Baseball metaphors for sex#History
{{Short description|"First base", etc., as sexual euphemism}}
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File:Dodger Stadium field from upper deck (crop).jpg
In American slang, baseball metaphors for sex are often used as euphemisms for the degree of physical intimacy achieved in sexual encounters or relationships.{{cite book|title=Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism|first1=Steven L.|last1=Hellermann|first2= Andrei S.|last2=Markovits|year=2001|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=069107447X|page=66}} In the metaphor, first prevalent in the aftermath of World War II, sexual activities are described as if they are actions in a game of baseball.{{cite book|title=Communicating Gender|first=Suzanne|last=Romaine|year=1999| publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates|isbn=0-8058-2926-1|page=210}}{{cite book|title=The Dark Ages, Life in the United States, 1945–1960|first=Marty|last=Jezer|year=1982|publisher=South End Press|isbn=0-89608-127-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/darkageslifeinth00jeze/page/248 248]|url=https://archive.org/details/darkageslifeinth00jeze/page/248}} Baseball has also served as the context for metaphors about sexual roles and identity.
Running the bases
Among the most commonly used metaphors is the progress of a batter and base-runner in describing levels of physical intimacy (traditionally from a heterosexual perspective). Definitions vary, but the following are typical usages of the terms:{{cite book | title=Third Base Ain't What it Used to Be: What Your Kids Are Learning About Sex Today—and How to Teach Them to Become Sexually Healthy Adults | author=Levkoff, Logan | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m4qhuD3G0-8C | chapter=Sex Talk Among Teens | publisher=Open Road Media | year=2012 | isbn=9781453262924}}
{{cite book | title=The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English | author=Dalzell, Tom | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neVBmSyNRnEC | publisher=Routledge | year=2008 | isbn=9781134194780}}
{{cite book | title=The Gender of Sexuality: Exploring Sexual Possibilities |author1=Rutter, Virginia |author2=Schwartz, Pepper |name-list-style=amp | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbpIbqiEy2sC | year=2012 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | isbn=9780742570030}}
- Strikeout – a failure to engage in any form of foreplay or other sexual activity;
- First base – mouth-to-mouth kissing, especially French kissing;
- Second base – touching or petting above the waist, particularly touching the breasts or chest; in some contexts, it may instead refer to touching any erogenous zones through the clothes (i.e., not actually touching the skin);
- Third base – touching below the waist or manual stimulation of the genitals; in some contexts, it may instead refer to oral stimulation of the genitals;
- Home run (home base or scoring) – "full" (penetrative) sexual intercourse
The metaphors are found variously in popular American culture, with one well-known example in the Meat Loaf song "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", which describes a young couple "making out", with a voice-over commentary of a portion of a baseball game, as a metaphor for the couple's activities.{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/070816|title=Phil and Meat Loaf will always have "Paradise"|first=Jeff|last= Pearlman|author-link=Jeff Pearlman|publisher=ESPN|date=2007-08-29|access-date=2010-01-21}} A similar example can be found in Billy Joel's song "Zanzibar" in which he compares himself to Pete Rose and sings the lines, "Me, I'm trying just to get to second base and I'd steal it if she only gave the sign. She's gonna give the go ahead, the inning isn't over yet for me."{{cite book|title=The Words and Music of Billy Joel|first=Ken|last=Bielen|year=2011|publisher=Praeger|isbn=9780313380167|page=50}} Trace Adkins's 2006 song "Swing" is based on the same concept while the protagonist in Brad Paisley's 2007 song "Online" is described as having never been to second base with a woman.
