page_title: Genital piercing
section_title: For the sexual partner
hierarchical_section_title: Genital piercing / Motives / Enhanced pleasure and sensation / For the sexual partner
caption_attribution_description: An Ampalang piercing: a short metal pin with a carved bone button at both ends, for insertion through the penis horizontally. Dayak, Borneo. Wellcome Images Keywords: Birth control; rings, pins, plugs; artificial deformation; indigenous non-european medicine; body decoration
context_page_description: Genital piercing is a form of body piercing that involves piercing a part of the genitalia, thus creating a suitable place for wearing different types of jewellery. Nevertheless, the term may also be used pars pro toto to indicate all body piercings in the area of anus, perineum, genitals and mons pubis, including piercings such as anal, guiche, and pubic that do not involve perforation of genitalia. Genital piercings can be done in men or women, with various forms of piercings available. The main motive for both genders is beautification and individualization; in addition, some piercings enhance sexual pleasure by increasing stimulation. Genital piercings can be found in many tribal societies, in particular in South and East Asia, where it has been part of traditional practice since ancient times. Early records of genital piercing are found in the Kama Sutra that was written over 2000 years ago.
context_section_description: 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."
caption: Historic photograph of a Dayak with Ampallang piercing (top), detailed view of traditional jewelry (bottom
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