Fellatio
Encyclopedia
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation
of a male's penis by a sexual partner
. It involves the stimulation of the penis
by the use of the mouth, tongue
, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner. Fellatio is regarded by many as an erotic act in its own right and a physically intimate act
. For many males, it is a turn-on
which may be used by the giving partner to initiate foreplay
and sexual arousal
prior to sexual intercourse
. The act may also be performed for the sexual gratification derived by the male receiving partner and can be continued until orgasm
and ejaculation
of semen
.
Fellatio is also sometimes practiced when sexual intercourse can create a physical difficulty for a sex partner. For example, it may be practiced during pregnancy instead of vaginal sex by couples wishing to engage in intimate sexual activity while avoiding the difficulty of vaginal intercourse during later stages of pregnancy.
Some people have negative feelings or sexual inhibition
s about giving or receiving oral sex, and may refuse to do so. On the other hand, there are reports that some people use oral sex as a means of preserving virginity
, especially in the case of adolescent girls who fellate their boyfriends to create and maintain intimacy while preserving their virginity and/or avoiding pregnancy. Other reasons given for the practice among adolescent girls are peer-group pressure and as their introduction to sexual activity.
Some people regard the receiving partner as being in a position of psychological if not physical vulnerability
, and thus is potentially weaker. Bringing a person to climax is considered by some to be a form of exerting control over that person's physiology and emotions.
noun fellatio comes from , which in Latin is the past participle of the verb , meaning to suck. In fellatio the -us is replaced by the -io; the declension stem ends in -ion-, which gives the suffix the form -ion (cf. French fellation). The -io(n) ending is used in English to create nouns from Latin adjectives and it can indicate a state or action wherein the Latin verb is being, or has been, performed.
Further English words have been created based on the same Latin root. A person who performs fellatio upon another may be termed a fellator. Because of Latin's gender based declension
, this word may be restricted by some English speakers to describing a male. The equivalent female term is fellatrix.
is inserted deep into the mouth of a partner, in such a way as to enter the receiving partner's throat.
It is difficult for most people to perform deep-throating, due to the need to suppress the natural gag reflex. Different people have different sensitivities to the reflex, but some people learn to suppress the reflex.
In ancient Greece and modern Japan, fellatio has been referred to as "playing the flute"; the Kama Sutra has a chapter on auparishtaka (or oparishtaka), "mouth congress".
It was reported by American anthropologist Weston La Barre
that Manchu mothers used to show affection for their children by performing fellatio on their male babies, placing its penis in their mouths and stimulating it, since it was not considered a sexual act, while the Manchu regarded public kissing with revulsion, which was considered sexual. They were also reported to caress their children's sexual organs, tickling those of their daughters.
Galienus called fellatio "lesbiari" since women of the island of Lesbos were supposed to have introduced the practice of using one's lips to give sexual pleasure.
The Ancient Indian
Kama Sutra
, dating from the first century AD, describes oral sex, discussing fellatio in great detail and only briefly mentioning cunnilingus
. However, according to the Kama Sutra, fellatio is above all a characteristic of eunuchs (or, according to other translations, of effeminate homosexuals or transwomen similar to the modern Hijra
of India), who use their mouths as a substitute for female genitalia.
The author states that it is also practiced by "unchaste women" but mentions widespread traditional concerns about this being a degrading or unclean practice, with known practitioners being evaded as love partners in large parts of the country. He seems to agree with these attitudes to some extent, claiming "a wise man" should not engage in that form of intercourse while acknowledging that it can be appropriate in some unspecified cases.
The religious historian Mircea Eliade
speaks of a desire to transcend old age and death and achieve a state of nirvana
in the Hindu
practice of Tantric
yoga. In Tantric yoga the same emphasis is placed on the retention and absorption of vital liquids and Sanskrit texts describe how semen must not be emitted if the yogi is to avoid falling under the law of time and death.
