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Oral sex consists of all sexual activities that involve the use of the mouth, which may include use of the tongue, teeth, and throat, to stimulate genitalia. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on a woman, and fellatio refers to oral sex performed on a man. Analingus refers to oral stimulation of the anus, and although it is a form of oral sex, the term "oral sex" usually refers to oral stimulation of the genitals. People may engage in oral sex as part of foreplay before intercourse, or during or following intercourse. It may also be performed as its own sex act.
Utility
Oral sex is practiced in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. In heterosexual relationships, oral sex can be a method of contraception (birth control) since pregnancy is impossible unless sperm enters the vagina. Oral sex may be chosen by heterosexuals as an alternative to intercourse for this reason. It is important to note that oral sexual activities are not effective methods of preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), although some forms of STD are believed to be less readily spread in this way. Fellatio may be used as a substitute for intercourse during a woman's menstrual cycle or pregnancy. While it is often used for these reasons, oral sex is also commonly used between heterosexual couples as they consider it pleasurable, or as foreplay. Many women who are situationally anorgasmic can only achieve orgasm through oral sex, and so they often prefer it instead of or in addition to sexual intercourse.
A report issued in September 2005 by the National Center for Health Statistics was the basis of an article in the September 26, 2005 issue of Time magazine. The report comes from the results of a computer-administered survey of over 12,000 Americans between the ages of 15 and 44, and states that over half the teenagers questioned have had oral sex. While some headlines have interpreted this as evidence that oral sex among teenagers is "on the rise", this was the first comprehensive study of its kind to examine the matter.
As with mutual masturbation and other forms of outercourse many people do not consider oral sex to be "sex" in the same way as penetrative intercourse and regard it as "third base". Thus for many people oral sex can be seen as one way of experiencing sexual pleasure before losing one's virginity.
Variants
Facesitting is a form of oral sex in which the receiver sits on the giver's face and pushes into it with his or her genitals. Oral sex can be performed by both partners at the same time in the so-called "sixty-nine" position.
Spitting and/or swallowing of the ejaculatory fluids may cause different sexual stimulations. Also, eye contact - during fellatio or cunnilingus may be very stimulating and more pleasurable as it acknowledges that a real person is performing oral sex, not a machine or sex toy. Autofellatio is a possible but rare variant; autocunnilingus may also be possible for women with extremely flexible spines. Irrumatio is similar to fellatio, but with the receiver actively thrusting into the giver's mouth. Irrumatio is often depicted in pornography as a type of dominant behavior.
Taboo
Oral sex had been considered to be a taboo or at least frowned upon in many cultures and parts of the world. Reasons mentioned are that this sexual act does not lead to procreation, or that is a humiliating and/or unclean practice (an opinion that is, at least in some cases, connected with the symbolism attached to different parts of the body). This has been more or less the case in Christian and Sub-Saharan African cultures, in Ancient Rome, and Ancient India. Similar lines of reasoning have been espoused by some modern religious authorities in Islamic cultures.
Article Ref.: Wikipedia.org | 
