# When did oral sex become a common part of sex? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902 "2018-10-13T14:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/81 "2018-10-16T03:16:15Z")
You really think the Kinsey report was indicative of wider society? His methods were widely criticised for his questionable data collection methods. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/82 "2018-10-16T03:21:57Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > You really think the Kinsey report was indicative of wider society? His methods were widely criticised for his questionable data collection methods. That’s not really the issue. Kinsey’s samples may have been biased and his methodology not up to modern standards. However, the reports changed the _perception_ of various kinds of sexual activity in the US. If people believed that a lot of other people were doing it, they became more interested in trying it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/83 "2018-10-16T03:57:15Z")
Even if there were times and places where oral sex (also homosexual sex) was subject to opprobrium, it seems that such practices have always been common. It’s just hard to come up with accurate survey statistics from various pre-historic times. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/84 "2018-10-16T04:43:17Z")
I’m sure people have always engaged in oral sex. But coming of age in the 70s or 80s, I thought it was a mildly kinky thing that you might do with someone you were having “normal” sex with. I probably got that impression from “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex But Were Afraid to Ask” > **[Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask) (book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_You_Always_Wanted_to_Know_About_Sex*_(*But_Were_Afraid_to_Ask)_(book))** > > Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask) is a book (1969, updated 1999) by California psychiatrist David Reuben. It was one of the first sex manuals that entered mainstream culture in the 1960s, and had a profound effect on sex education and in liberalizing attitudes towards sex. It was "among the top 20 all-time best sellers of the 20th century in the United States". > The book was a Number 1 best-seller in 51 countries and reached more than 100 million readers... Now, I think it’s thought of as something you might do with someone you aren’t quite ready to have PIV sex with. That seems like a major change. And I wouldn’t be surprised if in the 50s it was a kinky thing that lots of couples didn’t do, because it was kinky. (I’m sure lots of couples did it, too, of course.) Also, I have to think that hot running water makes oral sex more appealing. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/85 "2018-10-16T05:08:11Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m sure people have always engaged in oral sex. But coming of age in the 70s or 80s, I thought it was a mildly kinky thing that you might do with someone you were having “normal” sex with. I probably got that impression from “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex But Were Afraid to Ask” > [Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask) (book) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_You_Always_Wanted_to_Know_About_Sex*_(*But_Were_Afraid_to_Ask)_(book)) > > Now, I think it’s thought of as something you might do with someone you aren’t quite ready to have PIV sex with. 1994 Miami, story told before in longer version. Hispanics of both sexes saw it as the first (I have friends whose first BJ to the husband was on a special occasion). Anglas just out of the prairie saw it as the second (lit: “well, I’m a good girl, I don’t have sex on the first date, but he’d been so nice, so I went down on him”). Talk about extreme misunderstandings. Or, as I’ve been saying for over 20 years “oral sex IS sex!” ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/86 "2018-10-16T07:08:41Z")
I’m guessing since man evolved too stiff a spine to do it to himself. Cmon, guys, the question should be when did things like pederasty, fellatio, and cunnilingus become proscribed at least among major cultural groups, and when did (are) they making a come back of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/87 "2018-10-16T11:25:32Z")
Sex education has something to do with it. The HIV epidemic that started in 1980s certainly modified peoples behaviour. Sexual practices were graded according to risk. Penetrative sex was seen as too risky. Oral sex was easier to make safe. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/88 "2018-10-16T12:09:28Z")
I repeat everybody’s previous: Humans have been going down on each other since humans have existed. Period. Full stop. Anybody who thinks otherwise is mistaken. It may have fallen in and out of fashion over the centuries, but it has always been a part of human sexual activity. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/89 "2018-10-16T13:33:28Z")
I don’t know. Back when hygiene consisted of wiping your ass with a handful of leaves I can’t imagine a lot of enthusiasm for oral sex. ---
**Author:** ![PitJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9bcb4/32.png) [@PitJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PitJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/90 "2018-10-16T13:50:32Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’re saying he is not a cunning linguist? No. He’s just brushing up a Little Danish. ---
**Author:** ![PitJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9bcb4/32.png) [@PitJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PitJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/91 "2018-10-16T13:51:52Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Ok, so you didn’t like the OP. But has the quality of this thread improved? Or is it going down over time? Come on, the typos could even be funny. The one I liked most was ‘public’ instead of ‘pubic’ hair. ---
**Author:** ![PitJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9bcb4/32.png) [@PitJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PitJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/92 "2018-10-16T13:58:42Z")
Someone might correct me but in a report on Edward VIII (the British king who abdicated in 1936), it said that good old Eddie was mostly infatuated with Ms Wallis Simpson because of her fantastic fellatio ability. He must have even bragged before other men with this. I really wonder, was Wallis blowing his sceptre really better than him holding the one of Great Britain? Hm. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/93 "2018-10-16T14:06:23Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I don’t know. Back when hygiene consisted of wiping your ass with a handful of leaves I can’t imagine a lot of enthusiasm for oral sex. But it’s not like we’re guessing. There is oral sex in cave paintings. One of the biggest discoveries at Pompeii was that ancient Romans loved porn, and their porn had a lot of oral. There’s oral in Chaucer and Shakespeare and Victorian porn. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/94 "2018-10-16T14:07:58Z")
> [@PitJ](#): > > Someone might correct me but in a report on Edward VIII (the British king who abdicated in 1936), it said that good old Eddie was mostly infatuated with Ms Wallis Simpson because of her fantastic fellatio ability. He must have even bragged before other men with this. I really wonder, was Wallis blowing his sceptre really better than him holding the one of Great Britain? Hm. So the state of head was more important than being head of state? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/95 "2018-10-16T15:07:12Z")
> [@WernhamHogg](#): > > So the state of head was more important than being head of state? You win the Internets. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/96 "2018-10-16T15:12:56Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I don’t know. Back when hygiene consisted of wiping your ass with a handful of leaves I can’t imagine a lot of enthusiasm for oral sex. Tell that to the bonobos. Fastidiousness is a much more recent invention than oral sex. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/97 "2018-10-16T15:31:23Z")
Napoleon supposedly wrote _“Je reviens en trois jours, ne te laves pas”_ (_“I’ll be back in three days, do not wash”_) to Josephine prior to returning home although a similar quote has also been attributed to Henry II. Modern Westerners, and especially Americans seem to be obsessed with hygiene. It was not always so. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/98 "2018-10-16T16:31:44Z")
A better question might be to ask why American “marriage guides” avoided oral sex for so long. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/99 "2018-10-16T16:35:43Z")
Using the French as a reference point for standards of hygiene and sexual practice is setting the bar pretty low.:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902/100 "2018-10-16T16:44:21Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > A better question might be to ask why American “marriage guides” avoided oral sex for so long. “Puritanism - The haunting fear that somebody, somewhere may be happy.” H. L. Mencken [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-oral-sex-become-a-common-part-of-sex/822902.md?page=6)