The missionary position (or man-on-top position) is a sex position in which, generally, a woman lies on her back and spreads her legs and a man lies on top of her while they face each other and engage in vaginal intercourse. The position may also be used for other sexual activity, such as anal sex. It is commonly associated with heterosexual sexual activity, but is also used by same-sex couples. It may involve sexual penetration or non-penetrative sex (for example, intercrural sex), and its penile-vaginal aspect is an example of ventro-ventral (front-to-front) reproductive activity. Variations of the position allow varying degrees of clitoral stimulation, depth of penetration, participation on the part of the woman, and the likelihood and speed of orgasm.
The missionary position is the most common sex position, but it is not universally regarded as the most favoured one. The missionary position is often preferred by couples who enjoy the romantic aspects of ample skin-to-skin contact and opportunities to look into each other's eyes and kiss and caress each other. The position is also believed to be a good position for reproduction. During sexual activity, the missionary position allows the man to control the rhythm and depth of pelvic thrusting; it is also possible for the woman to thrust against him by moving her hips or pushing her feet against the bed, or squeeze him closer with her arms or legs. The position is not suitable for late stages of pregnancy, and is less desired when the woman wants to have greater control over the rhythm and depth of penetration during intercourse.
Etymology and other usage A common story and belief is that the term 'missionary position' arose in connection with English-speaking Christian missionaries, who supposedly encouraged the sexual position in new converts in the colonial era, but a contradictory fact says that the term likely had originated from Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) through a confluence of misunderstandings and misinterpretations of historical documents.
The French refer to it as the 'classical' position. Tuscans refer to the position as 'the Angelic position', while some Arabic-speaking groups call it 'the manner of serpents.'Lister, Larry. Human Sexuality, Ethnoculture, and Social Work. p. 15. Before the release of Kinsey's work, the missionary position was known by several names, including 'the matrimonial', 'the Mama-Papa position', 'the English-American position', and 'the male superior position'.Priest, 31. In 1948, Kinsey published the male volume of the Kinsey Reports, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. He described the American preference for the position and called it "the English-American position". Discussing Malinowski's The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia, Kinsey wrote, "It will be recalled that Malinowski (1929) records the nearly universal use of a totally different position among the Trobrianders ... [and] ... that caricatures of the English-American position are performed around ... campfires, to the great amusement of the natives who refer to the position as the 'missionary position.'" , lexicographers and sexologists have not found use of the term 'missionary position' before Kinsey.Priest, 30.
In 2001, Robert Priest examined the origins of the term and concluded that Kinsey had confused several factors in accidentally coining the term. First, according to Malinowski, Trobrianders played and sang mocking songs under the full moon, and not around a campfire. In Sexual Behaviors, Kinsey wrote that the Trobrianders mocked face-to-face man-on-top woman-below intercourse, but does not give context. He mentioned that the position was learned from "white traders, planters, or officials", but does not discuss missionaries. Kinsey also recalled that the medieval Catholic Church taught the position, and upon seeing the natives mocking it, assumed that missionaries had taught it to them. Finally, Malinowski wrote that he saw an engaged Trobriand couple holding hands and leaning against each other, which the natives described as — the 'missionary fashion'. Upon accidentally combining these similar facts, Kinsey invented a new phrase despite believing that he was reporting an old one.
From then on, the story of the name's origin may have been retold until it became largely accepted, with its connection to Kinsey and Malinowski having faded. Writers began using the expression for sexual intercourse in the late 1960s, and as Alex Comfort's bestseller The Joy of Sex (1972) and the Oxford English Dictionary (1976) spread the term 'missionary position', it gradually replaced older names.Priest, 30-31. By the 1990s, it had spread to other languages: (German), (Spanish), (Dutch) and (French).
Variations Though there are a number of variations and adoptions of the missionary position, the classic missionary position involves a man and a woman, with the woman lying on her back and the man on top. Variations in the positions may vary the angle and depth of penile penetration.
Basic position In the missionary position, a woman lies on her back on a bed or other surface with her legs comfortably spread with the soles of the feet resting. The penetrating partner positions himself between the woman's spread legs, and either uses his arms to hold himself up, or lets his weight rest on her. When the woman's vagina is sufficiently lubricated, which may involve fingering her vulva or clitoris in particular, the man will introduce his erect penis in her vagina for penetration, and may use fingers to open the woman's labia and guide the penis in.
With the penis inside the woman's vagina, the man can control the force, depth, and rhythm of thrusts, and can also control to some extent the female partner's movements. Subject to the man's weight and position, the woman may have some control by pushing her feet and legs against the mattress and by side movements in her pelvis as well as by clutching onto and moving with her partner. A woman can increase the force of a man's thrust by moving against the man's rhythm.
