Contents:
- Petting is warming up before sex
- Is petting at risk for health?
- What about the risk of pregnancy?
- Watch out too much!
- How to secure petting?
Sex does not only involve penile penetration. Many couples who overtake their sex sessions with each other flirting to further inflame passion. Swiping each other's genitals aka petting is one of the activities that might be a "warm up" favorite of a number of couples.
Every sexual activity has its own risks. What about petting? Here's the full information.
Petting is warming up before sex
Petting is a term that includes many different sexual activities to achieve sexual pleasure without even penetrating. Petting is often called making out (dry out) or dry humping (frottage), aka "sex without undressing".
Petting can include giving and / or receiving hickey, kissing, biting, licking, and sexual touch on the partner's body such as fingering, massaging, stroking, squeezing, until nipple stimulation with the mouth or hands. Stimulating the clitoris or penis by hand is also often classified as make-up activity. Using sex toys also includes petting, for many couples. More specifically, the people of Indonesia relate the term petting to the activities of rubbing each other's genitals.
Petting can be done in full dress, half-half (stimulation is done behind clothes), or even mutually naked. Apart from the presence or absence of clothing that is still attached to the body, petting does not involve penetrating the penis anywhere - whether inserted into the vagina, into the anus (anal sex), or into the mouth (oral sex).
For many couples, petting is an "appetizer" alias foreplay before penetration to reach a climax. However, many couples also get to orgasm just by making out.
Is petting at risk for health?
In general, petting is a sex activity that is the lowest risk of transmission of venereal and pregnancy diseases when compared to penile penetration sex (oral, vaginal, or anal).
However, the risk of petting itself depends on what you do, how to do it, and whether you or your sex partner is free of infectious diseases. So, we better peel one by one the examples to make it clearer.
If both of you are clean of venereal disease and make out (wear clothes or not), whether by touching, kissing, nipple stimulation, picking up, or rubbing each other's genitals, certainly there will be no transmission of infectious diseases. Except maybe if you or your partner is sick with a cold or mumps, kissing can transmit the disease.
Another story is if one party has a sexually transmitted disease. This is what must be really considered. Because, many sexually transmitted diseases that can change hands through body fluids such as saliva, vaginal fluid, and semen, also through direct contact with injured skin or with warts. Syphilis, gonorrhea, and herpes are one of the diseases that can be transmitted through oral and touch skin.
When you touch the thrush of oral herpes signs in the partner's mouth, for example, or touch his genital warts during oral sex or handjob (hand manual stimulation; either to the vagina or penis),then shifting to holding a sex or other part of yourself will risk transferring the disease to your body.
Likewise with rubbing each other's genitals without using a condom. Infected semen can drip and touch the skin of the vagina, even into it - enough to transmit venereal disease.
However, if petting (rubbing each other's genitals) is done with both of them still fully clothed, the risk of disease transmission is small. This is because body fluids will dry out quickly when they meet clothing. Sperm cannot penetrate the fabric, and any virus or bacteria contained in it will die quickly.
What about the risk of pregnancy?
The risk of pregnancy from petting, making out, or dry humping is fairly small - especially if it's done still dressing with each other. Sperm cannot penetrate cloth. Sperm also cannot penetrate the pores of a woman's skin and cause pregnancy.
The chances of getting pregnant from this activity only increase when two people who are involved together are naked and the man ejaculates outside (near the vaginal opening) so that the semen is very likely to drip inside and finally the sperm swim to meet the egg, which then ends in pregnancy.
Also remember that female external ejaculation (for example on the face or chest) can also risk the transfer of venereal disease infections from semen when attached to open wounds on a woman's body.
Watch out too much!
One risk of petting that may often be ignored is "excessive". Petting activities, whatever you do, usually don't use condoms. Some types of activities are safe to do without condoms, such as squeezing breasts, hugging, massaging and caressing.
However, the passion and pleasure that continues to increase during this flirting session can make you and your partner complacent until they forget themselves. In the end, it is not impossible for you both to unconsciously open your clothes and engage in penetration sex before you use condoms. This is what can double the risk of transmission of venereal disease or even unwanted pregnancies.
How to secure petting?
Even though it doesn't involve penetration, you still need to be careful. The things that need to be done to ensure you and your partner stay safe during petting are:
- Know your partner including your partner's sexual history.
- Don't share sex toys without washing them first.
- Make sure your hands are clean of body fluids (saliva, semen, vaginal fluids) when touching your own body or partner.
- Do not change partners.
- Make sure to use condoms or dental dams for oral sex.
