Frottage
Frottage is a sexual activity where one person rubs their body or genitals against another person for stimulation, usually without penetration. It can happen clothed or unclothed and may involve rubbing against a partner’s thighs, buttocks, genitals, or other parts of the body.
Although sometimes used interchangeably, frottage is distinct from "frotting," which generally refers to penis-to-penis rubbing, and "frotteurism," which tends to refers to a fetish for rubbing against a person non-consensually. Even so, "frottage" is commonly used in gay male communities to refer to penis-to-penis rubbing.
A 2012 survey of men in the U.S. found that 93% of gay men had engaged in genital-to-genital rubbing at some point in their lives, and 39% had done so in the past month. Among bisexual men, 73% reported having done it at some point.
Origins of the Term
Frottage comes from the French frotter, meaning “to rub.” The word frottage originally just meant rubbing or polishing and is recorded in French as far back as 1694.
The sexual use came later. By the late 1800s, sexologists including Richard von Krafft-Ebing were using frottage to describe sexual rubbing.
Related Terms
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