Glory hole

A glory hole is visible in the wall (left) in this Caltrans lavatory in California.

A glory hole (also spelled gloryhole and glory-hole) is a hole in a wall, or other partition, often between public lavatory stalls or adult video arcade booths for people to engage in sexual activity or observe the person in the next cubicle while one or both parties masturbate.^[1] The partition maintains anonymity. Body parts including fingers, tongue, and penis may be used for anonymous oral, vaginal and/or anal intercourse. Erotic literature and pornographic films have been devoted to the sexual uses of glory holes.^[2][3]

Origin

The precise origin of the term is unknown, but it is known to have been used in Polari, the covert language of the homosexual subculture in London's dockland, amongst sailors, stewards, queers and queens who associated with it.^[5] In naval slang, the 'glory hole' was used in both the merchant and Royal Navy; in the Navy this refers to a place for general untidinesses, on passenger liners the Stewards' mess, and on coal-burning tramp steamers, the stoke hold.^[6][7][8]

One of several uses of glory hole predating the known use as sexual slang is from glassblowing, which dates back to 50 B.C. Shown here, a person reheats a glass item with the "glory hole" being the furnace opening on the left.

Several industries use the phrase prior to known usage as sexual slang. In the mining industry, the opening to a mineshaft containing the "mother lode" would be considered to be the "glory hole".^[9] In glass blowing the open mouth or "glory hole" refers to the kiln.^[10] In civil engineering, a glory hole is where water from a reservoir is quickly "sucked" through and vectors out of a dam. There are numerous meanings from seamen and shipbuilding.^[11]

There are many theories regarding the origins of the earliest glory hole. One common idea is that it originated as a spy or peep hole, and grew larger as men sought more contact, but only enough so as to perform sex acts upon the genitals of other men.

From the mid-to-late 20th century glory holes could be found in public men's rooms throughout the United States including vaudeville and movie theatres, truck stops, parks, universities, and adult bookstores.^[12] and gay bars. When institutions replace old bathroom stalls they often employ stainless steel partitions to discourage the drilling of glory holes; both wood and marble partitions provide an easy target. Sometimes rather than replace restroom partitions, the holes are sealed, and/or doors are removed to discourage sexual activity. Some men who consider glory hole activity erotic will create private glory holes for personal use in their homes.

Method of use

A 'glory hole' is usually a waist high hole drilled, punched or filed in a wall between stalls in a public restroom or adult bookstore peepshow; through this hole one man will insert his penis for oral sex. Usually it is the centralized location which facilitates impersonal, anonymous sex, rather than the structural feature of the setting itself.^[13][14]

To use a glory hole a man puts his penis through the hole to in most cases receive oral sex, and to a lesser extent anal intercourse, a handjob, or vaginal intercourse.^{[citation needed]} Glory holes are today most commonly found in established adult video/bookstore arcades, sex clubs, gay bathhouses, and adult theaters.

If a glory hole is to be found between two booths in a video booth at an adult bookstore, the person who wishes to perform oral sex will normally be seated in a booth. The seated (and sometimes kneeling) position commonly signals to others that they are there in order to perform oral sex - which allows those who wish to receive oral sex to take the adjoining booth. That second person will normally remain standing.

Motivations

Numerous motivations can be ascribed to the use and eroticism of glory holes. For some, the sheer anonymity is itself arousing. For others, it can serve as a way to have intimacy without a prolonged relationship, or to ensure sexual compatibility before further pursuing a relationship. Utilizing a gloryhole is also an easy way to mitigate any perceived physical shortcomings like being overweight or somehow less physically attractive. One social theorist has described the attraction of this form of sexual encounter thus: "The ultimate sexual objectification of gay male sexual encounters is the glory hole in public toilets. As a wall separates the two participants, they have no contact except for a mouth, a penis, and perhaps a hand. Almost total anonymity is maintained as no other attributes are taken into consideration."^[15] The glory hole is seen as an iconic erotic oasis in gay subcultures around the world; people's motivations, experiences and attributions of value in its use are varied. ^[13][14]

In light of the ongoing AIDS pandemic, many gay men are re-evaluating their sexual and erotic desires and practices.^[16] Glory holes allow for a physical barrier, which may be an extension of psychological ones where internalized homophobia (a result of many societies' widespread abhorrence of LGBT practices and people).^[16] For some gay men, a glory hole serves to depersonalize their partner altogether as a disembodied object of sexual desire, either sticking through or on the other side of the hole.^[16] These motivations might well be considered characteristically male motivations, as opposed to specifically gay and/or bisexual men's motives.^[17]

Legal and health concerns

Public sex of any kind is illegal in many parts of the world; and police entrapment continues to be used in order to enforce such laws.^[18][19][20] Adverse personal consequences to participants in glory hole activity have included police surveillance, public humiliation in the press, and criminal convictions. Gay bashing, mugging, and bodily injury are further potential risks. For reasons of personal safety, as well as etiquette, men typically wait for a signal from the receptive partner to come through the hole before inserting any part of their genitals through a glory hole.

