15 Facts That Absolutely Must Be Discussed (Or Reiterated) About Oral Sex

1. There Are Solid Health Benefits from Oral Sex

First up, oral sex having health benefits is not some line that a horny guy came up with; there is actual factual data to back that up. Aside from the fact that, just like sexual intercourse, it can reduce stress, increase dopamine levels, decrease pain and discomfort in the body, and keep your heart in great shape, oral sex is also great at fighting signs of aging and, thanks to the oxytocin boost that it provides, it can even help to make minor wounds heal faster.

Hey, that’s not all, though. When you get a chance, check out “Do You Swallow? The Unexpected Health Benefits Of Sperm” to read more about how sperm/semen helps to boost cognitive abilities, improve the quality of your skin, and even make your teeth whiter (no joke!). There’s even melatonin in sperm/semen that can help you to sleep better.

As far as vaginas go, guys can serve themselves well by engaging in cunnilingus. One reason is that, so long as the vagina is healthy, there are as much as “100,000 to 100 million Lactobacillus cells per gram of vaginal fluid” up in there. Yep, the va-jay-jay is the ultimate probiotic, and probiotics are helpful for men because they lower stress, improve moods, strengthen immunity, stabilize testosterone levels, and help to prevent inflammation of their prostate.

2. Oral Sex Won’t Get You Pregnant BUT…

Even though oral sex won’t get you pregnant (which can be a huge plus if you’re not ready to be or interested in conceiving a child), please don’t think that you’re home-free on the STI/STD front because that absolutely couldn’t be further from the truth.

Basically, every sexually transmitted infection or disease (which at the end of the day is pretty much the same thing, although more people are starting to feel comfortable with the word “infection” in spite of “disease” still being more popular) that can be transmitted via sexual intercourse can also be transmitted during both fellatio as well as cunnilingus — this includes chlamydia, gonorrhea, and even HIV.

So, if you’re someone who has a casual mindset about oral sex, thinking that it’s somehow “safer,” just remember that there are more things to be concerned about in life than not getting pregnant. So yeah, definitely get tested every six months, and don’t feel the least bit bad about asking for your partner’s STI/STD test results before going down, either (especially if it’s someone new).

3. Even Though “Sex” Is Literally in the Term, Guess What?

I went to Christian schools until college, and boy, there was nothing like hearing people (especially girls) go into complete and utter denial that they had sex if it was of the oral variety — even though it is literally called “ORAL SEX.” What in the world? It makes you wonder if people even know what the definition of sex (when it comes to sex) actually means because it’s not sexual intercourse.

Sex, as a verb, in Merriam-Webster means “to arouse the sexual desires of,” and if you put “sex” on Google, it says, “sexual activity, including specifically sexual intercourse.” Seventeen Magazine says that sexual stimulation counts as sex and although a survey published in Women’s Health Magazine reveals that a lot of people don’t think oral sex is “definitely sex,” they do see it more in a “sex light” if an orgasm transpires (humans are a trip, boy!).

Me? I think WebMD sums it up very well whenever folks want to deflect from oral sex being sex: “Oral sex involves genital contact and is an intimate act.” Yes, y’all — it’s sex. It’s time to let the denial…GO.

4. Fellatio's Origin Is Extremely Literal 

If you and some of the people in your world like to play your own randomly weird version of impromptu Jeopardy, perhaps this lil’ tidbit of information will come in handy one day. Although I’m pretty sure that you know that fellatio is all about orally stimulating a man’s penis, did you know that the word’s origin is in the Latin language and that it literally means “to suck”?

As far as cunnilingus goes, from what I’ve read and researched, it too is Latin; however, it’s the combination of two words: cunnus (which speaks to a woman’s vulva) and lingere (which means “to lick”). Hmm…sounds very close to lingerie, doesn’t it? That’s another deep dive for another time, I guess.

5. It Doesn’t Happen As Much As You (Probably) Think It Does

I’m not sure if this will surprise you, but it certainly did me. Did you know that, on average, people only engage in oral sex around five times a month — whether they are on the giving or receiving end? As far as analingus is concerned (because oral stimulation of the anus certainly qualifies as oral sex), twice a month is what most folks are doing out here (whether they choose to admit it or not).

6. No Head Is a Deal-Breaker for Quite a Few People

As I was checking out some popular surveys on the topic, I was kind of thrown to see that only a little over half of the US population thinks that oral sex not being on the table is a sexual deal-breaker. Hell, I wish a man would expect me to commit for the long haul without that being on the menu (negro, please!).

To me, that speaks of pure selfishness with a dash of immaturity, although some of my male friends said that if they had to choose between intercourse and blowjobs, it would be intercourse for the win every single time (the same survey said that close to 93 percent of women enjoy giving head, by the way). Thoughts?

7. Fellatio Can Benefit Fertility and Pregnancy

I’ve already shared some of the ways that giving head can benefit the lives of both men and women; however, did you know that it can also make it easier to conceive too?

There’s a study in the Netherlands that revealed there are paternal antigens in a woman’s partner that, when she swallows his sperm/semen, can actually increase her chances of conceiving and decrease her chances of miscarrying. Hmph. Y’all keep on thinking that sex is nothing but a casual act if you want to. Science constantly proves that it’s way more intricate and purpose-filled than that, chile.