In Islamic literature the only form of sex that is always explicitly prohibited within marriage is sex during menstrual cycle
s. But the exact attitude towards oral sex is a subject of disagreements between modern scholars of Islam. Authorities considering it "objectionable" do so because of the contact between the supposedly impure fluids emitted during intercourse and the mouth. Others emphasize there is no decisive evidence to forbid it.
The Moche
culture of ancient Peru
worshipped daily life including sexual acts. They depicted fellatio in their ceramics.
's book, Men in Love - Men's Sexual Fantasies: The Triumph of Love over Rage claims that swallowing ejaculate is high on the intimacy scale.
As late as 1976, some doctors were advising women in the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy not to swallow semen lest it induce premature labor, even though it is now known to be safe.
Semen ingestion has also had central importance in some cultures around the world. In Baruya
culture, there is a secret ritual in which boys give fellatio to young males and drink their semen, in order to "re-engender themselves prior to marriage". Among the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea
, beginning at age seven all males regularly submit to oral penetration by adolescents in a six-stage initiation process, as the Sambia believe that regular ingestion of an older boy's semen is necessary for a prepubescent youth to achieve sexual maturity and masculinity. By the time he enters mid-puberty he in turn participates in passing his semen on to younger males.
, as there is no way for sperm
from the penis
to enter the uterus
and fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg
orally. In humans, there is no connection between the gastrointestinal system and the reproductive tract. Sperm is killed and broken down by acid
in the stomach
and digestive enzyme
s in the small intestine
.
and pre-eclampsia
. Specifically, several research groups have reported that pre-eclampsia
, a life threatening complication that sometimes arises in pregnancy, is much less frequent in couples who have practiced oral sex, and even more rare in couples where fellatio regularly ended with a woman's swallowing of her partner's semen.
The results were statistically significant and are consistent with the fact that semen contains several agents that have important roles in the prevention of pre-eclampsia, which may arise out of an immunological condition. According to that view, preeclampsia is caused by a failure of the mother to accept the fetus
and placenta
, which both contain "foreign" protein
s from the father's gene
s.
Regular exposure to the father's semen helps cause immunological tolerance to their proteins. Other studies also found that, while any exposure to the partner's sperm during sex appears to decrease the chances of various disorders, women in couples who have practiced "sex acts other than intercourse
" are less than half as likely to suffer preeclampsia.
The studies noted that it would be impossible to assume conclusively the likely protective effect of the "other sex acts" including oral sex, or that the correlation between these sexual practices was due to the presence of collinearity induced by some other protective factor not noted in the studies: for example, greater overall frequency of sex. The standard way to resolve such confounding
questions in medical science would be through a randomized trial, but there are unique challenges to research in sexual health.
(HPV), gonorrhea
, herpes
, hepatitis
(multiple strains), and other sexually transmitted disease
s (STDs), can be transmitted through oral sex.
Any kind of sexual contact with bodily fluids of a person infected with HIV
, the virus that causes AIDS
, poses a risk of infection. The risk from most of these types of infection, however, is generally considered far lower than that associated with vaginal or anal sex
.
If the receiving partner has wounds on his genitals, or if the giving partner has wounds or open sores on or in his or her mouth, or bleeding gums, this poses an increased risk of STD transmission. Brushing the teeth, flossing, undergoing dental work, or eating crunchy foods such as potato chips relatively soon before or after giving fellatio can also increase the risk of transmission, because all of these activities can cause small scratches in the lining of the mouth.
These wounds, even when they are microscopic
, increase the chances of contracting STD
s that can be transmitted orally under these conditions. Such contact can also lead to more mundane infections from common bacteria
and viruses found in, around and secreted from the genital regions. Because of this, some medical professionals advise the use of condom
s when performing or receiving fellatio with a partner whose STD status is unknown. Flavored condoms may be used for this purpose.
on a person infected with HPV might increase the risk of oral cancer
. The study found that 36 percent of the cancer patients had HPV compared to only 1 percent of the healthy control group.
Another recent study suggests a correlation
between oral sex and throat cancer
. It is believed that this is due to the transmission of human papillomavirus
(HPV).
