The year 1925, two theater goers talk. 1st guest:"Can you know where you live?" 2nd guest:"Oh, there is a little patriotism and some pornography in my address." 1st guest:"What does it mean?" 2nd guest:"Well ... because I live on Aleja Kościuszki No. 69".
A joke with such content was published by the "Nowy Dekameron" magazine - a kind of pre-war Playboy published in Łódź in the 1920s. For clarity, above the text is the heading:AUTHENTIC.
Repertoire of preliminary caresses
Doctor Stanisław Higier, a Warsaw neurologist and meticulous researcher of oral eroticism, had little opinion of it. He did not even like the name adopted in Poland. "[ Cunnilingus ] is wrongly called [is] a mineta "- he emphasized in the Encyclopedia of Sexual Life published in 1937 . Most of all, however, he did not like what the Poles were doing in their bedrooms.
Doctor Stanisław Higier, a pre-war researcher of oral eroticism, did not have too high opinion of it. He even believed that if a woman liked oral sex, it was evidence of "either a perverse attitude in her or her inability to have sex" (source:public domain).
He distinguished three variants of "cunnilinga performed by a man to a woman" . Only the first met his cool approval:oral intercourse "belonging to the repertoire of preliminary caresses, tried accidentally or permanently, in order to make both partners more sexually aroused." However, Doctor Higier made a condition. Everything had to find "final outlet in the act of co-operation" . Put simply, in the light of scientific knowledge in 1937, oral sex could be a foreplay. And nothing else.
Evidence of a perverse attitude
The doctor called the next two variants simply perversions. These are the cases where " cunnilinctio it is an end in itself ”and is done at the will of the man (option 2) or at the request of the woman (option 3). In the second case, Higier was prone to suspect temporary or permanent potency problems. In the third, the matter seemed even clearer to him. If a woman enjoyed oral sex, it was evidence of "either she was perverted or incapable of the sexual act."
Higier also developed a comprehensive entry on fellatio. Interestingly, it was only published in a supplement to the bloated Encyclopedia of Sex Life and not in the main volume like cunnilingus . In this text the author has written much less about deviations.
He insisted that fellatio it is an activity "very widespread in Europe, especially in Romanesque countries". He suggested that the practice could even give a woman sexual pleasure, which was, of course, impossible in the other direction. Cunnilingus pleasant to the man doing it was a distinct alarm bell for Higier.
"It is often grown by prostitutes"
“It is found in a wide range of fellatio cases as an expression of the proper psychosexual dispositions of an individual ”- emphasized the author. He also saw a whole host of arguments for this one particular type of oral love. Fellatio makes the man happy. After fellatio you cannot get pregnant. And even specialists recommend them. "It is often cultivated by prostitutes, especially in relation to men who seek variety from them after a uniform sexual intercourse in marriage" - reported Higier.
Oral sex was one of the most popular services provided by prostitutes. Husbands who were bored with their erotic life were particularly eager to use it. In the photo from the mid-1920s, two Warsaw ladies of indecency (source:public domain).
He saw dangers only in extreme cases, and then they did not necessarily threaten the man. “The initiator of the initiative (…) to practice fellatio on a permanent basis instead of a physiological act, it is, in line with what we said above, more or less - perverted, ”he wrote. As an aside, he added:“Occasional motives for practicing fellatio may lie in a certain sadistic (...) attitude of a man to a woman whom he wants to humiliate, subdue, "addicted" to his penis in this way. "
A big city spice
There was no question of equal treatment of two forms of oral eroticism. In the password Cunnilingus there are references to sexual infantilism and psychosexual anomalies. Higier warns that excessive indulgence in this practice may lead to the deepening of homosexual tendencies in women and to impotence in men. Even the popular name Higier wanted to claim in favor of fellatio and, contrary to tradition, call them "mineta" in Polish.
This does not mean, however, that no light has appeared in the tunnel. It was the second or even the third decade of the sexual revolution. And Higier simply had to embarrassedly say:"The cases, very common nowadays, of practicing cunnilingi seem to be in contradiction with this. out of curiosity or as one of the »spices« a normal love repertoire in metropolitan centers ”. Indeed, the cases were in contradiction with almost everything written by the Warsaw neurologist.
Irritating kisses
Modern erotic art was better understood by the most popular pre-war sex specialist, Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde. It is hardly surprising. After all, he was one of its codifiers. On cards sold in hundreds of thousands of copies of A Perfect Marriage he did not scare him with oral sex, nor did he try to disgust his readers. He even noted that he was deliberately not using any of the technical terms taken from Latin.
Dutch sex specialist Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde especially recommended "teasing kisses" by men to women (source:public domain).
He did not want this type of eroticism to be associated with pathologies, so he simply wrote about "irritating kisses." He emphasized that these techniques are "acceptable in terms of ethics and aesthetics, as well as in terms of hygiene . Of course, it is possible (…) only in conditions of perfect health and impeccable cleanliness. ”
Optimal hydration
The author recommended kisses made by men to women. He considered them a great means of increasing vaginal lubrication. Certainly better than the prototypes of "intimate gels" available on the market.
The fats popular in the bedrooms were difficult to wash off, and therefore caused irritation and infections. Pharmaceuticals "after heavy rubbing" could even lead to inflammation. Meanwhile, saliva did not have any side effects. Except for one thing - it dried up too quickly. However, Van de Velde knew how to remedy this:"Simple, the unpleasantness of wetting with saliva can be avoided if saliva is transferred not indirectly, through the fingers, but directly, through the mouth."
In the case of kisses performed by women, the Dutch gynecologist was much more careful, presenting a number of contraindications (source:public domain).
The woman needs to be careful
The Dutch gynecologist was slightly more cautious about kissing men by their partners. "At least at first, a woman should be very careful," he emphasized. He meant moral threats (to which he believed women were particularly vulnerable), but not only.
An even greater role was played by the risk of a man becoming over-excited or - God forbid - making him ejaculate. Van de Velde was a man of progress, but without exaggeration. He emphatically insisted that "teasing kisses" should be a caress on the way to proper vaginal intercourse. And nothing else.
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The above article is just a brief outline of the fascinating topic of pre-war contraception. In the first decades of the 20th century, resourcefulness went hand in hand with desperation or even madness. Pregnancy was prevented using x-rays, radium placed in the uterus, and even bull's-eye injections. At the same time, it was then that the prototype of the first effective contraceptive pill was created!