Genital piercing is a form of body piercing that involves piercing a part of the genitalia or in the area of the anus, perineum, penis, scrotum, and vulva. Anal, guiche, and pubic piercings do not involve perforation of genitalia itself. Genital piercings can be done regardless of sex, with various forms of piercings available. The main motive is beautification and individualization; in addition, some piercings enhance sexual pleasure by increasing stimulation. Pre-modern genital piercings were most culturally widespread in Southeast Asia, where it had been part of traditional practice since ancient times. Records of genital piercing are found in the Kama Sutra.
History
The traditional prehistoric and historic practice of genital piercing was most culturally widespread in Southeast Asia (particularly in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar), where the insertion of various kinds of implants into the penis were common until modern times, in addition to other ancient body modifications like tattooing, supercision or circumcision, pearling, ear piercings and ear plugs, gold teeth fillings, teeth filing, teeth blackening, and artificial cranial deformation. The primary purpose of such inserts were to enhance pleasure. The practice also spread to neighboring regions, where scattered references to genital piercings exist, like the South Asian apadravya, a male genital piercing that passes vertically through the glans (unlike most Southeast Asian piercings which are inserted horizontally), in the Kama Sutra (2nd century AD). Other smaller traditions of genital piercings also arose independently in other cultures (like in Central America).
In the Philippines, penile piercings were widely documented by European explorers among the Visayan people. Visayan penile piercings consists of a rod or bar (usually made from gold, brass, tin, or ivory; and often ornamented) called the tugbuk or tudruk that is inserted horizontally through the glans of the penis. Its ends are attached to the sakra (also transcribed as sacra or sagra), a wheel or half-ring (made from the same material as the tugbuk) that goes around the head of the penis, similar to a cock ring. The sakra comes in many variants, but is usually ornamented with blunt knobs around the circumference. The ends of the tugbuk are then secured to the sakra with plugs (also often ornamented). The Italian explorer Antonio Pigafetta who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan in the first circumnavigation of the globe describes the practice as such:
The anonymously-written Boxer Codex () also has a similar description:
These piercings were done to boys at an early age. They were meant to enhance sensation and pleasure during sexual activity for both men and women. Notably, Pigafetta describes that it was the women who controlled how the penis with the sakra is inserted. Men without penile piercings were reported to be derided by women as asog ("impotent" or "effeminate"). The practice was heavily suppressed by the Spanish clergy and eventually lost during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines, as it was considered by the Spanish clergy to be a "sin of the flesh."
The ampallang, a similar piercing (which also passes horizontally through the glans, but differs in that it is not attached to a ring), is found in different tribes throughout Sarawak and Sabah on the island of Borneo. Genital piercings became first introduced in western countries by ethnographic report, done by explorers such as in the 19th century. The Dutch explorer Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis described in his ethnographic record In Centraal Borneo: reis van Pontianak naar Samarinda – documenting his travel through Borneo in 1897 – the procedure of an ampallang piercing:
Piercing the genitals became a short-lived trend at the end of the 19th century, in particular for upper classes of the society: "It was during the Victorian era that the practice of body piercing in the Western world reemerged. Many men and women of the Victorian royalty chose to receive nipple and genital piercings.″
Just like nipple piercings, genital piercings became increasingly more popular and part of mainstream culture in the second decade of the 21st century, with "nice and normal" people endorsing them. Many celebrities such as Christina Aguilera, Pete Doherty,Pete Doherty's penis piercing - Female First Janet Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, Katarina Waters, or Pete Wentz, stated that they had or planned to have genital piercings. Genital piercings nowadays have a growing demand, especially in a young adult, college-aged population.
With regard to (female) genital piercings, Marilyn W. Edmunds, adjunct clinical professor at the Johns Hopkins University, stated, "Women with genital piercings are no longer on the social fringe or part of the 'punk' culture who are experimenting with behaviors that are 'socially provocative.' Over the past 30 years, genital piercing has become mainstream, and women engage in it for a variety of reasons."
Motives
Like body piercings at large, genital piercings are often done for aesthetic reasons and as an expression of personal style. In addition, some (but not all) types of genital piercing increase sensitivity and provide additional stimulation during sexual activity. According to an Association of Professional Piercers report by Elayne Angel:
Culture and life style Traditional cultures In many traditional cultures, these piercings are done as a rite of passage during adolescence and, symbolically and literally, mark the admittance to the adult world and serve as a marker of cultural identity. Similar to religiously motivated circumcision, it may be regarded as a "purification of the flesh" and a common bodily sign to members of the same faith. These traditional meanings of modifying the body were revived in contemporary western society by the modern primitive. Inspired by ethnographic accounts of tribal practices, this subculture adopted genital piercings as a matter of individuation and spirituality.