In addition to safety and legal risks, there is a heightened risk of sexually transmitted diseases associated with having sex with anonymous partners. This risk can be reduced through the use of condoms, although their use in glory hole activity is not common.

Usages in popular culture

Popular culture references within both the gay and LGBT communities as well as the mainstream culture have become more common. The 1982 teen comedy film Porky's, about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach high school in Florida in 1954, featured a glory hole scene in a shower room where the boys were able to view teen girls in the shower. In John Waters's 1994 dark comedy film Serial Mom, a glory hole is used as a plot device when an eyewitness sees the title character through the hole hiding in the neighboring stall prior to a murder at the nearby urinals. An earlier film by Waters, Desperate Living (1977), contained a scene in a women's lavatory depicting a chest-high double glory hole—for breasts. The opening stunt in Jackass 2 features a man inserting his penis into a glory hole that opens up into the cage of a hungry snake, which proceeded to violently bite his penis. In the 2002 film The Sweetest Thing, Cameron Diaz gets injured in the eye when she unknowingly peers through a glory hole in men's restroom. In the 2000 comedy Scary Movie, which spoofs popular horror films, Shawn Wayans' character Ray, who had shown stereotypical signs of being gay or closeted throughout the movie, goes to the bathroom in a theater. Upon seeing a glory hole and hearing sexual noises, he proceeds to listen with his ear pressed to the hole and is suddenly impaled through his head by a penis. In the fifth season of The Shield, gay men patronizing glory holes in public restrooms were assaulted with rat traps. In the 2008 teen sex comedy Sex Drive, the protagonist Ian (Josh Zuckerman) uses a roadside reststop and while in the stall a "men's room predator" (Allen Zwolle) who is trolling for sex sticks his erect penis through a glory hole. Meanwhile Ian is preoccupied texting and making appreciative noises about the conversation, which are comically misinterpreted as affirming his desire to have a sexual experience with the other man; he mistakenly also grabs the man's penis, which was obscured by toilet paper. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, an advertisement on the in-game radio describes 'Glory Hole Theme Park - where strangers become friends'. It is also mentioned by Peter Griffin in "Family Gay", an episode of Family Guy. In the episode "Mac & Charlie Die" of the television show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", Danny DeVito discovers a glory hole in one of the stalls at the gang's bar, Paddy's Pub. In Ricky Gervais's Out of England, he tells a childhood story of a teenage boy who practiced fellatio on a man through a glory hole that turned out to be his father.Internet Celebrity (Chris Crocker) made a vide about going to a gloryhole.

See also

References

Further reading

• "The Little Black Book: This one can keep you out of trouble," (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
• "Gloryholes" essay at rotten.com
• An article that gives legal advice on cruising for sex.
• Green, Jonathon (2006). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2nd ed.). London: Sterling Publishing. ISBN 0304366366. http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&pg=PA608&dq=%22glory+hole%22&sig=KKeP4vRx8d5IMRf7GeB6QXpfl1E#PPA608,M1. Retrieved 2007-09-21. 
• Gage, Simon; et all (2002). Queer. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1560253770. 
• Zeeland, Steven (1995). Sailors and Sexual Identity: Crossing the Line Between "Straight" and "Gay". Haworth Press. ISBN 1560248505. http://books.google.com/books?id=UcZAjCzwerYC&pg=PA109&dq=isbn=1560248505&sig=NblABvGhcLPWBOp7a9HaxGRIRjQ#PPA202,M1. Retrieved 2007-09-22.  (Includes several glory hole encounters by Navy members)
• Humphreys, Laud (1970). Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places (Enlarged Edition (1975) ed.). Aldine Transaction. ISBN 978-0202302836. http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=FyUzI_iWzw8C&pg=PA65&dq=%22glory+hole%22+subject:%22Social+Science+/+Gay+Studies%22&sig=WjmoW98Dwg_EICaEc2q6h61k85c. Retrieved 2007-09-22. 
• Bapst, Don (2001). "Glory Holes and the Men Who Use Them". Journal of Homosexuality 41 (1): 89–102. doi:10.1300/J082v41n01_02. http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?sid=TF49F796MUWF9LC9T9R2L7FFJFPT28H4&ID=26942. Retrieved 2007-09-22. "This paper gives a brief description of the "glory hole" and its popularity in certain areas of public homosexual activity...".  (quote from the abstract)

External links

• A Sex Stop on the Way Home by Corey Kilgannon, New York Times, September 21, 2005
• The Little Black Book: This one can keep you out of trouble, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; archived copy, pdf format, archived here. An article regarding legal issues of sex in public restrooms.

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