Standing at the newspaper counter just now, as one does, my eye, as it can be, was drawn to the current Portuguese Penthouse, the cover story of which, translated, seems to be:
Sodomy, the ultimate taboo.
Now I agree, given my age, inclinations and general uxoriousness, I don\’t know this following statement to be true, but I\’m generally under the impression that that ship sailed some time ago.
Overcome by the spirit of natural curiosity I’ve just managed to stop myself typing “portugese for sodomy” into Google.
So very peculiar. They must mean something specific. Perhaps Tim could do some further research.
I’m generally under the impression that that ship sailed some time ago
Quite.
It depends whether we’re taking ‘sodomy’ in its narrow context as being synonymous with male homosexuality or more broadly as a sexual practice engaged in by homosexuals and heterosexuals alike.
As far as heterosexuals go, Kinsey put the prevalence of anal intercourse at 11% for married couples, 9% for unmarried males and over 40% from unmarried females based on data collected from late 1930s to the early 1950s. This seems to confirm anecdotal reports that anal intercourse was commonly used as mean of contraception by umarried women back in the days when reliable alternatives were difficult to come by.
Since Kinsey it would appear that the overall prevalence of anal intercourse has risen pretty steadily – current estimates suggest that around 40% of American adults have given it a go at least once.
And of course, in several US states, just to confuse everyone, ‘sodomy’ can refer to oral sex….
I’ve always found oral sex confusing. I mean, when does it stop being breakfast and turn into brunch?
Aside from the subtle points made by other commenters, may I commend your use of the excellent word uxoriousness?
I wonder if one could use ‘uxority’ instead.
I wonder if one could use ‘uxority’ instead.
Uxor in Latin is the noun. So no, uxority wouldn’t be possible etymologically.
It’s all Greek to me.