Fellatio

Practice

The core of fellatio is oral stimulation of the penis, including the shaft and glans, through sucking, licking with the tongue, or using the lips. A common technique involves taking the penis into the mouth and moving smoothly up and down in rhythm while avoiding contact with the teeth. Oral stimulation of the scrotum, through licking, sucking, or taking it into the mouth, also falls under fellatio.

During the act, orgasm may occur, and semen may be ejaculated into the partner's mouth. When the penis is thrust into someone's mouth, the act is called irrumatio, though the colloquial term "face-fucking" is more common. Performing fellatio can trigger the gag reflex. Men with sufficient flexibility and penis size may perform autofellatio as a form of masturbation, but few can safely achieve the necessary frontbend.

A partner may ingest semen; while some doctors in the past advised pregnant women not to swallow semen, it was later deemed safe. The receiver typically becomes sexually aroused, and prior to ejaculation, the male may position his penis to deposit semen onto the partner's face, neck, chest, or breast. Deep-throating involves taking the entire erect penis into the mouth and throat, a technique popularized by the 1972 pornographic film Deep Throat, and requires the penis to be long enough to reach the back of the throat.

Health aspects

Sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, human papillomavirus, gonorrhea, herpes, and hepatitis can be transmitted through oral sex. Any exchange of bodily fluids with an HIV-infected person poses a risk of infection, though the risk of STI transmission is generally considered lower for oral sex than for vaginal or anal sex, with HIV transmission being the lowest risk. The risk increases if the receiving partner has genital wounds or if the giving partner has mouth wounds, open sores, or bleeding gums.

Brushing teeth, flossing, or dental work shortly before or after fellatio can cause small scratches in the mouth lining, raising the risk of STI transmission. Such contact may also lead to infections from common bacteria and viruses from the genital region. Medical sources advise using condoms or other barrier methods when a partner's STI status is unknown.

A study of HIV-serodiscordant couples found that uninfected partners whose only unprotected sexual contact was oral sex developed systemic HIV-specific immune responses, suggesting oral exposure may prime the immune system. Another study detected HIV-neutralizing antibodies in the saliva of HIV-negative men in long-term serodiscordant relationships who engaged in unprotected oral sex. Links have been reported between oral sex and oral cancer with HPV-infected people.

Cultural views

Oral sex is commonly used as a means of preserving virginity, especially among heterosexual pairings, a concept sometimes termed technical virginity. This practice is particularly popular among teenagers in the United States, where teenage girls may fellate their boyfriends to preserve virginity, maintain intimacy, or avoid pregnancy, often due to peer-group pressure or as an introduction to sexual activity. Gay males may regard fellatio as a way of maintaining virginity, with penile-anal penetration defined as resulting in virginity loss, while others may define fellatio as their main sexual activity. Fellatio is legal in most countries, though some jurisdictions regard it as penetrative sex for sexual offenses.

In Islamic literature, only anal sex and sexual activity during menstruation are consistently explicitly prohibited within marriage, but modern scholars disagree on oral sex; some consider it objectionable due to impure fluids contacting the mouth, while others find no decisive evidence to forbid it. In Malaysia, fellatio is illegal under Section 377A of the Penal Code, which considers introduction of the penis into the mouth as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment and whipping, though the law is seldom enforced. Galienus called fellatio lesbiari, as women of Lesbos were supposed to have introduced the practice.

Other animals

Flying foxes are known to perform oral sex. Male Indian flying foxes lick a female's vulva both before and after mating, and longer pre-mating licking is linked to longer copulation.

In the fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx, fellatio occurs during mating, and couples copulate longer when the female licks the male. Homosexual fellatio has been seen in male Livingstone's fruit bats, but it is uncertain whether this is sexual or social grooming. Bonin flying foxes also engage in homosexual fellatio, and this behavior occurs separately from grooming.