Anal Only prior to 20th century?

General discussion of the anal only lifestyle. If it doesn't fit elsewhere or isn't a personal comment or question, it probably goes here.
Post Reply
mogashim
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2013 7:07 am

Anal Only prior to 20th century?

Post by mogashim » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:42 am

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?

lisa
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:02 pm

Re: AO prior to 20th century?

Post by lisa » Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:32 am

I too have had that thought and many a conversation around exactly that. Surely historically one was for recreation one for procreation :lol:

The romans would have endorsed that.

the2beans
Moderator
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:57 pm

Re: AO prior to 20th century?

Post by the2beans » Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:59 am

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.

marcus
Moderator
Posts: 411
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:32 pm
Location: UK

Re: AO prior to 20th century?

Post by marcus » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:52 pm

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.

Post Reply