Doggy style#History and etymology

{{Globalize|date=March 2023}}File:Wiki-dstyle.png

Doggy style is a sex position in which one participant bends over, crouches on all fours (usually on hands and knees), or lies on their abdomen, for sexual intercourse, other forms of sexual penetration or other sexual activity. Doggy style is a form of rear-entry position, others being the spoons sex position in which the receiving partner lies on their side{{cite book |author=Nilamadhab Kar |author2=Gopal Chandra Kar| title = Comprehensive Textbook of Sexual Medicine | publisher = Jaypee Brothers Publishers|pages=110–111| isbn = 978-8180614057|year=2005| access-date = February 10, 2014 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=YxcjMPbGHQIC&pg=PA110 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140627173823/http://books.google.com/books?id=YxcjMPbGHQIC&pg=PA110 | archive-date =June 27, 2014 |url-status=dead}} or the reverse cowgirl sex position. Non-penetrative sex in this position may also be regarded as doggy style.{{cite web|url=https://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/g40968929/non-penetrative-sex/|title=These 12 Non-Penetrative Sex Positions Are Deliciously Satisfying|author=Rachel Wright|work=Men's Health|date=24 August 2022|access-date=May 7, 2024|archive-date=24 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824185152/https://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/g40968929/non-penetrative-sex/|url-status=live}}

Between sex partners, the person in the doggy style position is usually passive,{{cite book|last1=Comfort|first1=Alex|last2=Quilliam|first2=Susan|title=The Joy of Sex|year=2008|publisher=Mitchell Beazley|location=London|isbn=978-1-84533-429-1|title-link=The Joy of Sex}} while the other partner is active (although sometimes it can be the other way around if the person in doggy position backs up into their partner behind them). Either partner may be the dominant partner or the submissive partner.

History and etymology

File:Erotic plaque depicting an intercourse between a male and a female in a doggy style position. From Iraq, Old Babylonian Period, 2000-1500 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.jpg

File:Lupanar de Pompeya, Italia, 2016 04.jpg depicting heterosexual entrance from rear position]]

In ancient Rome, this practice was known as coitus more ferarum, Latin for "sexual intercourse in the manner of wild beasts."{{cite book|author=Robert J. Campbell|title=Campbell's Psychiatric Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0195341597|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-534159-1|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=76vPu_G2UkgC&pg=PA204 204]}} Lucretius said it was "generally thought" this manner was best for conception: the proper parts could "take the seeds with chests laid down and loins raised up."(De rerum natura IV

1263-67; translation Robert D. Brown)CUNEIFORM MONOGRAPHS 14

BIRTH IN BABYLONIA AND THE BIBLE

ITS MEDITERRANEAN SETTING

M. Stol

With a Chapter by

F.A.M. Wiggermann

snx

PUBLICATIONS

GRONINGEN

M. Stol and F.A.M. Wiggennann

STYX Publications, Groningen

ISBN 90 72371 89 5

ISSN 0929-0052

STYX Publications

Postbus 2659

9704 CR GRONINGEN

THE NETHERLANDS

=English=

The specific origin of the term doggy style is not known, but is presumably a reference to the initial position assumed by dogs when mating. It is described in the Kama Sutra as the cow position or the congress of a cow,The Kama Sutra, as given at {{cite book|url=http://www.kamasutra-sex.org/text/|title=The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana|year=1883|publisher=Kamasutra-sex.org|chapter=CHAPTER VI|chapter-url=http://www.kamasutra-sex.org/text/kama206.htm|access-date=4 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906051834/http://www.kamasutra-sex.org/text/|archive-date=6 September 2008|url-status=dead}} and is listed in The Perfumed Garden.{{cite book|pages=38–41|title=The Perfumed Garden|isbn=978-0892814435|publisher=Park Street Press}}

