Sodomy
Related: anal sex - buggery - oral sex - paraphilia - abnormal - unnatural - Sodom - forbidden - sex
Definition
Sodomy is a term used in sodomy law for various forbidden sex acts
- Sodomy is a sometimes used to describe the specific act of anal sex
- Sodomy is a general word for sexual acts perceived by the speaker to be "unnatural", which may include some or more of homosexual sex, oral sex, bestiality, paedophilia, and anal sex
Sodomy is a term of religious origin used to characterize certain sexual acts. The term is most commonly used to describe the specific act of anal sex between two males, or between a male and a female. The term "sodomy" also may include non-coital sexual acts such as oral sex and other paraphilia. It is sometimes used to describe human-animal sexual intercourse (a.k.a. bestiality or zoophilia). Sodomy laws forbidding certain types of sex acts have been instituted in some cultures.
The term “sodomy” derives from the name of the ancient city of Sodom, which according to a common interpretation of the Bible, was destroyed by God for its sins (see Sodom and Gomorrah). In today's common language it identifies the practice of anal or oral intercourse. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy [May 2006]
Homosexuality [...]
Biblical Sense
The term sodomy derives from the name of the ancient city of Sodom, which according to the Bible was destroyed by God for its misdeeds (Sodom and Gomorrah), and in today's common language identifies the practice of anal intercourse, even if in the Bible Sodom is not explicitly and unambiguously the town of homosexuality. Traditionally, the misdeeds of Sodom have been understood to be male homosexual anal intercourse; but some people today interpret its misdeeds to be homosexual rape, not sex within the context of a homosexual relationship. Further, this interpretation seems to be contradicted by Ezekiel 16:49 which states: "Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquillity; yet she did not support the poor and the needy". It is in the book of Jude (1.4, 7, 8) that an explicit recall to fornication is available: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities". It is around 96 AD, that Josephus first used (in his Antiquities) the term sodomy to mean homosexual acts. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy
Anal sex
For many people heterosexual anal intercourse is still the most transgressive sexual act imaginable. Anal sex renounces any pretence of procreation, it is commonly believed to be unpleasurable for women, it has socio-cultural connotations of male homosexuality, and it is commonly thought of as dirty and faecal. It was illegal in Britain until 1994 and remains forbidden in parts of the western world. Not a sexual act commonly considered to be romantic nor worthy of a celebratory pop song , if discussed at all, anal sex is seen predominately as a Sadean fixation and hardcore porn staple. Certainly it is never viewed as an act of love. --Jack Sargeant in Hot, Hard Cocks and Tight, Tight Unlubricated Assholes: Transgression, Sexual Ambiguity and “Perverse” Pleasures in Serge Gainsbourg’s Je t’aime moi non plus, http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/04/30/je_taime_moi_non_plus.html1530s: first sodomy laws
1533 - King Henry VIII begins the English common law tradition of sodomy laws, proclaiming sodomy, then-defined as any non-procreative sexual activity, a crime. This includes masturbation, anal and oral sex. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_rights_timeline [Sept 2004]See also: sodomy
1700-1800: Sodomitical Subcultures Emerge
Officials in London, Paris, and Amsterdam were shocked to learn of networks of men who spoke of their forbidden sexual practices with an unfamiliar subcultural slang and had secret meeting places and even public taverns where they met and had sex with each other. Officials in Amsterdam feared divine retribution, and enthusiastically prosecuted and executed as many sodomites as they could find. In England, many prosecutions were instigated by Puritanical moral improvement societies, but the constables there were less zealous than their Dutch counterparts. Even though the French police did not share Dutch and English religious convictions, Parisian sodomites lived in fear of prosecution since the police pioneered methods of psychological torture, entrapment, and blackmail.
Even though the three subcultures probably had little to do with each other, they bore remarkable similarities. Cross-dressing and effeminacy were an important part of subcultural life in all three cities, and sodomites increasingly came to see themselves as different from ordinary folk. Before the emergence of these early modern subcultures, sodomy was considered a grave sin that any man could commit if his sexual lust got the better of him. As knowledge of sodomitical subcultures grew throughout the 18th Century, sodomites were increasingly perceived as different in kind from men who found their pleasures with women. --©1998, Andrew Wikholm, http://www.gayhistory.com/rev2/factfiles/ffsubcultures.htm [Sept 2004]
Movies
- Last Tango in Paris (1972) - Bernardo Bertolucci [Amazon.com]
Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1972 film stars Marlon Brando as an expatriate American in Paris reeling from his wife's suicide and entering into a nihilistic sexual relationship with a young woman (Maria Schneider). The film is still shocking, not simply because of its (sometime unconventional) sexual sequences, but because Brando's protagonist needs his liaison with Schneider's character to remain anonymous, an experience not to be shared but indulged on either end. Bertolucci is also operating on subtext here: in a way, Brando's nonengaging engagement is a metaphor for a certain attitude toward directing movies. Jean-Pierre Léaud costars, but the film is more than anything a vehicle for a great performance by Brando. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com"Get the butter." — Paul, Last Tango in Paris (1972) [before engaging in anal sex with Maria Schneider]
- Je t'aime, moi non plus (1976) - Serge Gainsbourg
I remember seeing this one for the first time on May 7, 1988. If they ever awarded a film for being the best in bad taste, here's your winner. Joe Dallesandro plays Krassky, a gay man who's had a spat with his lover (Hughes Quester). While at a bar, he meets up with a boyish (and I mean boyish) female bartender named Johnny (Jane Birkin). They have an affair while Krassky's male lover Padovan tries to make amends.
While the story is intriguing, the ugliness of the film is quite strong. Johnny's boss is a flatulating old man who occasionally brings in some unattractive women to do a striptease for the men. We see Padovan eating spaghetti with his hands and Johnny eating what looks like cucumbers dipped in milk. There's a scene where Padovan is answering nature's call in an open field. All the sex between Krassky and Johnny is anal, which forces Birkin to scream in agony in every one of those scenes. While I respect Jane Birkin's talents, I wonder if anyone would be turned on by her "lack of rack" or her very short haircut?
Bottom line: A movie only for a certain group. I haven't seen this one for a while, but I'll bet Showcase (a cable channel in Canada) will someday show this one, due to their reputation of showing a lot of gay product. bluethunder35 for imdb.com
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