The study concludes that people who had one to five oral-sex partners in their lifetime had approximately a doubled risk of throat cancer compared with those who never engaged in this activity and those with more than five oral-sex partners had a 250 percent increased risk.
, Cynopterus sphinx, has been observed to engage in fellatio during mating. Pairs spend more time copulating if the female licks the male than if she does not.
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
of a male's penis by a sexual partner
Sexual partner
Sexual partners are people who engage in sexual activity together. The sexual partners can be of any gender or sexual orientation. The sexual partners may be in a committed relationship, either on an exclusive basis or not, or engage in the sexual activity on a casual basis...
. It involves the stimulation of the penis
Human penis
The human penis is an external sexual organ of male humans. It is a reproductive, intromittent organ that additionally serves as the urinal duct.-Parts:...
by the use of the mouth, tongue
Tongue
The tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...
, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner. Fellatio is regarded by many as an erotic act in its own right and a physically intimate act
Physical intimacy
Physical intimacy is sensual proximity or touching. It can be enjoyed by itself or be an expression of feelings which people have for one another...
. For many males, it is a turn-on
Turn-On
Turn-On is an American sketch comedy series that aired on ABC in February 1969. Only one episode was shown and the show is considered one of the most infamous flops in TV history....
which may be used by the giving partner to initiate foreplay
Foreplay
In human sexual behavior, foreplay is a set of intimate psychological and physically intimate acts between two or more people meant to create desire for sexual activity and sexual arousal. Either or any of the sexual partners may initiate the foreplay, and they may not be the active partner during...
and sexual arousal
Sexual arousal
Sexual arousal, or sexual excitement, is the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity. Things that precipitate human sexual arousal are called erotic stimuli, or colloquially known as turn-ons. There are many potential stimuli, both physical or mental, which can cause...
prior to sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
. The act may also be performed for the sexual gratification derived by the male receiving partner and can be continued until orgasm
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
and ejaculation
Ejaculation
Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the male reproductory tract, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. It is usually the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential component of natural conception. In rare cases ejaculation occurs because of prostatic disease...
of semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
.
Fellatio is also sometimes practiced when sexual intercourse can create a physical difficulty for a sex partner. For example, it may be practiced during pregnancy instead of vaginal sex by couples wishing to engage in intimate sexual activity while avoiding the difficulty of vaginal intercourse during later stages of pregnancy.
Some people have negative feelings or sexual inhibition
Sexual inhibition
A sexual inhibition is a conscious or unconscious constraint or curtailment by a person of behaviour relating to specific sexual matters or practices or of a discussion of sexual matters....
s about giving or receiving oral sex, and may refuse to do so. On the other hand, there are reports that some people use oral sex as a means of preserving virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
, especially in the case of adolescent girls who fellate their boyfriends to create and maintain intimacy while preserving their virginity and/or avoiding pregnancy. Other reasons given for the practice among adolescent girls are peer-group pressure and as their introduction to sexual activity.
Some people regard the receiving partner as being in a position of psychological if not physical vulnerability
Vulnerability
Vulnerability refer to the susceptibility of a person, group, society, sex or system to physical or emotional injury or attack. The term can also refer to a person who lets their guard down, leaving themselves open to censure or criticism...
, and thus is potentially weaker. Bringing a person to climax is considered by some to be a form of exerting control over that person's physiology and emotions.
Etymology
The EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
noun fellatio comes from , which in Latin is the past participle of the verb , meaning to suck. In fellatio the -us is replaced by the -io; the declension stem ends in -ion-, which gives the suffix the form -ion (cf. French fellation). The -io(n) ending is used in English to create nouns from Latin adjectives and it can indicate a state or action wherein the Latin verb is being, or has been, performed.
Further English words have been created based on the same Latin root. A person who performs fellatio upon another may be termed a fellator. Because of Latin's gender based declension
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
, this word may be restricted by some English speakers to describing a male. The equivalent female term is fellatrix.
Deep-throating
Deep-throating is an act in which a man's entire erect penisPenis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...
is inserted deep into the mouth of a partner, in such a way as to enter the receiving partner's throat.
