Irrumatio

{{Short description|Type of oral sex}} {{Redirect|Egyptian rape|the phenomenon of rape in the Arab Republic of Egypt|Rape in Egypt}} thumb|An illustration of a woman being irrumated by a man|250x250px

'''Irrumatio''' (also known as '''irrumation''' or by the colloquialism '''face-fucking''') is a form of oral sex in which a person thrusts their penis into another person's mouth, in contrast to fellatio where the penis is being actively orally excited by a fellator. The difference lies mainly in which party takes the active part. By extension, ''irrumatio'' can also refer to the sexual technique of thrusting the penis between the thighs of a partner (intercrural sex).<ref name="SL">{{cite web|url=http://www.sex-lexis.com/Sex-Dictionary/irrumatio|title=irrumatio in Sex-Lexis|access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref>

In the ancient Roman sexual vocabulary, ''irrumatio'' is often treated as a form of oral rape (''os impurum''), in which a man forces his penis into someone else's mouth.<ref>Amy Richlin, "The Meaning of irrumare in Catullus and Martial", Classical Philology 76.1 (1981) 40–46.</ref>

== Etymology and history ==

The English nouns ''irrumatio'' and ''irrumation'', and the verb ''irrumate'', come from the Latin ''{{lang|la|irrumāre}}'', meaning ''to force receptive male oral sex''.<ref name="Whitaker irrumare">{{Cite web |url=http://archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wordz.pl?keyword=irrumatio |title=Whitaker's Words: irrumatio |access-date=2018-05-06 |archive-date=2022-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930111355/http://archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wordz.pl?keyword=irrumatio |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=269544|title=Richlin, A. 1981. "The Meaning of Irrumare in Catullus and Martial". ''Classical Philology'' 76 (1): 40–46. Link to preview available from the WWW.|pages=40–46|last1=Richlin|first1=A.|author-link=Amy Richlin |volume=76|issue=1|journal=Classical Philology|year=1981|doi=10.1086/366597|s2cid=162094918}}</ref> J. L. Butrica, in his review of R. W. Hooper's edition of ''The Priapus Poems'', a corpus of poems known as ''Priapeia'' in Latin, states that "some Roman sexual practices, like ''irrumatio'', lack simple English equivalents".<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000-02-23.html|title=Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2000.02.23|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review|last=James L. Butrica|access-date=2009-07-07|date=February 2000}}</ref>

There is some conjecture among linguists, as yet unresolved, that ''irrŭmātio'' may be connected with the Latin word ''rūmen, rūminis'', the throat and gullet, whence 'ruminate', to chew the cud, therefore meaning 'insertion into the throat'. Others<ref>Adams (1982), ''The Latin Sexual Vocabulary'', p. 126.</ref> connect it with ''rūma'' or ''rūmis'', an obsolete word for a teat, hence it would mean "giving milk", "giving to suck". (Compare the word ''fellō'', which literally meant "suck (milk)" before it acquired its sexual sense.)

As the quotation from Butrica suggests and an article by W. A. Krenkel shows, ''irrumatio'' was regarded as a distinct sexual practice in ancient Rome.<ref>{{cite book|last=Krenkel, W. A.|title="Fellatio and Irrumatio" in W. Bernard and C. Reitz (eds.). ''Naturalia non turpia'' (this work is one of a series of articles written by Krenkel about sexuality in the Roman Empire.)|publisher=Ildesheim|location=Zurich & New York|date=1980|pages=205–232}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Krenkel, Werner|title="Masturbation in der Antike." "Pueri meritorii." "Fellatio und Irrumatio." "Tonguing." and "Tribaden." |publisher=Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Wilhelm-Pieck-Universität Rostock|pages=28 (1979): 159–89; 29 (1980): 77–88; 30 (1981): 37–54; 38 (1989): 45–58}}</ref> J. N. Adams states that "it was a standard joke to speak of ''irrumatio'' as a means of silencing someone".<ref>{{cite book|last=Adams, J. N.|title=''The Latin Sexual Vocabulary''|publisher=Baltimore|year=1982|pages=126–127}}</ref> Oral sex was considered to be an act of defilement: the mouth had a particularly defined role as the organ of oratory, as in Greece, to participate in the central public sphere, where discursive powers were of great importance. Thus, to penetrate the mouth could be taken to be a sign of massive power differential within a relationship. Erotic art from Pompeii depicts ''irrumatio'' along with ''fututio'', fellatio and cunnilingus, and ''pedicatio'' or anal sex.<ref name="Pomp">{{cite web|url=http://www.focusarticle.com/children/article349.htm |title=Roman Sex ?C Hot Sex from the Frescos in Pompeii |last=Tarkovsky, S. |access-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220094859/http://www.focusarticle.com/children/article349.htm |archive-date=December 20, 2008 }}</ref>

