Oral sex

• 1. Introduction

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  Oral sex sits at the crossroads of biology, taboo, law, and culture. A National Center for Health Statistics report, published in the 26th of September 2005 issue of Time magazine, revealed that over half of teenagers surveyed had experienced it, drawing from a computer-administered study of more than 12,000 Americans between the ages of 15 and 44. That finding landed like a thunderclap in public debate, yet researchers quietly noted it was the first comprehensive study of its kind to examine the matter.

  The practice covers a range of acts: cunnilingus performed on the vulva, fellatio performed on the penis, and anilingus, which is oral stimulation of the anus. People engage in it as foreplay, as an act in its own right, and sometimes as a deliberate substitute for penetrative sex. What drives those choices, how different societies have judged them, and what the science says about health risks and unexpected benefits, are the questions this documentary will pursue.

• 2. Forms and Variations

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  Facesitting is one distinct form, in which the receiving partner sits on the giver's face and presses into it with their genitals. At the other end of the spectrum sits autofellatio, described in the source as possible but rare, and autocunnilingus, noted as attainable only for women with extremely flexible spines.

  The "sixty-nine" position allows both partners to perform oral sex on each other simultaneously. Irrumatio is defined separately from fellatio: it is a forced form in which one person actively pushes their penis into a partner's mouth, rather than the reverse. Group arrangements have their own terminology, with terms such as gangsuck, blowbang, and lineup used for the specific act of one woman providing oral sex to several men, all drawn from the broader slang of group sex. Bukkake and gokkun represent further variants that may incorporate oral sex.

• 3. Virginity and Abstinence

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  The concept of "technical virginity" is especially popular among teenagers who use oral sex as a means of preserving what they regard as their virginity. The idea generally holds that penile-vaginal sex constitutes the threshold of virginity loss, while oral sex, anal sex, manual sex, and other non-penetrative acts do not.

  Gay men who adopt this framework tend to regard penile-anal penetration as the act that ends virginity, placing oral sex outside that boundary. Lesbian couples, by contrast, more commonly view oral sex or fingering as resulting in virginity loss, though even within that group definitions vary. What this shows is that definitions of virginity are not fixed biological facts but shifting social constructs that different communities negotiate on their own terms.

• 4. Contraception and Safe Sex

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  Oral sex alone cannot result in pregnancy. For conception, sperm must enter the uterus and fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg, and the human body has no anatomical connection between the gastrointestinal system and the reproductive system. Sperm that is swallowed is broken down by stomach acids and proteins in the small intestine, and the breakdown products are absorbed as a negligible quantity of nutrients.

  A residual pregnancy risk does exist, however, if semen contacts the vaginal area indirectly, for example via fingers or hands. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated any barrier method specifically for oral sex as effective. A dental dam can offer some protection during cunnilingus, while condoms provide protection during fellatio. A makeshift dental dam can be fashioned from a condom or a latex or nitrile glove, though real dental dams are considered preferable because they cover a larger area, resist slipping, and carry no risk of accidental damage during cutting. Plastic wrap has been used as a barrier, but no conclusive scientific research exists on how well it prevents disease transmission, including for the microwaveable varieties whose pores open when heated.

• 5. Health Risks

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  Sexually transmitted infections including Chlamydia and human papillomavirus can be transmitted through oral sex. HIV transmission through oral sex is considered the lowest risk among sexual routes, significantly below that of vaginal or anal sex, though any exchange of bodily fluids with an infected person carries some risk.

  Risk climbs when either partner has wounds. Open sores or bleeding gums on the giver, or wounds on the receiver's genitals, create pathways for pathogens. Activities like brushing teeth, flossing, or receiving dental work shortly before or after oral sex can produce microscopic tears in the mouth's lining that amplify transmission chances. Even without an STI, contact can introduce common bacteria and viruses from the genital region.

  A 2005 study at Malmö University's Faculty of Odontology found that 36 percent of oral cancer patients had HPV, compared to only 1 percent of the healthy control group, suggesting a possible link between unprotected oral sex with an HPV-positive partner and oral cancer risk. A separate study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that people with one to five oral sex partners in their lifetime faced approximately double the risk of throat cancer compared with those who had never engaged in the activity, and those with more than five oral sex partners showed a 250 percent increased risk.

• 6. An Unexpected Benefit

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  Fellatio may reduce the risk of miscarriage. The proposed mechanism is paternal tolerance: repeated exposure to the proteins in a partner's semen can help establish the mother's immunological acceptance of the pregnancy. The oral route is thought to establish this tolerance most efficiently, through gastrointestinal absorption of semen.

  Researchers acknowledged that studies potentially included confounding factors, such as the possibility that women who regularly perform fellatio and swallow semen also engage in more frequent intercourse generally. Even accounting for that, the researchers stated that the data still overwhelmingly supports the central theory that repeated exposure to semen establishes the maternal immunological tolerance necessary for a safe and successful pregnancy. This line of research adds a biological dimension to a practice that is usually discussed only in terms of risk.

• 7. Ancient Rome and Chinese Taoism

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  Ancient Rome regarded fellatio as profoundly taboo, filtered through a social lens of submission and control. Latin provided two distinct words for the act: irrumare, meaning to penetrate orally, and fellare, meaning to be penetrated orally. Under Roman norms, a man who performed fellatio was considered to have been penetrated and thus controlled, which was seen as deeply shameful. Receiving it from a woman or from a man of lower social standing, such as a slave or a debtor, carried no such stigma.

  Romans believed that known practitioners of fellatio had foul breath and often refused to seat them at a dinner table. Irrumatio occupied a different moral category entirely: it was classified as a form of oral rape and was sometimes used as punishment, with the man who performed it seen as displaying extreme virility.

  Chinese Taoism stands in stark contrast. Cunnilingus is revered within that tradition as a spiritually fulfilling practice, one believed to enhance longevity. The same act condemned in Rome was honored as a path to a longer life, illustrating how completely cultural frameworks can invert the meaning of the same physical act. The term "tipping the velvet," now used as lesbian slang for cunnilingus, is described in the source as a pseudo-Victorian expression invented by novelist Sarah Waters.

• 8. Prevalence and Attitudes

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  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in 2009 that oral sex is commonly practiced by sexually active male-female and same-gender couples of various ages, including adolescents. Research cited in the source also notes that males are more likely than females to have received oral sex, while equal proportions of men and women have given oral sex.

  A Canadian study found that 89 percent of heterosexual and bisexual men had practiced cunnilingus, and 94 percent of those who had done so reported enjoying it. Of that group, 76 percent said they practiced it often or very often. The most frequently cited reason for not practicing it was lack of opportunity, given by 73 percent of respondents, while 13 percent cited disgust.

  Reasons for disliking oral sex vary widely. Some object on the grounds that it cannot lead to reproduction and is therefore unnatural. Others find it less intimate because the partners are not face to face, or consider it humiliating or unclean. Those views sometimes connect to the symbolic meanings different cultures attach to different parts of the body. At the other end of opinion, some regard oral sex as one of the most intimate acts possible precisely because it demands total trust and vulnerability.