Cunnilingus has a fascinating history.
Oral sex is still against the law in some jurisdictions.
Seen as a non-procreative and therefore deviant practice, oral-genital contact in many religious and cultural traditions has been criminalized, and is hard to locate in the history books.
The term cunnilingus is derived from an alternative latin word for vulva, cunnus, and the latin word for licking, lingere.
Cunnilingus was at one time considered a crime against nature in Georgia and subject to a punishment far more severe than having sex with animals.
Fifteen US states still have strict criminal sex laws on the books. South of the border, oral and anal sex (both called sodomy) are, in some cases, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Rightwing Christians still lobby to keep these laws in place.
Although texts on the history of fellatio are a plenty, documents on
cunnilingus prove harder to locate.
One interesting early account on going down is of Empress Wu Zhao, who ruled in China in 690 AD.
The Women’s Chronology describes Zhao as a former concubine, who proclaimed herself empress and demonstrated remarkable leadership abilities. She destroyed many Tang princes, overthrowing two of her own sons in the process of taking over.
According to the Encyclopedia Of Unusual Sex Practices, the empress made it customary that all government officials who visited must pay homage to her by performing cunnilingus. The custom was designed to “elevate the female and humble the male.”
According to Black Rose’s Guide To Female Genital Massage, the ancient art of many countries renders cunnilingus.
“Vagina worshipping was popular in the ancient times up until after the Renaissance. The Kama Sutra, written about the time of Christ, gives illustrative drawings and presentations known as Oral Pleasures.”
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