French kiss

Description

A French kiss is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A tongue kiss stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sensitive to the touch and induce sexual arousal, as the oral zone is one of the principal erogenous zones of the body. The implication is of a slow, passionate kiss which is considered intimate, romantic, erotic or sexual. French kissing is often described as "first base", and is used by many as an indicator of what stage a relationship has reached. Extended French kissing may be part of making out.

History

Open-mouth kissing is alluded to in Sanskrit texts from 1500 BCE, and the Kama Sutra from the 3rd century mentions kissing inside of mouths.

Etymology

A French kiss is so called because at the beginning of the 20th century, in the English-speaking world, the French had acquired a reputation for more adventurous and passionate sex practices. It originated in America and Great Britain.{{cite web | access-date=2018-10-29 | archive-date=2018-07-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725092751/https://www.yourtango.com/2013188093/pucker-origin-french-kiss | url-status=live

Disease risks

A study showed that French kissing can carry moderate risk of HPV. However, June Gupta, the associate director of medical standards at Planned Parenthood, has described kissing as a low-risk activity, stating that there is "almost no risk, or a very very low risk of getting STDs through these acts." The possibility of contracting HIV from French kissing is extremely low, as transmission would require open wounds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers transmission of Hepatitis B via French kissing to be an unlikely mode of infection.{{cite web | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2020-08-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813194104/https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/hepb.pdf | url-status=live | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2020-09-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925000522/https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/syphilis | url-status=live | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2015-03-12 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312210405/http://www.antimicrobe.org/b242.asp | url-status=live | access-date=2015-05-12 | archive-date=2020-05-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507203118/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oral-gonorrhea_b_1095670 | url-status=live

In other species

, bonobos are the only species, other than humans, to have been observed engaging in tongue kissing.

References

References

1. "Why Is Kissing Important? 16 Health Benefits of Kissing".
2. "Definition of FRENCH-KISS".
3. Maister, Lara. (12 June 2020). "The Erogenous Mirror: Intersubjective and Multisensory Maps of Sexual Arousal in Men and Women". Archives of Sexual Behavior.
4. Smith, Erika W.. "What It Means To Get To First Base, & We're Not Talking Baseball".
5. (2015-07-15). "Did French kissing start in France?".
6. (30 May 2013). "Finally, a French word for a French kiss".
7. Neuman, Scott. (2013-05-30). "A Kiss Is But A Kiss, But To French Kiss Is 'Galocher'".
8. (2020-06-19). "Your Everything Guide to How to French Kiss".
9. ""French" kissing ups risk of oral HPV infection". Reuters.
10. "Can You Get HPV From Kissing? Sexual Health Experts Address a Common Fear".
11. "HIV/AIDS 101". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
12. (10 July 1997). "Man with HIV may have infected partner with a kiss". CNN.
13. (21 September 2016). "How Much Do You Really Know About Sex and Hepatitis B? Take This Quiz and Find Out".
14. (1997). "Nonconceptive Sexual Behavior in Bonobos and Capuchins". International Journal of Primatology.
15. (2012-05-21). "The Scandalous Social Lives of Bonobos".
16. Garrod, Ben. (May 22, 2019). "Bonobo mothers meddle in their sons' lives to help them find sex partners".