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Dry humping not just for horny teens
Jill McDevitt
Issue date: 11/11/04 Section: Opinion
Everyone that paid attention in seventh grade health class knows all about the intricacies of intercourse. I want to focus here on the not-so-straightforward phenomenon known as "outercourse." Outercourse is a term that simply describes sex play that doesn't involve penetration. It is often underrated because people think of sex as being all or nothing, but outercourse can include many pleasurable acts like kissing, petting, erotic massage, mutual masturbation, phone sex, sharing fantasies, and so on. Often times, these things are thought of as foreplay, mere preparations to get to the "real" action.
The outercourse act I'd like to highlight is called frottage, more bluntly known as dry humping (though I'm not sure I like this term, I'll use it for a lack of a better one). Yes, I'm actually going to talk about dry humping which is, for those of you that haven't given it a whirl, is when clothed people rub their bodies up against each other for sexual gratification.
It sounds a little odd to say the least, and I was pretty surprised that many of my peers, when asked, spoke of this usually hush-hush act in glowing terms. Most of them said it was something they did as teenagers when it was as far as their partner would let them go. Others said they only did it now on the way to bigger and better things that occurred later in the night. Still others said it was only something they did on the dance floor.
One person told me "it's a disgusting practice done by pubescent teens which will only lead to intercourse eventually". Although it's a little unconventional, I want to point out the physical, emotional, and practical benefits of this practice and how it can be a complete and satisfying sex act in and of itself.
The first advantage is that you can't pass nasty sex germs if you keep your pants on. When one in five people in the United States has a sexually transmitted disease, two-thirds of which occur in people 25 years of age or younger, engaging in a sex act that has a low likelihood of passing these infections is a VERY good thing. I say low likelihood because in the world of sex, abstinence is the only time you can really say "never."
The outercourse act I'd like to highlight is called frottage, more bluntly known as dry humping (though I'm not sure I like this term, I'll use it for a lack of a better one). Yes, I'm actually going to talk about dry humping which is, for those of you that haven't given it a whirl, is when clothed people rub their bodies up against each other for sexual gratification.
It sounds a little odd to say the least, and I was pretty surprised that many of my peers, when asked, spoke of this usually hush-hush act in glowing terms. Most of them said it was something they did as teenagers when it was as far as their partner would let them go. Others said they only did it now on the way to bigger and better things that occurred later in the night. Still others said it was only something they did on the dance floor.
One person told me "it's a disgusting practice done by pubescent teens which will only lead to intercourse eventually". Although it's a little unconventional, I want to point out the physical, emotional, and practical benefits of this practice and how it can be a complete and satisfying sex act in and of itself.
The first advantage is that you can't pass nasty sex germs if you keep your pants on. When one in five people in the United States has a sexually transmitted disease, two-thirds of which occur in people 25 years of age or younger, engaging in a sex act that has a low likelihood of passing these infections is a VERY good thing. I say low likelihood because in the world of sex, abstinence is the only time you can really say "never."