Contemporary western society For most people that seek genital piercings nowaday, a sense of uniqueness and non-conformism prevails. A 2015 study that evaluated a qualitative dataset of 484 self-reports and characteristics of men and women with genital piercings came to the conclusion that:
Enhanced pleasure and sensation Additionally, genital piercings can enhance sexual pleasure during masturbation, foreplay and intercourse.
For the sexual partner This effect is in particular reported for piercings passing through the glans penis: the ampallang and apadravya piercing. Women of the Dayak in Sarawak, Borneo prefer men with an ampallang, claiming that intercourse without would be dull:
Paolo Mantegazza stated, "The Dayak women have a right to insist upon the ampallang and if the man does not consent they may seek separation. They say that the embrace without this contrivance is plain rice; with it is rice with salt."
On another account by the anthropologist Tom Harrisson, who spent much of his life in Borneo and interviewed natives about the traditional ampallang; he stated, "the function of this device is, superficially, to add to the sexual pleasure of the women by stimulating and extending the inner walls of the vagina. It is, in this, in my experience, decidedly successful."
For the pierced person For men, piercings that stimulate the sensitive urethra, either during masturbation or sexual intercourse, increase sensation.
Female genital piercings that are reported to enhance pleasure are the piercings that pass through or close to the clitoris, i.e. the clitoris piercing and the clitoral hood piercing. In an empirical study at the University of South Alabama, the authors reported a positive relationship between vertical clitoral hood piercings and desire, frequency of intercourse, and sexual arousal. However, this might depend on many factors such as placement, jewelry shape, and the individual. The triangle piercing is known to be quite pleasurable by providing stimulation of the underside of the clitoral glans, an area that is usually not stimulated at all.
Potential health risks Male genital piercing may increase the risk of STI transmission by making safer sex barriers (condoms) less effective. In two surveys, 5%–18% of men with genital piercings reported unspecified "problems using condoms" though it is unclear how many of these men used condoms regularly. There is no conclusive evidence that wearers of genital piercings are more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections.
Legal considerations
Laws vary from one country to another, and sometimes within a country by legal jurisdiction. In many European countries, minors are required to bring a signed consent form from or to be escorted by a legal guardian. Even in countries that have no laws regulating genital piercing in minors, many piercers refrain from doing them (since physiological development is not completed in minors). In the United States, it is prohibited to pierce the genitals of people younger than 18 years.
Types of genital piercings
Male genital piercings
Possible piercing sites on the male genitalia include the glans, the skin of the penis shaft, the scrotum or the perineum.
Glans penis
Piercings through the glans of the penis include the ampallang, which passes horizontally, and the apadravya, that passes vertically through the glans. The Prince Albert piercing is situated on the ventral side (underside) of the penis immediately behind the glans, while the reverse Prince Albert piercing passes through the dorsal (top) side of the glans. The dydoe pierces through the coronal rim of the glans. With the exception of the dydoe, all these piercings traditionally pass through the urethra.
These piercings provide increased stimulation during intercourse to the male (who is carrying the piercing) as well as to the partner. Piercings through the head, or the glans, are the genital piercings with the best-documented historical evidence.The Point - An Approach to Genital Piercings Part 5
Skin of the penis shaft and scrotum
Foreskin piercing passes through the penile prepuce on the dorsal, ventral or lateral side. The frenum piercing passes through the penile frenum, a small skin bridge that connects the glans with the shaft skin. The hafada piercing is situated on the skin of the scrotum while a transscrotal piercing travels through it. As an intermediate version between frenulum and hafada, the lorum piercing (low frenum) sits at the point where penis and scrotum connect. The Jacob's Ladder is a ladder from frenum to scrotum. The guiche piercing is a body piercing on the perineum.
Female genital piercings In female individuals as well, various anatomical parts can be suitable for piercings. These include the mons pubis, the clitoral hood, the outer, inner labia and the vulval vestibule (which is the area surrounding the vaginal opening).
Clitoris and clitoral hood
The glans of the clitoris itself can be pierced. Since this anatomical part is too small in many cases and is susceptible to nerve damage, this piercing is not very common. In contrast, the clitoral hood piercing is the most common genital piercing for women. It can be applied horizontally and vertically. The deep hood piercing is a variation of the clitoral hood piercing that pass deeper through the clitoral hood. The Isabella piercing passes vertically through the clitoral shaft and is rather complicated to pierce.
Labia and vulval vestibule