The man may straddle the woman, taking the woman's legs between his. This restricts and further controls the woman's movements, and the man can increase the tightness on the penis by pressing the woman's thighs together. However, this increases vaginal friction and makes thrusting more difficult.
During sexual intercourse, most women experience involuntary vaginal contractions. The contraction causes the pelvic muscles to tighten around the penis, which increases the level of her partner's arousal and sexual frenzy and results in the man increasing the pace and force of thrusts as he approaches orgasm, which in turn further increases the woman's vaginal contraction. After a man has achieved orgasm, he will normally collapse onto the woman and will normally not be capable of further thrusting. Some men try to control their orgasm until their female partner also orgasms, but this is not always achieved. At times, a woman can achieve orgasm after the man has ceased thrusting by contracting her vaginal muscles and with pelvic movements, or the couple may change to another position that enables the woman to continue thrusting until she has reached orgasm, such as a woman on top position.
During sexual intercourse in the missionary position, the penis is in preferential contact with the anterior wall of the vagina and the tip of the penis reaches the anterior fornix, while in the rear-entry position it is in preferential contact with the posterior wall of the vagina and probably reaches the posterior fornix.
Position of legs
A receiving woman's arms and legs are generally free to move, although her position and movement may be constrained by the weight of the penetrating partner and other factors. She can adjust the position of her legs for comfort, variety, and to control the angle and depth of penetration. Typically, the higher a woman's legs are positioned, the deeper the penetration will be. When her legs are raised in any manner, she has less control over the rhythm of thrusts. Additionally, raising the legs elevates the woman's pelvis, reduces the angle of penetration, and diminishes the level of clitoral stimulation.
A woman's legs can remain flat or be raised toward her chest, or they can wrap around the penetrating partner at various heights: behind the legs, at the buttocks or back, or over the shoulders. This latter position is known as the Wiener Auster or Viennese oyster.Lexikon der Erotik by Lykke Aresin and Kurt Starke. Droemer-Knaur, 1996. , p.597. In the higher leg positions the woman's legs may need some support, which may be achieved by crossing the ankles behind the partner or resting on his shoulders. She may also hold them with her hands or cross her arms around them at the knees. Some are flexible enough to cross the legs behind their heads. Alternatively, her partner may hold her legs up.
A pillow or sex pillow can be used, to alter the depth and angle of penetration. A wedge- or ramp-shaped pillow can relieve pressure on the top person's hands and arms. Placing a pillow under the woman's buttocks can lift her pelvis—a Playboy article suggested placing it under her hips to increase pressure on the clitoris. Each of these methods can increase the depth of penetration. Using a pillow can also help the woman arch her back.
In one variant, the woman may lift and slightly bend her legs, resting her feet flat on the bed. This shortens the distance between the vagina and cervix, and may apply more friction to the area termed the G-Spot. The woman may find this variant more comfortable, and it can allow her to push against the man's thrust, giving her some control over the rhythm.
Placing the woman's legs on or over the man's shoulders provides the deepest possible penetration. This variant is sometimes called the anvil. This position aims the head of the penis at the vaginal fornix (posterior fornix). When the legs are held mid-level in this way, the penis can achieve significant depth while attempting to stimulate the G-Spot and achieving more friction on the top of its shaft.
Viennese oyster position The Viennese oyster position requires the female to lie on her back and position her legs behind her head, with the groin area being completely exposed. The male partner penetrates the vagina from the top. In some cases, the male partner can help hold the female's legs in position and continue on with intercourse.
Butterfly position
In the butterfly position, the woman can lie on her back with her hips on the edge of a platform such as a bed, table, kitchen bench, desk, etc.Nafzawi, Muhammad ibn Muhammad al, and Jim Colville (trans.). The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight. The Kegan Paul Arabia library, vol. 7. London: Kegan Paul, 1999. while the man penetrates her while standing.
Riding high
In the riding high missionary variant, the man enters the woman and then shifts his body up and forward toward her head. He then rocks back and forth, stimulating her clitoris with his pelvic bone, or base of his penis. This results in more consistent clitoral stimulation at the cost of a man's deep thrusting; accordingly, some men prefer to use it during only part of sex.
Anal sex, tribadism and other aspects
Penetrative anal sex may be performed on a partner in the missionary position. The legs may be raised high, with the knees drawn towards their chest, and with some sort of support (such as a pillow) under the receiver's hips for comfort and to raise the receiver's buttocks. The penetrating partner positions himself between the receiver's legs and aligns his penis with the anus for anal penetration. Instead of penetration, an active partner may perform anilingus on the partner with raised legs.