Laws And Religious Proscriptions
The sex drive is a fundamental and powerful part of human nature. Some will cluck their tongues in disgust at the sexual behavior of others, and then proceed to do the same things as soon as they have the chance and no one is looking. There are laws and religious proscriptions against various sexual acts in virtually every country and culture. Some seem to make some sense while others are absurd to the point of being laughable.
This highlights absurd sexual laws from all over the world. I have no idea if all of them are accurate, and we know that just because something gets to your email inbox it doesn't mean it's true, but I'm sure some of them must be true.
Here are a few unsubstantiated examples from the mail.
First the ancient.
During the Middle Ages, if you were guilty of bestiality you'd be burned at the stake, along with the other party to your crime.
In 100 A.D., the Teutons, an Germanic tribe, would punish anyone caught as a prostitute by suffocating them in excrement.
In 17th century Spain, it was illegal for anyone other than a woman's husband to see her bare feet. A woman could freely expose her breasts, but feet were considered sexual and had to be covered in the presence of men other than her husband.
The vow of a Roman vestal virgin lasted 30 years. If she engaged in sex before then, she was punished by being buried alive.
In Pompeii, a special law was directed at prostitutes. They had to dye their hair either blue, red or yellow in order to be able to work.
Peru still keeps on the books an old piece of legislation that dates all the way back to 1583. Passed by the Third Provisional Council of Lima, it states, "If there is anyone among you who commits sodomy, sinning with another man, or with a boy, or with a beast...Let it be known that it carries the death penalty."
The regional:
The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation.
In Nepal, Bangladesh and Macao it is against the law to view movies containing simulated lovemaking or the pubic area of men and women. The law also does not allow kisses to be shown in any film that includes actors from these three countries.
Cautin Province in Chile has an edict banning the hanging on the walls of Playboy centerfolds and other sexy pinups in any home or public building. The reason according to this decree? "It's more worthwhile to admire a good landscape than a photograph of a naked woman."
Featherbeds were long ago outlawed in Buenos Aires, Argentina because "such an indulgence induces and encourages lascivious feelings."
It's against the law in Belize for any man to have sex with or marry his own aunt. Masked vigilantes are allowed to take the law into their own hands and severely punish the lawbreaker, who is tied to a tree and then flogged.
Masturbation is outlawed in French Guiana because of the "danger it presents to the masturbator." The law notes that such a physical act "is recognized as a common cause of insanity."
The law in Montevideo, Uruguay, bans a man from making love to his wife during her menstrual period. Nor is he allowed even to touch her between the waist and the knees. Anyone who violates this law is fined and publicly administered 200 lashes.
The religious:
The early Christian church forbade couples from having sex on Wednesdays, Fridays and of course, Sundays.
"Sperm is always impure," decreed Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, "whether it comes from coitus or from involuntary emissions while asleep." Therefore, Iranians are forced by law to go through ablution*or the ritualistic washing away of impurities as in a religious rite*after being involved in certain kinds of sexual activities. (Ablution isn't necessary, however, if the sperm stays inside the woman's vagina after lovemaking is completed.)
In Iran, a man who perspires when he ejaculates doesn't have to worry according to Muslim law. His sweat isn't impure, but he's not allowed to pray so long as his clothing or body are still sweaty.
According to Iranian law, Islamic religious laws "must be obeyed and carried out by all*without exception and without argument. There is no other right, no other duty but obedience." This Middle Eastern country's Retribution Bill details the punishments for sex-related crimes such as fornication, homosexual activity, prostitution, and being a pimp. Each of these is punishable by death. Public morality is strictly enforced. Any man or woman even accused of adultery is shot.
It is illegal for a man and woman to have sex "on the steps of any church after the sun goes down" in Birmingham, England.
The double-standards:
The law in Guatemala pulls no punches in dealing with single women who have been accused of illicit lovemaking. Supposed female "fornicators," when seen in the streets, are to be stopped, spat upon, and beaten by the citizens of the community. Single men aren't punished at all when they've been caught in the act.
In the state of Texas it was a misdemeanor if two men engage in oral and or anal sex. The same law doesn't apply to men and women engaging in the same activity with each other.
Both Indiana and Ohio have laws that prohibit male skating instructors from having sexual relations with their female students. This misdeed, called "the seduction of female students," is prosecuted as a felony. This statute applies only to male teachers. It seems female skating instructors may have sex with male students.
A married woman in La Paz, Bolivia, is not allowed to drink more than a tiny bit of wine. One who does is considered by law to be morally and sexually lax, and her husband may divorce her for one sip too many.
A husband in Honduras is guilty of adultery only when he has a mistress and when he "keeps her in a notorious manner."
In Michigan a woman isn't allowed to cut her own hair without her husband's permission.
Nudity, Peeping, or Viewing Another Person:
In China, women are prohibited from walking around a hotel room in the nude. A woman may be naked only while in the bathroom.
In Oxford, Ohio, it's illegal for a woman to strip off her clothing while standing in front of a man's picture.
The owner of every hotel in Hastings, Nebraska is required to provide each guest with a clean and pressed nightshirt. No male and female*even if they are married*may sleep together in the nude. Nor may any sexual activity be undertaken except while the couple is attired in one of these plain white cotton nightshirts.
Kuwait covers all the bases when it comes to sexual feelings. It's illegal there for a married man to glance at another woman "in a sensual manner." Nor can any male, married or single, lustfully look at a statue of a female or at a female animal.
Lawmakers in Bahrain have decreed that a male doctor can legally examine a woman's genitals. But any examination must be done indirectly. Says the law, "If a doctor must touch a woman's genitalia for medical reasons, he must not look directly at her genitals. He may do this only by seeing their reflection in a mirror."
Muslims are banned from looking at the genitals of a corpse. The person undertaking the cleansing ritual commits a serious violation of the law if he or she sneaks a peek. The sex organs of a dead person must always be covered with a brick or a piece of wood during the ritual.
Governing specific acts:
Rhode Island prohibits unmarried people from partaking of bedroom activities under any circumstances. However, if caught, the lovers are both fined $10.
Branchville, South Carolina, retains an old piece of legalese covering those who "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed, and cohabit together, in a public or non-public place." The amorous couple can be punished with a $500 fine and as much as a six-month prison term.
Until the law was repealed in 1975, California husbands and wives could both get a 15-year penitentiary term for engaging in certain sexual practices. They were specifically prohibited from engaging in any oral activities, even in the privacy of their own bedroom.
Sodomy laws have been repealed*or are ignored*in most states, but not Georgia, where a man was sentenced to five years in prison for engaging in oral sex. With his wife. With her consent. In their home.
In the state of Washington there is a law against having sex with a virgin under any circumstances (including the wedding night).
The only acceptable sexual position in Washington, D.C. is the missionary position. Any other sexual position is considered illegal.
And the ridiculous:
In Iran, the law clearly states that a Muslim man can't marry a woman who was breast-fed as a baby by his grandmother or his mother.
Prostitutes in South Dakota are still prohibited from plying their trade out of a covered wagon.
Indiana and Wyoming both have laws against anyone's enticing, alluring, instigating, or helping a person under 21 to masturbate. This activity is known in legal circles as an act of "self pollution."
Connecticut still retains an old law forbidding any kind of "private sexual behavior between consenting adults." This odd law makes absolutely no distinction between married and single couples.
Every hotel room in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is required to have twin beds. And these twin beds must always be a minimum of two feet apart when a couple rents a room for only one night. And it's illegal to make love on the floor between the beds.
