A cuckquean is the wife of an

adulterous Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

husband (or partner for unmarried companions), and the gender-opposite of a

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...

. In

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life fo ...

, the term is also applied to females who are investing parental effort in offspring that are not genetically their own. Similar prying within a family is called ''wittoldry''. The term is derived from

Early Modern English Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...

dating back to AD 1562.

Cuckqueanry as a fetish

A cuckquean fetishist is aware of her partner's activity, sometimes actively encouraging it, and derives sexual pleasure from it. Among some fetishists, the cuckquean's humiliation or

victimization Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology. Peer victimisation Peer victimisati ...

is a major element of the

paraphilia Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...

. In the fetish cuckqueaning subculture, the

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

takes on the role of being sexually dominant, while the female takes on a

submissive Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

role. The wife usually only becomes involved with the man or his lover when he permits it—sometimes remaining altogether

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

. Cuckqueanry (and

cuckolding A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...

) is commonly depicted as a

heteronormative Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most f ...

sexual fantasy and/or activity played out between a husband and wife, but can involve any number of gender and sexual orientations When the fetish is simply

androphilic Androphilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to men or masculinity; g ...

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...

, the wife has sex only with her husband; when it is bi-sexual, the wife has sex with both her husband and the other woman, or only with the other woman. The fetish specifics can range wildly. Sometimes the husband and his lovers can treat the cuckquean lovingly; sometimes it involves nothing but swinging, swapping husbands or sharing a lover. But when it goes beyond this, the fetish can require that the cuckquean be humiliated or debased. Sometimes this may be accidental or incidental (e.g., the parties involved are too aroused to stop), but at other times the humiliation may be intentional, and the husband and his lovers act out a story or perform a ritual in which they force the cuckquean to perform humiliating acts, or enter into circumstances that debase her. Lehmiller (2020) differentiates between fantasies about watching one's partner have sex with someone else as ''

voyeuristic Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". A ...

cuckolding'' and fantasies about having sex with someone else while one's partner watches as '' exhibitionistic cuckolding,'' with women more likely to fantasize about exhibitionistic cuckolding than to fantasize about voyeuristic cuckolding''.''

References

{{Sex fetish Marriage Sexual fidelity Sexual fetishism

Cuckqueanry as a fetish

See also

References