History
Autoeroticism has its origins from observations of public hangings in Europe. Historically, erections, and frequently ejaculations, were frequently observed during public executional hangings in the Europe. In England, brothel owners frequently experimented with the act of hanging as a treatment for impotence in the 1600’s. In the late 1700’s, a Czechoslovakian musician by the name of Kotzwarra often requested prostitutes to hang him, sometimes for up to five minutes. Eventually this activity lead to his death and thus the coined the future term "Kotzwarizism" as a reference for sexual asphyxia (autoerotic death).
The practice of autoeroticism from of sexual asphyxia has also been observed in different cultures throughout the world. Inuit children have been well-known to play a sexual game where they strangle each other (the reason why remain unknown); it is also said to be a frequent sexual practice among Asians to seize the partner’s throat in a choking/strangling method. The practice has also been described in the Yaghans of South America, the Celts, and the Shoshone-Bannock Indian.
Current day fads
Autoeroticism has been the latest thing topic in the sexual tabloids and in Hollywood glamour magazines, particularly when a famous personality actor dies in bizarre circumstances. Such was purportedly the case with the deaths of Jerry Kosinski (in 1991 and Michael Hutchence (in 1997), though no confirmation to maintain the claim was produced in either case. The death in 1994 of Stephen Milligan, the British Conservative MP for Eastleigh, was a case of auto-erotic asphyxiation combined with self-bondage. This combination proved to be lethal for him.
An unintentional death due to autoerotic asphyxiation was an essential plot ingredient in the film The Ruling Class (1972, starring Peter O'Toole. It was also a prime theme in Rising Sun, a movie starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes, based on the book by Michael Crichton. It is also portrayed in the movie Ken Park.