Oral sex can be such a source of tension in marriage.
I hear from both women and men in marriages where the husband would like to receive oral sex and the wife doesn’t want to do it.
It often becomes a measuring stick both spouses use to assess how much they are loved by the other. Her constant refusal shows him that her love for him is lacking. She views his frequent requests as a sign that he is more interested in physical pleasure than in her.
My marriage was like this for a long time.
“I really wish you would . . .”
“If you won’t have sex, could you at least . . .”
“It wouldn’t take as long if you would . . .”
What’s wrong with what I already do? Why can’t you be grateful for what you have? Why is there always some area where I’m not good enough? Oral sex requires even more effort than regular sex, and if you think it’s just the amount of time it takes, you haven’t been paying any attention to me.
Why Not?
Why was I so opposed to oral sex anyway?
I had (still have, in fact) some genuine physical challenges that make oral sex difficult: chronic sinusitis, arthritic knees, an enhanced sensitivity to smell, a small mouth, and a strong gag reflex. When Big Guy asked me “Why not?” these were the reasons I gave.
All these things could be addressed in some way. Even at the time, I knew deep down that the reasons I spoke weren’t my real reasons for opposing oral sex.
The real reasons were about my heart:
- I thought oral sex was only about the physical sensation. He wanted only to penetrate me, not to connect with me. I felt like an object.
- I felt subservient. Giving oral sex made me feel like I didn’t matter, like my experience was completely irrelevant. At least with intercourse, I could have some attention. Even if all I did was lie there, I would at least be kissed. Oral sex was all about him being serviced by me. I felt lesser. Debased. Diminished.
- Mostly, though, I didn’t want him to win the oral sex war. It would be like admitting I’d been wrong. And if I did it once, I was afraid he would expect it all the time. Because I didn’t want to do it, it would only increase the number of times I would have to either say no and risk feeling guilty or feel like I was caving in yet again. It was just easier to draw the line at “no way, ever” than to have to face battle after battle over it.
A Matter of Heart
My journey to address the sexual intimacy in my marriage involved a lot of growth in my heart.
Two areas of heart change made a huge difference in my marriage: compassion and generosity.
As I began to step forward from my own hurt, my heart grew toward my husband.
Compassion helped me understand the value of oral sex from his perspective. As my heart changed, I came to understand that whereas I saw oral sex as being a subservient sex object to my husband, Big Guy saw it as my ultimate acceptance of the most male part of him. Because it focused on his sexual pleasure, he felt fully loved; it was a blessing and a ministry to his heart, not just a pleasing of his man parts. For him, it was an ultimate experience of being made love to. There are times when this speaks to him on an emotional level that intercourse, in its mutuality, cannot reach.
Generosity helped me want to bless my husband. While I still viewed oral sex as about him, I loosened my tight grip on the idea that serving my husband diminished me in any way. My heart grew to want to give to him. Fulfilling my husband’s sexual desires transformed from a heavy burden to a special privilege.
As compassion and generosity settled in and grew in my heart, oral sex had stopped being a battle without me even trying. It had stopped being a source of tension.
Instead, it was simply one of the many ways I can bless my husband.
How Is Your Heart?
Is oral sex a source of tension in your marriage?
I know that for some women, physical challenges truly are the primary reason that giving oral sex can be problematic. If physical difficulties make oral sex impossible, a compassionate and generous heart should help you seek other ways of blessing your husband in a special way that helps him feel uniquely loved.
For a lot of us, though, physical challenges are more an excuse than a reason.
Let me state this clearly: It is not okay for your husband to pressure or manipulate you to get oral sex (or any particular sex act, for that matter). If you are in the process of working on your heart and on sexual intimacy, the loving thing might be for him to agree to stop asking you about it for six months. If he is using oral sex to measure your love for him, he clearly has some work to do on his own hurt and heart.
If you have resisted or refused to give your husband oral sex, examine your heart. Do you have a heart of compassion and generosity for your husband, or do you find yourself feeling resentful when he expresses an interest in oral sex?
Be honest with yourself. If you cannot wholeheartedly say that you have an attitude of compassion and generosity toward your husband, ask God to transform your heart. (If you need some encouragement in growing your heart, read The Generous Wife. You can read here about her post that helped my heart change.)
If you want to be able to orally bless your husband and don’t know how to start, you may find these posts helpful:
(Or, you can read a combined version of these posts at The Marriage Bed.)
If your heart is in the right place and oral sex continues to be a huge mental hurdle for you, Do I Have To? can give you some helpful strategies.
A wife with a compassionate and generous heart is a greater treasure to a husband than oral sex itself is—and a heart that is in the right place may view oral sex quite differently than it used to.
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
Song of Songs 2:3
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I hated doing oral on anyone else I was ever with but I adore my husband so much that I can’t refuse. Not only that, he pays me back immensely more so. Definitely a win-win situation! I realize how much we are blessed but we had both been married to control freaks and people who didn’t truly love us, so we are so very grateful for all of what we now have in God’s gifts.
I am so glad you and your husband are able to share such a blessing with each other.
Thank you! I give thanks each and every day. Even things I didn’t used to like, I appreciate so much more with a man who is gentle, grateful, loving, and very enthusiastic to please. It’s a mutual blessing.