8. The Average Age of One's First Sexual Experience Is...

It’s not TMI for me because I wrote it in my first book. The first time I was on the receiving end of oral sex was around 19. Apparently, I’m an old head because, guess what the average age is for both guys and girls? Freakin’ 16. Hmph. What immediately comes to my mind is what someone I know used to say to their daughters when they were in high school: “The same penis that you’re trying to suck is the same one their parents are trying to get them to wash.” Talk about a reality check.

Anyway, at the same time, around 33 percent of girls and 36 percent of guys say that they never had oral sex during their teen years, so that can give some of your parents hope if you’d prefer none of this to go down before their high school graduation.

9. Throat Cancer Is Not What You Have to Worry About When It Comes to Oral Sex

Some of us are old enough to remember (it was just a decade ago, by the way) when actor Michael Douglas caused folks to freak out in a semi-major way by saying that he got throat cancer by giving oral sex. Eh. Not quite. The complete truth is no, you cannot get throat cancer from oral sex. At the same time, what you can get is the human papillomavirus (HPV).

It’s an STI/STD that’s currently the most commonly transmitted in our country, and if it’s left untreated, it can turn into precancerous cells that could very well lead to throat cancer in some instances. Just one more reason to get tested regularly and to only, umm, engage with those who do the same.

10. What You (Might've) Heard About White Folks and Oral Sex Is Apparently…True 

Back when I was younger, and I would hear folks who were like 10-15 years older than me talk about oral sex, oftentimes they would say, “That’s what white folks do.” Now, while I think we’ve been just as oral as everyone else (just probably more private or perhaps even sneaky about it), there are official formal studies that say that white men start going down on folks before any other demographic and that white people, in general, partake in oral sex more than any other ethnicity. Gee, I guess those people I was ear hustlin’ on were kinda-sorta right.

11. Mouthwash Can (Possibly) Be Beneficial on a Couple of Levels

Here’s a hack: If you’re looking for a way to give your partner an extra tingly sensation when you’re performing oral sex or you’d like a flavor that is a bit of a “distraction,” put a mint in your mouth beforehand or gargle with some minty antibacterial mouthwash.

If you do decide to go the mouthwash route, it’s actually got another benefit — word on the street is it can help to kill off some of the bacteria colonies in your mouth and throat that are directly associated with the STI/STD gonorrhea. Pretty wild, right?

Now, this doesn’t mean that you can just gargle some Listerine after unprotected oral sex and be all good. However, there is more data coming out that it can be beneficial on the killing bacteria front as far as certain STIs/STDs go. The more you know.

12. Certain Animals Get Down with the Get Down 

Oral sex isn’t limited to humans. There are actually certain animals that take great pleasure in it, too. Some that top the list include hyenas, goats, sheep, cheetahs, lions, bears, fruit bats, and gorillas. Something that I personally like about knowing this is it proves what I am a firm believer in — that sex isn’t just for procreation. All sorts of mammals engage in it for sheer pleasure, too. #salute

13. Guys Wanna Go Down More; Women Find It Less Pleasurable to Return the Favor

If you’ve got a guy who tries to deflect from being more “orally active,” share with him that some popular studies actually reveal that more straight men would like to perform cunnilingus than they actually do. Meanwhile, although a lot of women are open to performing fellatio, some surveys say that only 28 percent of women take great pleasure in doing it. Some of the top reasons include because they feel like they are doing it out of obligation, while others don’t like doing it during casual sex.

14. More Church Folks Could Stand to Learn What Cistern Means 

Church folks, chile. I won’t say any names, yet I will share the story. I once heard a Black megachurch pastor go on and on about how back in his “unsaved days,” he used to receive oral sex often (come to think of it, I don’t recall him saying that he was on the giving end as well…ANYWAY). Oh, but now that he’s come to the Lord, he doesn’t “disrespect his wife” by having her do that.

I promise you that I think a lot of folks need a Schoolhouse Rock Gospel Edition when it comes to the Bible and how fond it is of sexual activity because when King Solomon (2 Timothy 3:16-17) said, “Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well” in a chapter of the Bible that is devoted to marital fidelity (Proverbs 5:15) — I wonder how many people get that a cistern is defined as being “a reservoir or receptacle of some natural fluid of the body.”

Do I need to go deeper, or should I just pass the collection plate around one good time now?

15. One of the Oldest References to Oral Sex Is Pretty Mind-Blowing

What I just said brings me to one final point. Those of us who pay attention to the geography of the Bible know that it consists of Africa (Egypt specifically) and the Middle East. That’s why, whenever folks say that it’s “the white man’s religion,” I roll my eyes. Anyway, guess what I read once upon a time? Salon published an article entitled, “Ancient Egyptians were so into oral sex, they put it in their religion — and religious art,” which complements what I just said about the cistern pretty well, if I do say so myself. That’s not what tripped me out, though. It’s the tale of Isis and Osiris.

As legend has it, when Osiris was killed by his brother and cut into pieces, his penis was missing. Isis made one out of clay, sucked it, and brought Osiris back to life. It is one of the oldest documentation of oral sex in history. Like I said…mind blown.

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So, tell me, which of these 15 points caught you totally off guard and why? For me, what I like about these kinds of pieces is it’s a reminder that everything has layers and things that we can always learn more about. Clearly, fellatio, cunnilingus, and analingus are no exception. Not by a long shot.

Clearly. *Whew*. CLEARLY.

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