Baseball positions are used as a coded reference to the roles played by men who have sex with men:{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/top-scientists-get-to-the-bottom-of-gay-male-sex-role-preferences/|title=Top scientists get to the bottom of gay male sex role preferences|last=Bering|first=Jesse|website=Scientific American Blog Network|language=en|access-date=2019-11-17}}
Similar metaphors for sexual identity include:
- Switch hitter – a bisexual individual, referencing a player who can bat from either side{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmPhCwAAQBAJ&q=switch+hitter,+playing+for+the+other+team+bisexual&pg=PA42|title=The Field Guide to Sports Metaphors: A Compendium of Competitive Words and Idioms|last=Chetwynd|first=Josh|date=2016|publisher=Ten Speed Press|isbn=9781607748113|language=en}}
- Playing for the other team also Batting for the other team – indicating a person is gay or lesbian{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavendermagazine.com/our-scene/playing-for-the-other-team-pride-in-our-sports/|title=Playing for the Other Team: Pride in Our Sports|date=2014-06-12|website=Lavender Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-17}}
- Playing for both teams also Batting for both teams – indicating a person is bisexual{{Cite web|url=https://www.collegetimes.com/uncategorized/being-bisexual-playing-for-both-teams-or-a-new-one-102329|title=Being Bisexual: Playing For Both Teams, or a New One?|last=Fox|first=Rebecca|website=CollegeTimes.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-17}}
Views
The sequence of "running the bases" is often regarded as a script, or pattern, for young people who are experimenting with sexual relationships. The script may have slightly changed since the 1960s. Kohl and Francoeur state that with the growing emphasis in the 1990s on safe sex to expand sex beyond heterosexual penetrative intercourse, the "home run" has taken on the additional dimension of oral sex. Richters and Rissel conversely state that "third base" is now sometimes considered to comprise oral sex as part of the accepted pattern of activities, as a precursor to "full" (i.e. penetrative) sex.{{cite book |title=Doing it Down Under: The Sexual Lives of Australians|author=Juliet Richters and Chris Rissel|year=2005 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=1-74114-326-8|page=32}}{{cite book|title=The Scent of Eros: Mysteries of Odor in Human Sexuality|first1= James V.|last1=Kohl|first2=Robert T.|last2=Francoeur|year=2002|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=059523383X|pages=153–154}} The use of baseball as a sexual script in general, regardless of what each base signifies, has been critiqued by sexuality educators for misrepresenting sex as a contest with a winner and loser. Deborah Roffman writes that the baseball metaphor has been "insidiously powerful, singularly effective, and very efficient...as a vehicle for transmitting and transferring to successive generations of young people all that is wrong and unhealthy about American sexual attitudes."{{Cite journal|last=Roffman|first=Deborah|date=July–August 1991|title=The power of language: Sexual baseball as a metaphor in American culture|journal=SIECUS Report}}
There are conflicting perspectives on the use of the baseball metaphor as a part of sex education. Some educators have found the baseball metaphor an effective instructional tool when providing sex education to middle school students.{{cite book|title=The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture 1998|last1=Hall|first1=Alvin L.|last2=Altherr|first2=Thomas L.|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2002|isbn=0-7864-0954-1|pages=157–182|chapter=Eros at the Bat: American Baseball and Sexuality in Historical Context}} Supporters of baseball metaphors in sex education include Leman and Bell. In their book A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey With Your Kids About Sex, they use a baseball metaphor to aid parents in the discussion of puberty with their children, dividing the topics into "first base" ("Changes from the neck up"), "second base" ("Changes from the neck to the waist"), "third base" ("Changes from the waist down"), and "home plate" ("The Big 'It{{'"}}).{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/chickensguidetot00kevi|title=A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey With Your Kids About Sex|last1=Leman|first1=Kevin|last2=Bell|first2=Kathy Flores|publisher=Zondervan|year=2004|isbn=031025096X}} Others argue that the baseball metaphor reflects U.S. ideas about sex as a contest to be won, rather than a mutual and consensual activity. These critiques suggest that other metaphors might be more useful for explaining sexual consent and pleasure.{{Cite journal|last=Vernacchio|first=Al|date=June 21, 2003|title="You're Out, Baseball!": A Healthier, More Equitable, Satisfying and Safer Model for Sexual Activity|journal=American Journal of Sexuality Education|language=en|volume=8|issue=1–2|pages=80–96|doi=10.1080/15546128.2012.740965|s2cid=218637782|issn=1554-6128}} A critique of the baseball metaphor is offered in sex education material provided by Scarleteen, which gives an example of "sharing a pizza" as an alternative metaphor that emphasises mutual appetite and enjoyment over completion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scarleteen.com/article/in_your_own_words/to_slide_or_to_slice_finding_a_positive_sexual_metaphor|title=To Slide or to Slice? Finding a Positive Sexual Metaphor|last=Dreyfus|first=Carly|date=May 3, 2014|website=Scarleteen|access-date=August 3, 2019}}
See also
{{Portal|Baseball|Human sexuality}}
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References
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External links
- {{cite news|title=Strike me lucky, it just isn't cricket|date=2004-02-10|work=The Sun-Herald|first=David|last=Dale|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/09/1076175089032.html?from=storyrhs}}
{{Sexual slang}}
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