Portal:Sexuality/Featured article/Archive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dildonics are electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer. They were invented by a man as a substitute to his boyfriends penis. Promoters of the devices claim that they will be the "next big thing" in cybersex technology. Teledildonics (also known as Cyberdildonics) is the integration of telepresence with sex. The term is considered somewhat humorous and speculative but not so much that it cannot be used in serious contexts; indeed it is the only commonly-used word to express the precise concept. In the original conception, this technology could be used for "remote" sex (or, at least, remote mutual masturbation), where the physical sensations of touch could be transmitted over a data link between the participants.
The Kinsey scale attempts to measure sexual orientation, from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively homosexual). It was first published in Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and others, and was also prominent in the complementary work Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953).
Vaginal sexual intercourse, also called coitus is the human form of copulation. While its primary evolutionary purpose is the reproduction and continued survival of the human species, it often is performed exclusively for pleasure.
Sexual intercourse is also defined as referring to any form of insertive sexual behavior, including oral sex, as well as anal intercourse. The phrase to have sex can mean any or all of these behaviors.
The hammam (Arabic ḥammām حمّام, Turkish hamam) or Turkish bath is the Middle Eastern variant of a steam bath, which can be categorized as a wet relative of the sauna. They have played an important role in cultures of the Middle-East, serving as places of social gathering, ritual cleansing, and as architectural structures, institutions, and (later) elements with special customs attached to them. Europeans learned about the Hammam via contacts with the Ottomans, hence the "Turkish" part of the name.
In Western Europe, the Turkish bath as a method of cleansing the body and relaxation was particularly popular during the Victorian era. The process involved in taking a Turkish bath is similar to that of a sauna, but is more closely related to the bathing practices of the Romans.
A person taking a Turkish bath first relaxes in a room (known as the warm room) that is heated by a continuous flow of hot dry, air allowing the bather to perspire freely. Bathers may then move to an ever hotter room (known as the hot room) before splashing themselves with cold water. After performing a full body wash and receiving a massage, bathers finally retire to the cooling-room for a period of relaxation.
Traditionally, the masseurs in the baths, tellak in Turkish, who were young boys, helped wash clients by soaping and scrubbing their bodies. They also worked as sex workers. We know today, by texts left by Ottoman authors, who they were, their prices, how many times they could bring their customers to orgasm via masturbation, and the details of their sexual practices. (From the Dellâkname-i Dilküşâ, eighteenth century work by Dervish, Ismail Agha; Ottoman archives, Süleymaniye, Istanbul). They were recruited from among the ranks of the non-Muslim subject nations of the Turkish empire, such as Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Albanians, Bulgarians, Lebanese, Roma and others.
After the defeat and dismemberment of the Ottoman empire, in the quickly westernizing Turkish republic the tellak boys lost their sexual aspect, and now the tellak's role is filled by adult attendants who specialize in more prosaic forms of scrubbing and massage. Yet in Turkish the term hamam oğlanı 'bath boy' is still used as a euphemism for a homosexual.
Safe sex (also called safer sex or protected sex) is sexual activity that reduces the risk of infection with sexually transmitted diseases (especially HIV & AIDS). Promoting safe sex is now a principal aim of sex education.
Safe sex practices avoid the transfer of bodily fluids between persons. They include solitary masturbation, non-penetrative sex, intercourse using a condom and penetration using sex toys.
Other precautions advocated are reducing the numbers of your sexual partners, communication about sex with your partner, avoiding recreational drug use before sex and obtaining check-ups from a doctor.
Unprotected anal sex is discouraged as a high risk activity.
Some religious groups oppose safe sex and promote abstinence-only sex education for young people.
