We have already met the fellatrice: the fricatrice, her younger sister, concentrates on rubbing
the male genitals
- which can be nice. The Jewesses of North Africa are supposed to have enjoyed a reputation
for this sort of
thing. Such females were also found among the inhabitants of Lesbos and were described by
Catullus as standing
at crossways and in alleys "to jerk off the high-souled sons of Rome." In eighteenth century
France the skilled
fricatrice was well-known. In the United States, by contrast, "the fricatrice has never enjoyed
any vogue. Practical
Americans, if they want to masturbate, do it themselves...."