Many mistakes. Sometimes their assumptions were so absurd that, with today’s knowledge, it’s hard to believe anyone actually thought they were true.
Myth #1: A woman needs to have an orgasm to become pregnant.
One of the most, generally speaking, “innocent” myths about sex dates back to the time of the ancient Romans. It was believed that if a woman did not experience orgasm during sex, she would not conceive and would not have a child.
One of the most ardent proponents of this theory was Claudius Galen, a Roman physician, surgeon, and philosopher. According to Galen, humans are at the top of the food chain because they produce “life-giving heat” from their bodies—and this internal heat is the key to pregnancy in both men and women.
Galen believed that sperm existed not only in men but also in women (he simply called it “semen”), and that internal heat was generated when people had sex. During this process, they “mixed their seeds, animated matter, and created new life.” But for this to happen, sex had to be good—their bodies would then become “heavy and hot.”
Myth #2: All of a woman’s sexual partners influence her future offspring.
Telegony is a thousand times disproven and completely barbaric biological concept, according to which sex with previous partners affects the hereditary traits of offspring.
During the Soviet era when all genetic research was denounced, telegony was considered a plausible theory, and even today, some believe that all a woman’s partners influence her children. Of course, this myth completely defies common sense.
In all mammals, each sperm and each egg contain two single sets of chromosomes. During fertilization, a zygote is born with a double set of chromosomes: half of the genetic material is inherited from the mother, and the other half from the father.
The myth of telegony contradicts modern knowledge of genetics and reproduction.
Myth #3: Foot binding makes a woman’s vagina tighter
This savage myth led to one of the most painful and barbaric practices ever to exist in China. The custom was practiced from the early 10th century to the early 20th century. Little girls had all but the big toe tied to their feet with a piece of cloth, forcing them to wear much smaller shoes to prevent their feet from growing. The size of their feet is determined how desirable a girl would be as a bride.
Women with deformed feet avoided placing their weight on the toes, preferring to strike the heel. This made them gait cautious and unsteady. Marco Polo (1254-1324) wrote that a Chinese woman’s stride was no longer than half a toe. The ideal foot was no longer than 7 centimeters; such feet were called “golden lotuses.”
Deformed feet were considered both a guarantee of female chastity and female sexuality. When feet atrophied, most of the weight was borne by the thighs, causing them to swell, and men perceived them as “plump and voluptuous.” Furthermore, men believed that an awkward, swaying gait strengthened the vaginal muscles: pain caused constant muscle spasms, making the vagina tighter. Some believed that touching the feet aroused women.
It was only in 1949, when the communists came to power, that they succeeded in achieving a complete ban on foot binding.
Myth #4: Clitoral orgasm is a sign of immaturity
Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was convinced (and convinced others) that a woman’s inability to experience vaginal orgasm was nothing more than a sign of immaturity. Freud believed that, as soon as a woman reaches puberty, her sensitivity “shifts” from the clitoris to the vagina, and if a woman is unable to achieve orgasm without clitoral stimulation, she has become a victim of childhood trauma that has prevented her from maturing harmoniously.
As you might guess, women suffered greatly from these kinds of theories and seriously tried to “cure” themselves.
Myth #5: Women have sex with women using… a huge clitoris!
From the time of Ancient Greece until the 20th century, many myths swirled around female sex. People in the ancient world believed that the “dominant” lesbian, whom they called “tribadka,” was as well-equipped as any man. The only difference was that during sex with other women, she used a huge clitoris instead of a penis.
Descriptions of such acts were found even in quite serious medical texts.
Myth #6: Having sex during your period can cause birth defects.
In various cultures, a woman’s period was considered “unclean.” Having sex during this time was dangerous. According to the book “The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation,” the French believed that a child conceived during such sex would be “frail, apathetic, and moribund, susceptible to a variety of diseases.”
Myth #7: Masturbation causes blindness
Loss of sexual energy, insatiable hunger, impotence, weakness, paralysis, weakening of the respiratory system, insanity, epilepsy, fits of rage, memory loss, decreased intellectual abilities and, finally, blindness – these are all things that will NOT happen to you if you masturbate.
The problem is that people didn’t know this before.
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