Sharni
09-24-2003, 03:36 AM
The next time your sex partner says, "Eew, I'm not gonna do that, it's weird," tell 'em that "weird" is culturally relevant.
In Tasmania, a widow is required to wear her dead husband's penis around her neck for a period of time after his death.
In Wrokaw, Poland, a wife is allowed to beat or kill any other woman who is sleeping with her husband. However, the only weapon she may use for this is a club.
In Bhutan, a younger brother is not allowed to lose his virginity before his older brother.
For many single guys in Peru, the alpaca seem to be quite the popular four-legged bedmate. So prevalent, apparently, is this sexual deviance, that an old law still bans the activity. Unmarried men are prohibited from even having a female alpaca live in their homes or apartments.
Married men in Iran can legally have homosexual sex with their wife's father, brother or son.
In Uruguay, men cannot touch their wives during their menstrual periods. If convicted of this crime, a man can be fined and publicly whipped 200 times or more.
During their ceremonies, Australian Aborigines of the Walibri clan greet neighbouring tribes by shaking penises, rather than shaking hands.
In some parts of Colombia, when a couple has sex for the first time on their wedding night, the bride's mother watches.
Among the Marind-anim people of New Guinea, a bride has sex with all the men in her husband's clan in a kind of marriage ceremony called "Otiv Bombari." This ceremony also takes place after the birth of a child.
In the Tanzanian Zaramo tribe, two women watch and assess newlywed couples as they make love for the first time. They look for blood and see how easy the woman is to penetrate, to determine her virginity. The groom is judged by the amount and thickness of his semen.
In Krakow, Poland, the law states that the third time you are caught having sex with an animal, you must be shot in the head.
According to the Ayatollah Khomeini, though, it is acceptable to have sex with a lamb, but a mortal sin to eat it afterwards.
The Tschuktschi of Siberia offer their women to travelers who must then prove themselves worthy by undergoing a disgusting test: after spending the night with one of the women, the traveler must rinse his mouth with her urine. If he's man enough to do it, he's regarded as a sincere friend; otherwise, he's treated as an enemy of the family.
The Maya Indians of South American preferred that boys engage in homosexuality until they were able to marry. Parents would provide their son with a slave companion to satisfy his sexual needs rather than risk finding an unmarried girl for the purpose.
Taoists in China traditionally placed great emphasis on sensual kissing. This was considered so erotic and private that even today the Chinese rarely kiss in public -- at one time, a woman seen doing so was considered to be acting like a prostitute.
Sexual intercourse in public, however, wasn't always considered quite as taboo in China. In fact, in the first centuries AD, public ceremonies of sexual intercourse were know to have taken place, often at certain phases of the moon.
In Taoist sexual tradition, much emphasis is also placed on different types of penile thrusting during intercourse. A sequence of nine shallow thrusts followed by a single deep one was especially favoured, not least because nine was considered a magical number.
In Tantric sexual tradition, it is considered essential for a man to conserve his vital fluids rather than dissipate them by ejaculating. This would enable him to activate the kundalini (the energy situated at the base of the spine) causing it to rise up the spine through the body's chakras (energy centres) and out through the top of the head. Successful practice would free the practitioner from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, and help him to achieve enlightenment. By learning to prolong sexual intercourse, perhaps for hours, a man would become like Shiva, the god perpetually in sexual union with his goddess.
Before the advent of Islam in the seventh century A.D., Arabia was a largely matriarchal society. Women were allowed to choose their husbands, and if they were not treated well, they could return to their family. A woman could divorce a husband by the simple expedient of turning her tent to face the east for three consecutive nights. This was a clear message to the man that the marriage was over and that further entry to the tent was forbidden to him.
After the advent of Islam, however, divorce became the prerogative of men who could reject a wife by declaring, "I divorce thee," three times.
The Jewish Cabbalists of medieval times used sexual language to describe the relationship between God and the Shekhinah, his female soul. The Cabbalists believed that evil was the result of God's loss of his Shekhinah. To reunite the male and female principles, therefore, sex magic was essential -- couples were encouraged to engage in intercourse on the Sabbath so that the other six days of the week might be blessed.
