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An orgy is a group activity involving unrestrained indulgence. In contemporary usage, an orgy typically refers to group sex, although it sometimes refers to other activities such as dancing or violence.

General overview

An orgy may involve four or more people of any gender or sexual orientation. The events themselves may be characterized by sex; for example, a straight orgy would involve only heterosexual sex. Some venues for orgies may be intended for a particular group or groups of people; for example, many sex parties in the United States are restricted to women or couples. In the gay male community, there are nightclubs, bath houses, and internet groups that organize and participate in group sex. Different types of orgies may or may not involve switching partners. Some sex clubs, for example, require entrants to come in pairs and do not typically involve actual physical contact between people in different pairs. Orgies may involve a specific set of sexual activities; for example, some involve BDSM, while "vanilla" orgies do not.

Orgies in contemporary culture

In many cultures, public intercourse is considered taboo and is illegal (see indecent exposure); many groups also frown upon sex that is not monogamous. Orgies often take place in private or clandestine locations, including homes, unpopulated areas like forests, abandoned buildings, or private clubs. Sex clubs are often open to members only, while less formal locations (truck stops, wooded areas) may be semi-secret. Group sex also sometimes takes place in nightclubs, bathhouses, massage parlors, or bars, although such places (particularly those frequented by sexual minorities such as gays or lesbians in countries intolerant of homosexuality) are sometimes subject to legal repercussions. Orgies may be a part of other social activities such as parties, although some venues such as gay bathhouses tend to eschew talking.

The possibility for awkwardness among friends, significant others, or strangers at orgies is often cited as a problem with them, particularly in relatively spontaneous incidents of group sex such as drunken orgies among friends. Among heterosexuals, the relative availability of men and women is also a concern for participants, as social stigma or other factors structures the extent to which many men or women feel comfortable being promiscuous.

In spite of (or due to) the stigma against group sex, participation in orgies is a common fantasy, although regular participation in group sex remains uncommon in most cultures.

Certain characteristics typical of human beings in general severely limit group sex participation. Women may be less likely to admit an attraction to impersonal sex, multiple sexual partners, and sexual variety for its own sake, whereas men are more likely to admit interest in these sexual possibilities. Accordingly, in most situations, the number of men who want to participate in orgies greatly exceeds the number of women. Additionally, most men and women are subject to sexual jealousy, an emotion that can be intensely uncomfortable, and sometimes evokes hostility or aggression. Although the fantasy of group sex can be titillating for many couples, it should be noted that enactment can result in irreversible emotional trauma or damage done to the relationship, and for this reason many couples prefer to use sex toys rather than live partners.

Prevalence

There isn't much reliable information about orgy-related behavior in the United States in recent times. Information about remote times and places is even more scanty. The Kinsey Reports represent one of the better known data sets. This information, collected between 1948 and 1953, from interviews with about 10,000 people suggests that this kind of sexual activity is uncommon. Many forms of sexual behavior were reported by Kinsey's subjects, but the official Kinsey Reports web site does not mention threesomes, group sex or orgies in the summary of Kinsey's findings. Presumably, such reports were too scanty to mention.

A web site summarizes a survey conducted by ABC PrimeTime News in 2004. Fifteen percent of the subjects reported that they had participated in a threesome on at least one occasion, though no other survey information is mentioned.

Safety

Since the advent of the AIDS epidemic, group sex is widely considered a dangerous activity, precipitating crackdowns on venues where it takes place. In response to the threat of sexually transmitted infection, some people have begun to organize safer sex parties in order to give people who enjoy group sex a risk-reduced way to participate in it. Such events typically do not involve intercourse or sex without necessary barrier methods such as condoms, focusing on group masturbation, protected oral sex, the use of sex toys, or other activities involving minimal risk of STI transmission. Many venues where orgies often take place provide condoms, dental dams, latex gloves, lubricant, or other tools for safer sex to participants. However, sex involving potential fluid exchange is considered a major risk factor for HIV or other diseases.

Sexual assault is not a risk involved in consensual group sex, although the term orgy (and some slang terms such as "gangbang" or "pulling a train") can be used to refer to sexual assault committed by a group, often as punishment or recreation. Most organized forms of group sex impose restrictions or use customs to ensure that all sex involved is consensual; for example, some groups have specific non-verbal cues (eye contact, hand gestures) used to communicate consent or lack thereof. Again, alcohol and other drugs may be seen as risk factors for unwanted sexual contact during group sex.

Further Reading

Partridge, Burgo A History of Orgies 1960

See also

• Roman decadence
• Sex tourism

External links

• Weinberg, Martin S. (December, 1975). "Gay Baths and the Social Organization of Impersonal Sex". Social Problems. 23 (2): 124–136. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• Human sexuality
• Sexuality and society
• Sexual fidelity
• Group sex