Sexual intimacy
Encyclopedia
The term "sex" is often loosely used to mean one of a number of possible degrees of sexual intimacy between humans.
Probably the best known, due to the preponderance of film and television sourced from the USA, is use of game of baseball as a metaphor for Sexual Intimacy
, especially to describe the level of sexual intimacy (ranging from 1st Base to 4th Base/Home Run) achieved in intimate encounters or relationships.
In Canada, a similar 4 level progression based on Ice Hockey euphemisms (Blue Line - Red Line - Goal Line - In The Crease) has been noted, although this is not as well known.
Similar euphemisms are used in other cultures, with both Cricket and Rugby metaphors having some currency in British society and in former British colonies.
Another cultural trope
is the alleged societal norms for timeliness of this progression, as exemplified by the Three-date rule
.
Stages of Intimacy
Zoologist Desmond Morris has established a Normative progression of general stages in pair-formation leading to sexual intimacy:- Eye to body
- Eye to eye
- Voice to voice
- Hand to hand
- Arm to shoulder
- Arm to waist
- Mouth to mouth
- Hand to head
- Hand to body
- Mouth to breast
- Hand to genitals
- Genitals to genitals
In popular culture
Although Morris' 12 stage scale provides a normative decompostion of the progression of sexual intimacy in human communities, in popular culture a number of less formal but better known scales are in use.Probably the best known, due to the preponderance of film and television sourced from the USA, is use of game of baseball as a metaphor for Sexual Intimacy
Baseball metaphors for sex
In the culture of American adolescents, the game of baseball is often used as a euphemistic metaphor for the degree of sexual intimacy achieved in intimate encounters or relationships...
, especially to describe the level of sexual intimacy (ranging from 1st Base to 4th Base/Home Run) achieved in intimate encounters or relationships.
In Canada, a similar 4 level progression based on Ice Hockey euphemisms (Blue Line - Red Line - Goal Line - In The Crease) has been noted, although this is not as well known.
Similar euphemisms are used in other cultures, with both Cricket and Rugby metaphors having some currency in British society and in former British colonies.
Another cultural trope
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
is the alleged societal norms for timeliness of this progression, as exemplified by the Three-date rule
Three-date rule
The Three Date Rule is a dating rule of thumb which states that the third date is a milestone in determining whether a woman will consent to Sexual intimacy...
.