I’d say it’s sort of a source of tension, but we are working on it. For me, i have to be in the right mood to receive; we used to not do it at all on me, but we do it sometimes now, and if i’m in the right mood and warm up to it, it can be quite enjoyable. I couldn’t fathom putting my mouth on him (and that in itself i learned recently is a source of hurt; that for a long time, esp in our very early marriage sex was about me much more than him, partially because i had to warm up to the idea of a lot of stuff). Slowly, I’ve warmed up to it, and like it sometimes. Still, he says that he feels i act like I don’t like it, and sometimes i admit to getting bored and not trying hard enough during oral with him to be creative and really make it awesome (and kinda disengage and wait for it to be over). Sometimes, during times when we’d either have him not finish, or pull out (for contraceptive purposes) he tells me he would love OS to completion, and if i wouldn’t act repulsed about him finishing in my mouth, and if the roles were reversed he’d let me do it in his… I’ve told him i don’t know if i’ll ever get to the point of having him finish in my mouth. So we do OS on him now, sometimes i’m more generous than others, but he says it kinda ruins it that he has to tell me when he’s almost there so i can have him pull out. definitely an area i could grow in…
Semen is the essence of a man, and it can hard for a guy not to take it personally. Plus, just think about how it must feel to be feeling great and then suddenly have to switch to something that feels less amazing.
I found it helpful to think about it as my husband’s essence and as a tangible sign of what a great job I was doing. 🙂 It can take a while to adjust your thinking, but giving yourself some positive ways to view semen can help.
Thanks, Chris! I really appreciate hearing your husband’s side of it, because I think it applies to my man, too. Always enjoy your posts!
Thanks so much!
There is more to receiving oral sex for the husband than very pleasurable physical sensations. Oral sex shows a level of acceptance that is even more intimate for many husbands than intercourse is. If the wife is more open in her mind to giving it, the act can lead to a deeper connection with her husband.
For the wives who are hesitant or reluctant to try this, they can work up to it. Giving oral sex does become easier with experience, and this also applies to letting him finish in your mouth. Accepting the climax can be managed physically; it is the mental fear and inhibitions that are the obstacle. Chris’ comment above is apropos. Cultivate a positive mental attitude towards oral sex and your husband’s semen. Then you won’t have to switch to something less pleasurable, less intense and less intimate at the time of climax. That will make the experience much better for him – both emotionally and physically.
sorry not sorry I disagree,while there are many benefits to swallowing the fact is many people men & women both find the taste & texture of semen unpalatable,ask your demanding whining husband for a compromise if he will take his semen from your mouth & swallow most times he will refuse saying it’s “gay” but if it’s essence & godly let him take it to
If a husband is demanding and whining about sex in any way, there is a bigger issue than swallowing that needs to be addressed. There are some thing that can help the texture and taste (the man drinking pineapple juice and using chocolate syrup during oral come to mind), and aiming for the back of the mouth can bypass the tastebuds altogether. However, even a wife with the most positive attitude toward her husband’s semen may struggle with swallowing. A loving husband should know the difference between asking and demanding.
I may have the most unusual man; he actually loves when I come back up and kiss him to “share” after I’m done. He also does the same with me. I don’t really prefer my own taste but if I make sure I’m good and clean first, then I don’t mind “sharing” my taste either lol.
If you have to try THAT hard to just manage to make yourself do something you have been so bothered by, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it. In all these articles about oral sex you sound like you think therapy is needed- trying to train your mind to see it as positive even though you hate it, using slow breathing, visualization, etc. and that eventually you can “get past” it and *convince* yourself it’s a good thing? Well, a sex act between you and your husband should be a mutual coming together intimately, it isn’t meant to be something that he loves but you just have to learn to manage your unhappiness and work to force yourself to like it. I have read all your articles many times, and STILL can’t see oral sex as anything but negative, unpleasant, degrading and upsetting…and your articles talk so much about how if you *really love* your husband then you’ll do it, and it’s *selfish* not to do it, well I guess I better not get married ever, then, because I want to be intimate/sexual with my future husband but I don’t think I should have to force myself to just get through something awful and pretend to be happy about it just hoping that someday I’ll feel happy for real instead of fake 🙁
I am writing these posts to help wives who want to better understand why their husbands might want oral sex and who want to try to move past their own struggles to be able to do this. You are reading that I am saying “you should give oral sex.” What I am actually saying is “you should consider it” and “here are some things to try if you want.” If oral sex feels degrading and upsetting to a woman, she shouldn’t do it—and that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t also spend time thinking about why she has a negative reaction to something that some women view as positive. It doesn’t mean that she is wrong, but reflecting on this might point her to some areas where she needs healing (for her own sake, not so she can be able to do oral). Considering it simply means to spend some time thinking and praying about it. That’s all.
Frankly, I’m puzzled as to why you are reading any of these posts at all. My blog is for wives who want to grow in the area of sex and need some encouragement. You refer to a future husband, so you clearly aren’t a wife. You have a strongly negative view of oral sex, so these posts aren’t going to do anything other than upset you. Go read something that encourages and inspires you. There are many blogs that will be a better fit for you than this one.
I have sometimes had women write to me to say that their boyfriends have sent them these posts to try to convince them that they should be giving oral sex. If that is the case, please know that you deserve better than any many trying to guilt you into doing something you don’t want to do. That is coercion, and it is wrong.