The History of Blowjob: Why It's So Popular

Since it's Dick & Dildo December, what better time to think about this wonderful act? We admittedly love giving and receiving head.  Especially blowjobs. We gave you ideas and recommendations on how not to give blowjobs. Of course, Camille Crimson added her 5 fav tips on giving head, as well as why you should give great head. Bethany Kibblesmith reports.

There are many reasons to love blowjobs. It can mean the ultimate pleasure to your lover. Bethany Kibblesmith, our resident researcher, is here to present the continuation in a series on the history of blowjobs. This time, she presents Roman, Greek and French perspectives, as well as adding Freud to the mix. Turns out the blowjob has a long and tumultuous history! Read on.

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Welcome to Part 2 of our article on the Blowjob Historically: Why The World Loves Head. As we move from the Ancient World and Eastern thoughts on giving and receiving head, we see the most significant difference between the Eastern and the Western psychology is the shift that fellatio was primarily an act of domination to a consensual act of pleasure. The fellatrix or fellator giving the blowjob is still seen somewhat as made unclean by the act, but it was now this was more a consensual act of service and a means of giving pleasure to the recipient.

The patriarchal theologians in Europe who ruled the public morality via Church doctrine lumped the blowjob in with all the unnatural acts under the blanket term sodomy, which just means any sex act that cannot result in pregnancy.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, we are ALL sodomites. Say it loud and proud. It does seem that the French were quite well known for blowjobs since the contemporary slang for going down and sucking cock was called "the French way." Makes you rethink, "French kiss" doesn't it?

Primary documentation of Medieval lovers/sex workers giving blowjobs is harder to come by, references in contemporary literature such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales suggest it was a common practice. Though legally a wife could be legally punished if her act of fellatio was made public.

Generally speaking, if a husband and wife engaged in oral sex or other so called immoral acts it was likely you’d go to confession and tell your priest. Imagine that if every time you went down on your dude, you truly felt God watching and condemning you to Hell. Of course, when you get to the history of the Popes and priests it was a case of do what I say.  Why do you think Shakespeare references getting a fallen woman to the "nunnery," which often were used as brothels for the Church hierarchy and friends. The nuns are quite familiar with being on their knees aren't they?

Censorship does make the history of the blowjob harder to track as time goes on. The infamous Marquis de Sade of France wrote a character who only took pleasure in fellatio. Less well known pornographic literature featuring fellatio in the sex scenes from these times has also survived, giving us a look into the sex acts of the past.

These books were taboo, and their possession could often result in fines and jail time. Sodomy, with the blowjob as part of it, was still punishable by jail time, and homosexual sodomy was punishable by death and also caused the ruin of public figures if their lifestyle were publicly known.

The Victorian's didn’t publicly favor the blowjob much like the Medieval era. Dating back as far as the Romans and Greeks, oral sex was the domain of prostitutes. Wives of the upper-class were not for pleasure, but baby-making.  Marriages were still a business arrangement and women had to be kept in a distinct status. If blowjobs occurred, it was not spoken of directly in polite conversation and probably behind closed doors with the shades drawn and the servants all dismissed for the day. Think "lie still and think of England" as a reference.

Freud had his heyday in the Victorian Era. His burgeoning psychoanalysis suggest someone with an oral fixation is stuck in an infantile oral stage. Characterized by using ones mouth too much with smoking or biting the nails are common examples.  Enjoying oral sex, to Freud, was less mature than enjoying only vaginal sex. Pornographic books of this time, however, often featured blowjobs. One called “Eveline” went so far as to feature fellatio as her specialty.

So at what point did this attitude of the blowjob change? When did we all stop pretending to hate the blowjob?  The answer is pornography. Pornography was completely changed by the invention of the camera. Some surviving prints show fellatio, even going back to the 1920s,

Alfred Kinsey’s studies in the 1940s found oral sex to be a common activity. His studies made public what had previously been prudishly private.  People like having sex, with strangers, with their spouses, and heck even with their mouths. Kinsey’s willingness and lack of shame regarding taboo sex acts and his scientific approach are likely some of the most significant factors for the public’s gradual acceptance of the blowjob.

You still can't drop to your knees and give your lover a hummer while waiting in line at Disneyworld. There are still tons of taboo feelings regarding the act, but at this point much of the shame or depiction of lower status surrounding the act is dissipating.

“Deep Throat” and Linda Lovelace in 1972 also paved the way to bringing oral sex into the mainstream.  Though the beejay was already a hardcore staple, “Deep Throat” became controversial because, even though tame by today's porn standards, it was still put on trial for obscenity.

Pop culture helped validate fellatio through ancient depictions, naughty Medieval references or De Sade’s books, to grainy silver daguerreotypes in the ’10s and ’20s.

Thanks to Freud’s damnation and Kinsey’s redemption the blowjob is now mainstream. While there are still laws on the books even in the United States that make the act of fellatio illegal, generally speaking modern society generally approves of blowjobs (between consenting partners) as a normal, healthy, totally awesome part of the human sexual experience.

We're very excited to have Bethany Kibblesmith as GetLusty's newest writer. She's passionate about keeping it sexy inside and outside the bedroom in her own relationship and in yours.  

Bethany is twenty-two and an English major. When she isn't scrambling to finish homework, she's with her boyfriend, reading, doing yoga or cooking. She enjoys the finer things in life like, secondhand clothes, warm showers, and socks without holes. She writes plays when she isn't writing for school or GetLusty. And if you meet her she will, without question, make a sex joke at some point. Email her at Bethany@GetLusty.com if you have any questions!

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