substance similar to mammalian milk known as crop milk for their young. Lacking mammary glands they regurgitate the milk for their chicks. Just like with mammals, production of crop milk is controlled by the hormone prolactin.

In real life, male mammals do not produce milk. Not even all female mammals produce milk -- only post-pregnant mammals produce milk.

!!Examples

* When Kellogg's introduced their cereal milk bars, they came with a mascot, a cow named Uder. The problem is that this cow had a milk launcher affixed directly to its udder, leading to ViewerGenderConfusion until a later advert had Uder referred to specifically as a 'he'.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]

* Subverted in ''Film/IntoTheWoods''. Just like in the original ''Jack and the Beanstalk'', Jack and his mother have to sell their cow because it's no longer producing milk, but in this version, Jack refers to the cow as a 'he'. But it turns out he was simply mistaken.
--->'''Jack's mother''': It's a 'she'! How many times do I have to tell you only "she"s can give milk?

---> '''Strax''': I can produce magnificent amounts of lactic fluid!

--->'''Woman''': I've read about cases, haven't you, where a woman dies and there's nothing to feed her baby, so the father puts the baby to his teat, and after awhile he begins to lactate, to produce milk, didn't you ever hear of that?

* The move Milk Drink in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' was exclusive to Miltank which is an AlwaysFemale [[SingleGenderRace Pokemon]] until ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' introduced Skiddo and Gogoat. They are based on goats and can be female or male, making it this trope for the latter.

[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': While flying with Bulma, Yajirobe finds baby Trunks trying to suck his nipple. Bulma assures him that Trunks will stop when he realizes it's a dry well only for Yajirobe to imply that being on an all senzu diet resulted in him being able to lactate.
->'''Yajirobe:''' Korrin likes it.
* ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'': Discussed in "I HAVE KIRBY POWERS!". When Anthony inhales what he thinks is a woman ([[DudeLooksLikeALady but is actually a crossdressing male prostitute named Bruce]]), he wonders why he didn't get any "cool girl powers" like being able to shoot milk out of his nipples.