Wall paintings depicting explicit sex often appear in bathhouses and brothels, and oral sex was something usually practiced with prostitutes because of their low status. Craig A. Williams argues that ''irrumatio'' was regarded as a degrading act, even more so than anal rape.<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams, C. A.|title=''Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity''|publisher=Oxford: Oxford University Press|year=1999|pages=331}}</ref> S. Tarkovsky states that, while popular, it was thought to be a hostile act, "taken directly from the Greek, whereby the Greek men would have to force the fellatio by violence".<ref name="Pomp"/> Furthermore, as Amy Richlin has shown in an article in the ''Journal of the History of Sexuality'', it was also accepted as "oral rape", a punitive act among men.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=3704392|title=Preview of "Not before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the Cinaedus and the Roman Law against Love between Men"|pages=523–573|last1=Richlin|first1=A.|volume=3|issue=4|journal=Journal of the History of Sexuality|year=1993}}</ref> Catullus threatens two friends who have insulted him with both ''irrumatio'' and ''pedicatio'' in his ''Carmen'' 16, although the use could also mean "go to hell," rather than being a literal threat.<ref>{{cite book|author=Micaela Wakil Janan|title=When the Lamp Is Shattered: Desire and Narrative in Catullus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5gG9Zcc6aeUC&pg=PA45|access-date=26 May 2016|date=18 January 1994|publisher=SIU Press|isbn=978-0-8093-1765-3|page=45}}</ref>

In modern English, the term "fellatio" has expanded to incorporate ''irrumatio'', and the latter has fallen out of widespread use.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sex-lexis.com/Sex-Dictionary/fellatio|title="Fellatio" in Sex-Lewis|access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref> Likewise, ''irrumatio'' might today be called "forced fellatio" or "oral rape". In modern English, especially in a non-rape context, the term "face fucking" is often used.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-08 |title=Face fucking |url=https://definedictionarymeaning.com/topic/208763/face-fucking |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=Define Dictionary Meaning |language=en-US}}</ref>

Another synonym for ''irrumatio'' is ''Egyptian rape'' or simply ''Egyptian''; this goes back to the time of the Crusades when Mamluks were alleged to force their Christian captives to do this.<ref>Edwardes, Allen; Masters, Robert E. L. ''The cradle of erotica''. New York: Julian Press, 1963.</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2016}}

== Other regions ==

Peruvian erotic pottery of the Moche culture represent a form of fellatio, or more specifically irrumation, in some vases showing oragenital acts.{{sfn|Legman|1969|p=243}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larco Hoyle |first1=Rafael |title=Checan |date=1965 |publisher=Nagel |location=Geneva |at=Plates 30–33, 133–135}}</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|Human sexuality}}

* Deep-throating * Latin obscenity * Pearl necklace (sexual act)

== Notes == {{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* {{cite book |first1=Gershon |last1=Legman |author-link1=Gershon Legman |title=Oragenitalism: Oral Techniques in Genital Excitation |title-link=Oragenitalism |publisher=Julian Press |location=New York |year=1969 |page=}}

== External links ==

* {{Wiktionary inline|irrumatio}} * {{Wiktionary inline|irrumation}}

Category:Fellatio Category:Human penis Category:Human throat Category:Oral eroticism Category:Sexuality in ancient Rome