Practices

The posture adopted by the receiving partner resembles lordosis behaviour – a physical posture seen in many female mammals, often when they are ready for sex/mating, the primary characteristic of which is a ventral arching of the spine. During vaginal penetration from behind, the penis may penetrate deeper into the vagina, reaching preferential contact with the posterior wall of the vagina and probably reaching the posterior fornix; while in the missionary position, it is in preferential contact with the anterior wall of the vagina and the tip of the penis can reach the anterior fornix.{{cite journal |title=Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of Sexual Intercourse: Second Experience in Missionary Position and Initial Experience in Posterior Position |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |volume=28 |pages=63–76 |doi=10.1080/00926230252851203 |pmid=11898711 |year=2002 |author1=A. Faix |author2=J. F. Lapray |author3=O. Callede |author4=A. Maubon |author5=K. Lanfrey |url=http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~knutson/ans/faix02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905011902/http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~knutson/ans/faix02.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-05 |access-date=2012-07-31 |citeseerx=10.1.1.496.11 |s2cid=16407035 }}

In this position, the receiving partner implicitly gives the active partner a carte blanche over their body. Besides other potential sex acts, the active partner may also massage or stimulate the receiving partner's erogenous zones, such as the genitals, nipples, buttocks, administer a spanking,Rogiere, Jean, The Little Book of Sex. Ulysses Press, 2001. {{ISBN|1-56975-305-9}}, 96 pages. or introduce a sex toy, such as a dildo or vibrator, into the vagina or anus. The doggy position may be erotic or sexually provocative for participants.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32970817|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926083741/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32970817/ns/today-today_fashion_and_beauty|url-status=live|archive-date=September 26, 2009|title=Do high heels empower or oppress women? |author=Laura T. Coffey |date=Sep 23, 2009 |publisher=TODAY msnbc.com}}

Advantages and disadvantages

Doggy style may be a preferred sex position if either partner has back issues or some other medical conditions. During doggy style, the scrotum sometimes provides friction to the clitoris, thus possibly producing an orgasm or sexual stimulation in the woman.Janssen, Erick, Nicole Prause, and James H. Geer. "The sexual response." Handbook of psychophysiology (2007): 245-266{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Richard|title=Human Reproductive Biology|date=2013|publisher=Academic Press|page=74|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4kEdSnS-pkC&pg=PA74|quote=The rear-entry position of mating may allow the scrotum to stimulate the clitoris and, in this way, may produce an orgasm ...|isbn=9780123821850}} For some women, doggy style sex helps to stimulate an area that may be termed "the G-spot". However, this position may offer only minimal stimulation of the clitoris; so some women may require finger stimulation to achieve orgasm. Some men however, may be able to stimulate the G-spot and clitoris simultaneously using the penis and the scrotum respectively during doggy style sex.

Doggy style offers benefits as a sex position in group sex, such as during a threesome. Doggy style allows the passive partner to perform fellatio on male participant (termed "spitroast") or to perform cunnilingus on a female participant.

Some women may feel vulnerable in this position, as it requires and implies a level of trust and a surrender of control by the receiving to the active partner. However, some women find this transfer of control to the partner arousing. According to the book Sexual Pleasure by Barbara Keesling, many established couples find doggy style relationship-affirming.{{cite book |title=Sexual Pleasure: Reaching New Heights of Sexual Arousal & Intimacy |last=Keesling |first=Barbara |year=1993 |publisher=Hunter House Publishers |isbn=978-0-89793-148-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sexualpleasurere00kees/page/167 167] |url=https://archive.org/details/sexualpleasurere00kees/page/167 |url-access=registration }}

Some consider doggy style to be unromantic. The position is considered by some to be less intimate because eye contact and kissing are more difficult. However, in a 2018 survey of millennials it was found to be the most popular sex position.{{cite web |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/doggy-style-is-millennials-favorite-sex-position-in-2018-8811324 |title=4,000 People Ages 19 -36 Just Ranked This Sex Position As Their Favorite |last=Laken |first=Howard |date=April 17, 2018 |website= |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}