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Couple beginning coitus.
Ancient Greek vase painting,
Staatl. Museen zu Berlin, SPK
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While it is relatively easy to agree on a general definition of sexual intercourse, it would be foolish to attempt a standard description of it. Among human beings, sex is essentially a personal matter. Each individual has different sexual interests, and therefore no two couples ever make love in quite the same way. Some follow a single pattern throughout their lives, some try specific approaches on specific occasions, and some just go on seeking variety for its own sake. There are couples who need only a few minutes or even seconds for their lovemaking, and there are others who prolong it for hours. Some men and women never repeat the experience at all, others repeat it at rather long intervals, and still others continue to have sexual intercourse several times a day for many years.
There is nothing wrong with any of these choices as long as they are satisfying to those directly involved, and it is preposterous for any “authority” to tell them otherwise. Still, for long periods of Western history only coitus, i.e. procreative intercourse was proclaimed “natural” and accceptable. Fortunately, in the meantime, most religious, legal, and medical authorities have adopted a more enlightened attitude. They realize that a sexual relationship involves each partner as a whole person, and that the demand to restrict sexual contact to specific areas of the body is, in itself, unnatural. Thus, at least in practice, sexual experimentation has now become widely accepted.
The following sections offer a few broad hints at some forms of sexual intercourse without any special emphasis on either reproduction or orgasm. The text makes no attempt to establish any standard, norm, or goal of sexual intercourse except that of mutual pleasure.
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