Dendrophilia (or less often arborphilia or dendrophily) literally means "
love
Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
of
trees
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only p ...
". The term may sometimes refer to a
paraphilia
A paraphilia is an experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, places, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as a sexual interest in anything other than a legally consenting human ...
in which people are attracted to or sexually aroused by trees. This may involve
sexual contact or veneration as
phallic symbol
A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''.
Any object that symbo ...
s or both.
Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...
made poetry using dendrophilic themes.
Description
A person hugging a tree
Many people use vegetables and fruits such as cucumbers or carrots to insert into their
vagina
In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...
or
anus
In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facil ...
as an object to receive sexual pleasure or
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...
s when they
masturbate
Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...
. In men, holes can be used inside trees or trunks, assimilating the shape of a vagina, through which the penis is inserted.
Many people experience feelings toward plants after having sex in a garden, forest,
greenhouse
A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...
, or bedroom with many plants. The use of flowers to caress the body is also included in dendrophilia.
It is widely regarded as illegal to act upon such thoughts in public due to
Indecent exposure
Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...
, and people have been arrested for such attempts
In popular culture
* In the film ''
40 Days and 40 Nights
''40 Days and 40 Nights'' is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann, written by Rob Perez, and starring Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon, and Paulo Costanzo. The film depicts Matt Sullivan, a San Francisco web designer who has ...
'',
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. He began his career on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's drama series ''Cracker (American TV series), Cracker'' (1997–1998), after which he became known as a teen idol thro ...
's girlfriend reaches orgasm in this way when he was carrying out a sexual fast for
Lent
Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
.
* In an episode of the Mexican-American series ''
Case Closed
''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994; its chapters are collected in 10 ...
'', a man said that he reached orgasm through a fruit and that he could not please his wife in the usual way.
Bibliography
* Corsini, Raymond J. (1999). ''The Dictionary of Psychology''. Psychology Press, p. 263. ISBN 1-58391-028-X.
* Love, Brenda (1992). ''The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices''. Barricade Books, NY. ISBN 1-56980-011-1.
* Gregor, Thomas (1987). ''Anxious Pleasures: The Sexual Lives of an Amazonian People''. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226307435
References
Paraphilias
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