Anal Only prior to 20th century?
Anal Only prior to 20th century?
I was just thinking about this the other day. if you think about the contraceptive options available to people prior to the 20th century it would be crazy to think that anal sex didn't form a huge part of it. Before modern medicine, pregnancy was highly risky and many women died in childbirth. Also, for most people, feeding, clothing and housing a large brood was not affordable. Yet people still had sexual desire. There was no reliable method of contraception available to most and yet people still managed to limit family sizes. Anal sex would surely have been the most reliable form of contraception. We talk about the AO lifestyle as if it's something new but it's easy to imagine many couples in the past practiced AO once they had completed their family. Perhaps we are merely rediscovering a long established tradition?
Re: AO prior to 20th century?
I too have had that thought and many a conversation around exactly that. Surely historically one was for recreation one for procreation 
The romans would have endorsed that.
The romans would have endorsed that.
Re: AO prior to 20th century?
It's a well-documented fact that anal sex has been shown to be very popular in ancient cultures from about as far back as records exist. Ancient greek, roman, japanese, chinese and other civilizations all had heterosexual anal intercourse portrayed in artwork routinely. It seems very clear indeed that anal sex was a very common contraceptive solution and the monotheistic religions of the modern era have been blamed as the primary reason it has become a vilified act.
Tristan Taormino has written about this and provides additional sources in her book The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women, which I really think anyone around this forum should have read. It's a good book.
Tristan Taormino has written about this and provides additional sources in her book The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women, which I really think anyone around this forum should have read. It's a good book.
Re: AO prior to 20th century?
mogashim wrote:I was just thinking about this the other day. if you think about the contraceptive options available to people prior to the 20th century it would be crazy to think that anal sex didn't form a huge part of it. Before modern medicine, pregnancy was highly risky and many women died in childbirth. Also, for most people, feeding, clothing and housing a large brood was not affordable.
Not to say it wasn't done but contraception is more of a modern phenomenon. Infant mortality was extremely high. Most children would never survive to adulthood. Yes, pregnancy was risky but having surviving offspring was desirable. For the rich and privileged: an heir and a spare. For the rest, as many children as possible to ensure you are looked after in old age.
As to AO prior to the 20th century? Who can ever say. Whatever cultural stigma has been attached to anal (at least in the Western world for the previous 1700-1800 years) you can be sure that privately it has gone on much as it ever has.