It is difficult for most people to perform deep-throating, due to the need to suppress the natural gag reflex. Different people have different sensitivities to the reflex, but some people learn to suppress the reflex.
Cultural significance
It was reported by American anthropologist Weston La Barre
Weston La Barre
Raoul Weston La Barre was an American anthropologist, best known for his work in ethnobotany, particularly with regard to Native-American religion, and for his application of psychiatric and psychoanalytic theories to ethnography.-Education and early career:La Barre was born in Uniontown,...
that Manchu mothers used to show affection for their children by performing fellatio on their male babies, placing its penis in their mouths and stimulating it, since it was not considered a sexual act, while the Manchu regarded public kissing with revulsion, which was considered sexual. They were also reported to caress their children's sexual organs, tickling those of their daughters.
Galienus called fellatio "lesbiari" since women of the island of Lesbos were supposed to have introduced the practice of using one's lips to give sexual pleasure.
The Ancient Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Kama Sutra
Kama Sutra
The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Hindu text widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by Vātsyāyana. A portion of the work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses...
, dating from the first century AD, describes oral sex, discussing fellatio in great detail and only briefly mentioning cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...
. However, according to the Kama Sutra, fellatio is above all a characteristic of eunuchs (or, according to other translations, of effeminate homosexuals or transwomen similar to the modern Hijra
Hijra (South Asia)
In the culture of South Asia, hijras or chakka in Kannada, khusra in Punjabi and kojja in Telugu are physiological males who have feminine gender identity, women's clothing and other feminine gender roles. Hijras have a long recorded history in the Indian subcontinent, from the antiquity, as...
of India), who use their mouths as a substitute for female genitalia.
The author states that it is also practiced by "unchaste women" but mentions widespread traditional concerns about this being a degrading or unclean practice, with known practitioners being evaded as love partners in large parts of the country. He seems to agree with these attitudes to some extent, claiming "a wise man" should not engage in that form of intercourse while acknowledging that it can be appropriate in some unspecified cases.
The religious historian Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
speaks of a desire to transcend old age and death and achieve a state of nirvana
Nirvana
Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...
in the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
practice of Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
yoga. In Tantric yoga the same emphasis is placed on the retention and absorption of vital liquids and Sanskrit texts describe how semen must not be emitted if the yogi is to avoid falling under the law of time and death.
In Islamic literature the only form of sex that is always explicitly prohibited within marriage is sex during menstrual cycle
Menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
s. But the exact attitude towards oral sex is a subject of disagreements between modern scholars of Islam. Authorities considering it "objectionable" do so because of the contact between the supposedly impure fluids emitted during intercourse and the mouth. Others emphasize there is no decisive evidence to forbid it.
Moche
'The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 AD to 800 AD, during the Regional Development Epoch. While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state...
culture of ancient Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
worshipped daily life including sexual acts. They depicted fellatio in their ceramics.
Ingestion of semen
Nancy FridayNancy Friday
Nancy Colbert Friday is an author who has written on the topics of female sexuality and liberation.'Nancy Friday's successful fantasy revelations ' have seen her placed among 'the feminist erotic pioneers'...
's book, Men in Love - Men's Sexual Fantasies: The Triumph of Love over Rage claims that swallowing ejaculate is high on the intimacy scale.
As late as 1976, some doctors were advising women in the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy not to swallow semen lest it induce premature labor, even though it is now known to be safe.
Semen ingestion has also had central importance in some cultures around the world. In Baruya
Baruya
The Baruya are a tribe in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. They have been studied since 1967 by anthropologist Maurice Godelier.The Baruya are characterized by a strong inequality between males and females; all their organizations, institutions, and myths present male domination...
culture, there is a secret ritual in which boys give fellatio to young males and drink their semen, in order to "re-engender themselves prior to marriage". Among the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, beginning at age seven all males regularly submit to oral penetration by adolescents in a six-stage initiation process, as the Sambia believe that regular ingestion of an older boy's semen is necessary for a prepubescent youth to achieve sexual maturity and masculinity. By the time he enters mid-puberty he in turn participates in passing his semen on to younger males.
