David Depierre - They Stoop to Conquer: A Brief History of Oral Sex

Preface

Everyone is doing it. While that truism may hold when discussing sex in general, its pertinence to oral sex is a much more complicated issue both socially and historically. Writing about any particular sexual practice is always a difficult exercise in history due to the limited sources from so many regions and eras. Yet, oral sex demands particular academic attention due to the changing perceptions of the practice over the past 4000 years. While the notion that primitive man was an anarchic hedonist has now been largely disproven, there were certainly less restrictions on his sexual practices. As civilization was constructed and notions of health, religion, and philosophy arose, certain erotic undertakings came to be considered impure, unclean, or simply unnecessary. Oral sex became one of the first sexual activities of man to fall under that category. In keeping with most prohibitions throughout human history though, a subculture of resistance arose which slowly, over thousands of years, whittled away at these restrictions until oral sex was once again an acceptable practice.

Interestingly, these restrictions seem to have been at times geographically contained. Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa all bore historical aversions to the practice of fellatio and cunnilingus. Yet as one traveled further to the east across Asia and eventually the Pacific, the natural migration of man, these taboos became less pronounced until they eventually disappear altogether in the wilderness of North and South America. While it is true that the Amerindians were on a more primitive stage of development than Eurasians and thus their view of oral sex may reflect that of the Old World before the rise of civilization, the more relaxed attitude of India and China to the practice are more difficult to explain.

This book will examine the general rise, fall, and renaissance of oral sex in world history. Specific attention will be paid to the overall view of the practice by various cultures as well small vignettes portraying times at which fellatio or cunnilingus altered the history of men or nations. Reasons for the decline and rebirth of the practices will also be fathomed as well as an attempt to explain the different views of oral sex across the globe. History is little more than a collection of individuals, and individuals are simply an assemblage of their traits, desires, and personal practices. Historically, little has been more personal for people than what they have done between sheets or in this case, on their knees.

Introduction

Halfway through Shakespeares Hamlet , while the audience is attempting to fathom the play within a play being offered by the Prince, the author busies himself with thoughts and talks of sex. As the various players on the stage ready themselves for the performance, Hamlet cozies up next to Ophelia

Hamlet: Lady, shall I lie in your lap?

Ophelia: No, my lord.

H: I mean, my head upon your lap?

O: Ay, my lord.

H: Do you think I meant count ry matters?

Yet Hamlet was not the only one to have country matters in mind. Mans interest in sex is a well-established truism, but his love of oral sex in particular is a subject historically both taboo and under-documented. Long before Hamlet attempted to lay his head in the lap of Ophelia for unrestful purposes, men and women were partaking in one of the most intimate forms of love. This work will trace the history of that activity, highlighting its function, historical importance, and periods of repression as well as of acceptance.

The first question to be answered though is whether or not oral sex is a purely human undertaking. Though a subject of only recent concern, zoologists have discovered several examples of similar activity within the animal kingdom. All of these seem to fall within the Mammalia kingdom, and even then only among certain species. As the most primitive of mammals, specifically the monotremes, seem to not partake in oral sex, it seems to have evolved only in the placentalia orders.

One of the more interesting cases of this has been found in the greater short-nosed fruit bat ( Cynopterus sphinx ) of Southeast Asia. In an action first observed by the Guangdong Entomological Institute in 2009, the female of the species would bend forward and lick the males penis during mating. Out of the 20 copulations observed, fellatio was involved in 14 of them. Those bats that engaged in the act had longer sexual encounters, with each second of oral stimulation adding six seconds of penetration time. The researchers could only speculate as to the benefit of such an arrangement, suggesting that either the increased sex time would lead to a higher chance of successful fertilization or that the females licking helped to prevent the transmission of STDs. Either way the females fellatio seems to have benefited her as much as or more than it did the male.

The Indian flying fox, or Pteropus giganteus , has been observed to have taken part in oral sex as well, but in this case cunnilingus rather than fellatio. A study of the phenomenon done in 2013 seems to suggest that by performing oral sex, male flying foxes were more frequently allowed to then have sex with the female. In fact males who performed cunnilingus were able to mount their mate in 57 out of 69 cases. Interestingly, once copulation had finished, these same males once again resorted to performing oral sex on the female. In almost all cases this second bout seems to have lasted two to three times as long as pre-sex cunnilingus. The reasons behind this behavior may have to do with cleanliness, disease prevention, social bonding, or the ingestion of lost semen material.

Oral sex in hyenas also seems to serve a rather practical rather than pleasurable purpose. As with many other animals, sexual dimorphism can be seen among spotted hyenas. Females tend to be slightly larger and heavier than males and perhaps in part due to this, hyena society is a matriarchal system. Yet physical dimensions are not the only area in which female hyenas outdo their male counterparts. For thousands of years observers were convinced that this animal was either asexual or hermaphroditic. The Greco-Roman writer Oppian suggested as much when he wrote in the 2 nd century that, This marvel also I have heard about the spotted Hyenas, to wit that male and female change year by year, and one is now a weak-eyed bridegroom all eager to mate and anon appears as a lady bride, a bearer of children, and a goodly mother. Similar observations are made by Ovid, Aelian, and many others of the ancient Mediterranean world.

The reason behind this misconceived notion lies in the fact that female hyenas lack a vagina in the normal mammalian sense. Instead these animals possess a seven inch clitoris that resembles a pseudopenis in look and function. Females use this organ to urinate and have sex; the difficulty of the latter led to hyena society becoming extremely female dominated. Once pregnant, the animal also delivers its one kilogram cubs through the same clitoris, a process that often results in it tearing. Though in the cat family and very closely related to the mongoose, the hyena appears to be the only animal with such a unique sex organ.

A hyenas clitoris has taken on a social function as well. Able to cause it to erect at will, females of the species employ it as a tool in both ceremonies of greeting and subordination. Hyenas who have spent time apart will, when reunited, sniff and lick the clitoris of the female, which she will make erect for such an action. Subordinate members of the group are also expected to perform this act regularly to those above them as a sign of respect. As males are always subordinate to females in hyena society, they never receive oral stimulation in turn.