Genital enlargement and phallicism: unconventional sexual practices around the world

Sexual behavior is of great importance in the life of any society. It is reflected in peculiar rituals and traditions that are quite strange to us. In this article, we have collected the most interesting facts about the unconventional intimate customs of the peoples of our planet.

Ideals of beauty

The ancient Japanese used to cover their teeth with black varnish. Ohaguro is the name of this tradition associated with married women, who compared the durability of the paint on their teeth to their fidelity to their husbands. Jews from Tunisia, Syrians from Damascus, and Moors from the Sahara considered a very fat man to be the ideal of beauty. Fullness personified wealth and social status. Women in Burma artificially increased the length of their necks with the help of metal hoops. Tupinambá Indians of Brazil like only the huge size of the genitals. Men and women enlarged their genitals in all possible ways, exposing their organs to bites even from poisonous snakes, spiders, and various insects to swell and increase their size.

Polygamy and phallicism

The cult of Phallus dominated in China during the Ying and Zhou periods (second millennium BC). Emperors had a large number of wives: a first wife, three second wives, nine third wives, 27 fourth wives, and 81 concubines. At the same time, the role of feelings was downplayed; they were to be suppressed and subordinated to reason. The Chinese were critical of male masturbation, believing that the loss of semen was tantamount to the loss of vitality. However, female masturbation was tolerated.

In the valleys of mountainous Tibet, if a guest liked another man's wife, she had to show her hospitality and give herself to him as this was the highest will of the gods. In Mongolia, the owner of a yurt would offer the guest not only a cup of tea but also a night with his wife.

Genitals in Africa are seen as the gates of life. This explains the spread of polygamy and the possibility of having several wives. In the Shilluk tribe (Central Africa), the king has up to 100 wives. However, this is the case when the harem is dangerous for the master. If a wife accuses her husband of being unfit, he faces not only being deposed from his honorable position but also death in terrible agony.

According to the Qur'an, sexual life is a good thing, a religious act. In this culture, there was a contractual type of union for a certain period of time. Shiites considered such relationships as a norm, and children from these marriages were recognized as legitimate. The number of wives depended on a man's social status, financial capabilities, profession, number of children, etc. Women, according to Islam, should live in a harem; the word "harem" (from the Turkish Garim) means "forbidden place". The harem served as a home for women and children, and was inaccessible to other men. Harems were known as early as 3000 years before Christ. They were found in Mesopotamia and Persia. Life in harems was by no means a paradise. Its numerous inhabitants, who were divided into different categories (wives, concubines, slaves), were constantly intrigued. Women's sexual needs were often not met. Husbands usually favored one of their wives, and as they grew older, their sexual abilities diminished. And some women sometimes did not have sexual relations at all.

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is a widespread phenomenon in many cultures. One of the most famous countries where same-sex love was considered natural was Greece. The most common form of relationship was between an adult man and a boy aged 12-18. This even had a special term: paiderastia. A wealthy Greek man would take a boy he liked under his wing, take care of him, protect him, and defend him. Homosexuality was often observed among the Guajibo, Aymara, and La Ha peoples. Among the latter, there were marriages between homosexuals, and a mother with five sons could train one of them to fulfill the female role in the family.

Sexual deviations

Sexual deviance was more common among Native Americans than in other cultures. Sodomy and orgies were popular, and incest was common among the Incas. The latter sought to subordinate sexual behavior to state control. Their main god was the Moon, and children were offered as a gift to him. Bestiality was commonplace in Peru, and masturbation was condemned. The Peruvians severely punished women's infidelity. Egypt was characterized by incest. The incest of pharaohs and aristocrats had a sacred and dynastic meaning.

Mockery

In some cultures, such as the African Maasai tribe, the clitoris is pierced, and the Mandi people completely remove this female organ. In Europe, peasants were castrated in order to teach singing. Only in 1878 was such a sacrifice in favor of art banned. Castration was common in China for several centuries. The genitals were removed with a sickle-shaped instrument, and the unfortunate ones were sent to the imperial court. It is also known that Islamic harems were guarded by eunuchs.

Men of South African tribes cut out one testicle in order not to produce offspring in the form of twins, which are the prototype of sin. Some tribes did not trust their women so much that they sewed up their vaginas in infancy. The threads are removed only on the eve of the wedding. A Polynesian bride was deprived of her virginity by the groom's friends, first with a stone knife and then in the usual way.

Love and fidelity

Polygamy in Islam has ancient origins, but among the famous representatives of Islam there are those who devoted their lives entirely to one woman. Mohammed married at the age of 26 to his mistress Khadija, who was a wealthy widow 15 years older than him. This marriage was happy and lasted for 26 years. Mohammed was faithful to his wife even after her death. Only a few years later he was able to remarry.

Hinduism teaches that knowledge about love and sex has divine origins. One of these attitudes is the principle of sexual pleasure as a good, a value. Women, according to Hinduism, are more sexual than men, capable of a wider range of sexual experiences. The ability to bring a woman to orgasm is valued, and sex during menstruation is considered sacred.