Pregnancy
Fellatio alone cannot result in pregnancyPregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, as there is no way for sperm
Sperm
The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell...
from the penis
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...
to enter the uterus
Uterus
The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
and fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
orally. In humans, there is no connection between the gastrointestinal system and the reproductive tract. Sperm is killed and broken down by acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
in the stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
and digestive enzyme
Digestive enzyme
'Digestive enzymes' are enzymes that break down polymeric macromolecules into their smaller building blocks, in order to facilitate their absorption by the body. Digestive enzymes are found in the digestive tract of animals where they aid in the digestion of food as well as inside the cells,...
s in the small intestine
Small intestine
The small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract following the stomach and followed by the large intestine, and is where much of the digestion and absorption of food takes place. In invertebrates such as worms, the terms "gastrointestinal tract" and "large intestine" are often used to...
.
Link to reducing pre-eclampsia & miscarriage risks
It has been suggested that fellatio may, through "immune modulation", have a beneficial role in preventing dangerous complications during pregnancy, reducing specifically the risk of miscarriageMiscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
and pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia or preeclampsia is a medical condition in which hypertension arises in pregnancy in association with significant amounts of protein in the urine....
. Specifically, several research groups have reported that pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia or preeclampsia is a medical condition in which hypertension arises in pregnancy in association with significant amounts of protein in the urine....
, a life threatening complication that sometimes arises in pregnancy, is much less frequent in couples who have practiced oral sex, and even more rare in couples where fellatio regularly ended with a woman's swallowing of her partner's semen.
The results were statistically significant and are consistent with the fact that semen contains several agents that have important roles in the prevention of pre-eclampsia, which may arise out of an immunological condition. According to that view, preeclampsia is caused by a failure of the mother to accept the fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
and placenta
Placenta
The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. "True" placentas are a defining characteristic of eutherian or "placental" mammals, but are also found in some snakes and...
, which both contain "foreign" protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s from the father's gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s.
Regular exposure to the father's semen helps cause immunological tolerance to their proteins. Other studies also found that, while any exposure to the partner's sperm during sex appears to decrease the chances of various disorders, women in couples who have practiced "sex acts other than intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
" are less than half as likely to suffer preeclampsia.
The studies noted that it would be impossible to assume conclusively the likely protective effect of the "other sex acts" including oral sex, or that the correlation between these sexual practices was due to the presence of collinearity induced by some other protective factor not noted in the studies: for example, greater overall frequency of sex. The standard way to resolve such confounding
Confounding
In statistics, a confounding variable is an extraneous variable in a statistical model that correlates with both the dependent variable and the independent variable...
questions in medical science would be through a randomized trial, but there are unique challenges to research in sexual health.
STD risk
Chlamydia, human papillomavirusHuman papillomavirus
Human papillomavirus is a member of the papillomavirus family of viruses that is capable of infecting humans. Like all papillomaviruses, HPVs establish productive infections only in keratinocytes of the skin or mucous membranes...
(HPV), gonorrhea
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain...
, herpes
Herpes simplex virus
Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 , also known as Human herpes virus 1 and 2 , are two members of the herpes virus family, Herpesviridae, that infect humans. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 are ubiquitous and contagious...
, hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
(multiple strains), and other sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
s (STDs), can be transmitted through oral sex.
Any kind of sexual contact with bodily fluids of a person infected with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, the virus that causes AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, poses a risk of infection. The risk from most of these types of infection, however, is generally considered far lower than that associated with vaginal or anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
.
If the receiving partner has wounds on his genitals, or if the giving partner has wounds or open sores on or in his or her mouth, or bleeding gums, this poses an increased risk of STD transmission. Brushing the teeth, flossing, undergoing dental work, or eating crunchy foods such as potato chips relatively soon before or after giving fellatio can also increase the risk of transmission, because all of these activities can cause small scratches in the lining of the mouth.
These wounds, even when they are microscopic
Microscopic
The microscopic scale is the scale of size or length used to describe objects smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye and which require a lens or microscope to see them clearly.-History:...
