Vanilla sex
|
An erotic wall painting from Pompeii depicting heterosexual vanilla sex |
Vanilla sex is sometimes used as a derogative term that refers to what a society regards as standard or
conventional sexual behavior. Different cultures, subcultures, and individuals have different ideas about what constitutes vanilla sex. Often it is interpreted as sex that does not involve such elements as
BDSM,
kink, or
fetish activities.
Among
homosexual men it sometimes implies that the activity is non-insertive (i.e.
intercrural intercourse,
manual sex,
frottage etc.).
Among heterosexual couples in the Western world, vanilla sex often refers to the
missionary position.
The term "vanilla" derives from the use of
vanilla extract as the basic flavoring for
ice cream, and by extension meaning "plain" or "conventional". Thus, the term "vanilla" is sometimes used as an insult to describe someone who is overly conventional or unwilling to take risks, in both sexual and non-sexual contexts.
"Vanilla sex" may also be intended by the user to indicate "Caucasian" in the stereotypical but unfounded belief that such cultures are less sexually adventurous and promiscuous than others. Generally speaking, there is a much broader variance of sexual behavior within individual cultures than between them, and no such stereotype holds up under scrutiny.
The term could also be used to refer to
vaginal intercourse, which does have perhaps a backwards folk etymology.
Vanilla in English comes from the dimunitive form of the Spanish word
vaina, which means "scabbard" or "sheath" â€" the original meaning of the Latin word
vagina.
*
Kink (sexual)*
BDSM*
Frot
