Chus Martinez On Irrumation

Irrumation is the act of thrusting of the penis between the legs, breasts, feet, upper thighs (also known as interfemoral sex), mouth and throat, or between the abdomens of two partners. In the ancient Roman sexual vocabulary, irrumation is strictly a form of oral sex in which a man forces his penis into someone else’s mouth, almost always that of another man. Latin erotic terminology distinguishes two acts. First, fellation, in which the penis is orally excited by the fellator; and second, irrumation … in which the man (the irrumator) engages in motions by moving his hips and body in a rhythm of his own choice.

Irrumation was a widespread sexual practice in the Roman Empire. It was a standard joke to speak of irrumation as a means of silencing someone. Oral sex of any kind 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. Remaining frescos from the Roman city of Pompeii demonstrate that irrumation was one of the specific Roman sexual acts, the others being fututio, fellatio, pedicatio and cunnilingus. This was probably because the extant frescos appear to be in bathhouses and brothels: oral sex was something usually practiced with prostitutes because of their lowly status.

Oral sex was viewed as a degrading act, even more so than anal sex. Despite being popular, it was thought to be a hostile act, or oral rape. In oral sex, irrumatio is performed by actively thrusting the penis into the mouth of the partner. In slang, this act is called face fucking, throat fucking, mouth fucking, or skull fucking. The distinction between fellatio and irrumation has vanished in modern English and the latter term has fallen out of widespread use.

2 Responses to Chus Martinez On Irrumation

Michael Roth | October 7, 2012 at 12:59 am: I believe the distinction between Fellini and fellatio has also fallen out of widespread use.

Michael Roth | October 7, 2012 at 1:01 am: Chus-ian erotic pottery of the Iberian Peninsula represent a form of fellation in the vases showing oragenital acts. Texts on the vases read “Rome. Before Christ. After Fellatio.”