Tantalizing Trivia...Historical and Cultural Accounts of Sexual Behavior

By Casey Maultsby

 

           It is often the case that we all wonder if what we do in the bedroom is “normal.” Yet, sexuality and sexual practices have come in all different shapes and forms throughout history and all across the globe. What is considered “normal” or “acceptable” has tended to change along with society’s beliefs at that time. Here are some examples of how sexuality or sexual behavior have presented themselves and changed throughout global history.

 

●  The Spanish believe that the distance from either side of a man’s nose, across the tip to the other side of his nose, is a hint at the size of the man’s penis.

 

●  The oldest sex manuals in the world come from China, dating back to approximately 200 B.C. (the completed text of the famous Kama Sutra is believed to have surfaced around the 5^th century A.D.).

 

●  Throughout the ages, many cultures have held beliefs that certain foods, herbs, or medicines hold “aphrodisiac” qualities. The list has ranged from the rather pleasant, like chocolates and champagne, to the somewhat less desirable such as raw oysters, potatoes and pine nuts. To date, there is no scientific proof to back up any aphrodisiac claims.

 

●  It is held in many mental health circles that masturbation can relieve depression and lead to a higher sense of self-worth.

 

●  Popular beliefs about male masturbation in ancient Egypt: when performed by a god it could be considered a creative or magical act: the god Atum was believed to have created the universe by masturbating to ejaculation, and the ebb and flow of the Nile was to the frequency of his ejaculations.

 

●  The Hindu faith tells of Divine sex as one path whereby one can approach Moksha (Nirvana), a oneness with a higher spiritual level. As such, the Tantric practices, through writings such as the Kama Sutra seek not to repress sexuality, but to perfect it.

 

●  Throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries, masturbation was believed to cause a number of ailments including: impotence, gonorrhea, epilepsy, blurred vision, various nervous disorders, all types of gout and rheumatism, a weakening of the organs, blood in the urine, disturbance of appetite, headaches, and fatigue. To which modern science has “debunked” these supposed consequences.

 

●  During the Victorian Era girls were forbidden from riding horses and bicycles because the sensations these activities produced were considered to be too similar to masturbation.

 

●  On July 16, 2003, an Australian research team led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council published a medical study which concluded that frequent masturbation by males may help prevent the development of prostate cancer.

 

●  While kissing is thought of as a perfectly “normal” act in Western cultures, what composes a kiss varies: a kiss to the Kwakiult of Canada and the Trobriand Islanders consists of sucking the lips and tongue of the partner, allowing saliva to flow to each others’ mouths.

 

●  A variation on traditional cunnilingus (female oral sex) is practiced by the Ponape of the South Pacific, where the man places a small fish in the woman’s vulva and then gradually licks it out prior to sex.

 

●  The Apinaye women of South America bite off pieces of her partners’ eyebrows during sex and foreplay, at times pulling out tufts of hair.

 

●  The Trukese women of the South Pacific poke a finger into their partner’s ear when they are highly aroused.

 

●  Sexual variation varies according to culture as well, the Inis Beag of Ireland have sex rarely (sometimes once or twice a month), while the Mangaians of the South Pacific can engage in sex several times a night during their youth.

 

●  Attractiveness also varies according to culture, for instance the Nawa women of Africa pull on their labia (the outter lips of the vagina) to extend their length, elongated labia are considered a mark of beauty in their tribe.

 

●  While some standards of beauty are common to the majority of cultures (i.e. clear skin complexion, youth, straight and bright teeth), the Western cultures (especially the American and Western European) tend to place a greater emphasis on female thinness than the rest of the globe.

 

The above information was found:

 

           History of Sexuality (n.d.) Retrieved September 21, 2006 from http://www.historyofsexuality.com/

           Hyde, J. S., & DeLamater, J. D. (2000). Understanding Human Sexuality (7^th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

           Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (2006, November 4). History of human sexuality. Retrieved September 21, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_human_sexuality