In Tasmania, a widow is required to wear her dead husband's penis around her neck for a period of time after his death.
In Wrokaw, Poland, a wife is allowed to beat or kill any other woman who is sleeping with her husband. However, the only weapon she may use for this is a club.
In Bhutan, a younger brother is not allowed to lose his virginity before his older brother.
For many single guys in Peru, the alpaca seem to be quite the popular four-legged bedmate. So prevalent, apparently, is this sexual deviance, that an old law still bans the activity. Unmarried men are prohibited from even having a female alpaca live in their homes or apartments.
Married men in Iran can legally have homosexual sex with their wife's father, brother or son.
In Uruguay, men cannot touch their wives during their menstrual periods. If convicted of this crime, a man can be fined and publicly whipped 200 times or more.
During their ceremonies, Australian Aborigines of the Walibri clan greet neighbouring tribes by shaking penises, rather than shaking hands.
In some parts of Colombia, when a couple has sex for the first time on their wedding night, the bride's mother watches.
Among the Marind-anim people of New Guinea, a bride has sex with all the men in her husband's clan in a kind of marriage ceremony called "Otiv Bombari." This ceremony also takes place after the birth of a child.
In the Tanzanian Zaramo tribe, two women watch and assess newlywed couples as they make love for the first time. They look for blood and see how easy the woman is to penetrate, to determine her virginity. The groom is judged by the amount and thickness of his semen.
In Krakow, Poland, the law states that the third time you are caught having sex with an animal, you must be shot in the head.
According to the Ayatollah Khomeini, though, it is acceptable to have sex with a lamb, but a mortal sin to eat it afterwards.
The Tschuktschi of Siberia offer their women to travelers who must then prove themselves worthy by undergoing a disgusting test: after spending the night with one of the women, the traveler must rinse his mouth with her urine. If he's man enough to do it, he's regarded as a sincere friend; otherwise, he's treated as an enemy of the family.
The Maya Indians of South American preferred that boys engage in homosexuality until they were able to marry. Parents would provide their son with a slave companion to satisfy his sexual needs rather than risk finding an unmarried girl for the purpose.
Taoists in China traditionally placed great emphasis on sensual kissing. This was considered so erotic and private that even today the Chinese rarely kiss in public -- at one time, a woman seen doing so was considered to be acting like a prostitute.
Sexual intercourse in public, however, wasn't always considered quite as taboo in China. In fact, in the first centuries AD, public ceremonies of sexual intercourse were know to have taken place, often at certain phases of the moon.
In Taoist sexual tradition, much emphasis is also placed on different types of penile thrusting during intercourse. A sequence of nine shallow thrusts followed by a single deep one was especially favoured, not least because nine was considered a magical number.
In Tantric sexual tradition, it is considered essential for a man to conserve his vital fluids rather than dissipate them by ejaculating. This would enable him to activate the kundalini (the energy situated at the base of the spine) causing it to rise up the spine through the body's chakras (energy centres) and out through the top of the head. Successful practice would free the practitioner from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, and help him to achieve enlightenment. By learning to prolong sexual intercourse, perhaps for hours, a man would become like Shiva, the god perpetually in sexual union with his goddess.
Before the advent of Islam in the seventh century A.D., Arabia was a largely matriarchal society. Women were allowed to choose their husbands, and if they were not treated well, they could return to their family. A woman could divorce a husband by the simple expedient of turning her tent to face the east for three consecutive nights. This was a clear message to the man that the marriage was over and that further entry to the tent was forbidden to him.
After the advent of Islam, however, divorce became the prerogative of men who could reject a wife by declaring, "I divorce thee," three times.
The Jewish Cabbalists of medieval times used sexual language to describe the relationship between God and the Shekhinah, his female soul. The Cabbalists believed that evil was the result of God's loss of his Shekhinah. To reunite the male and female principles, therefore, sex magic was essential -- couples were encouraged to engage in intercourse on the Sabbath so that the other six days of the week might be blessed.