, increase the chances of contracting STD
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
s that can be transmitted orally under these conditions. Such contact can also lead to more mundane infections from common bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
and viruses found in, around and secreted from the genital regions. Because of this, some medical professionals advise the use of condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s when performing or receiving fellatio with a partner whose STD status is unknown. Flavored condoms may be used for this purpose.
HPV and oral cancer link
In 2006, a research study at Malmö University's Faculty of Odontology suggested that performing unprotected oral sexOral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on a person infected with HPV might increase the risk of oral cancer
Oral cancer
Oral cancer is a subtype of head and neck cancer, is any cancerous tissue growth located in the oral cavity. It may arise as a primary lesion originating in any of the oral tissues, by metastasis from a distant site of origin, or by extension from a neighboring anatomic structure, such as the...
. The study found that 36 percent of the cancer patients had HPV compared to only 1 percent of the healthy control group.
Another recent study suggests a correlation
Correlation
In statistics, dependence refers to any statistical relationship between two random variables or two sets of data. Correlation refers to any of a broad class of statistical relationships involving dependence....
between oral sex and throat cancer
Head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer refers to a group of biologically similar cancers that start in the upper aerodigestive tract, including the lip, oral cavity , nasal cavity , paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. 90% of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas , originating from the mucosal lining...
. It is believed that this is due to the transmission of human papillomavirus
Human papillomavirus
Human papillomavirus is a member of the papillomavirus family of viruses that is capable of infecting humans. Like all papillomaviruses, HPVs establish productive infections only in keratinocytes of the skin or mucous membranes...
(HPV).
The study concludes that people who had one to five oral-sex partners in their lifetime had approximately a doubled risk of throat cancer compared with those who never engaged in this activity and those with more than five oral-sex partners had a 250 percent increased risk.
Legality
In Malaysia, fellatio is still illegal. However, the law is seldom enforced. Under Section 377A of the Penal Code, the introduction of the penis into the anus or mouth of another person is considered a "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and is punishable with imprisonment of 20 years maximum and whipping.Other species
The fruit batFruit Bat
Fruit Bat can refer to:* Megabats, a species of bat which eats fruit* Les "Fruitbat" Carter, guitarist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine* Fruit Bats , an American band...
, Cynopterus sphinx, has been observed to engage in fellatio during mating. Pairs spend more time copulating if the female licks the male than if she does not.
See also
- Eroto-comatose lucidityEroto-comatose lucidityEroto-comatose lucidity is a technique of sex magic known best by its formulation by English author and occultist Aleister Crowley, but which has several variations and is used in a number of ways by different spiritual communities...
- Fellatio in Islamic law
- Oral sexOral sexOral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
- Analingus
- AutofellatioAutofellatioAutofellatio is the act of oral stimulation of one's own penis as a form of masturbation. It is physically possible for men who have sufficient flexibility, penis size or a combination of the two to perform autofellatio...
- CunnilingusCunnilingusCunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...
- FacesittingFacesittingFacesitting, also known as queening, is a sexual practice in which one partner sit on or over the other's face, typically to allow or force oral-genital or oral-anal contact. It is common for this position to form part of BDSM, involving dominance and submission, though this need not be the case...
- Facial
- IrrumatioIrrumatioIrrumatio, also called irrumation, is a type of sexual intercourse performed by actively thrusting one's penis into a partner's mouth and throat. It may also be the thrusting of the penis between the legs, breasts, feet, upper thighs , or between the abdomens of two partners."Latin erotic...
- Teabagging
- Orgasm controlOrgasm controlOrgasm control, also known as "edging", "peaking", "surfing", and by other terms, is a sexual technique which involves the maintenance of a high level of sexual arousal for an extended period of time without reaching orgasm, although orgasm can be reached eventually. If orgasm is not reached after...
- Pearl necklacePearl necklace (sexuality)A pearl necklace is a slang term referring to a sexual act in which a man ejaculates semen on or near the neck, chest or breast of another person. If ejaculation is onto the other person's face it can be called a facial...