Basic Types of Sexual  Behavior

2. Heterosexual Intercourse

Not exclusive

Erotic sculpture from an ancient Hindu temple in Khajuraho, central India, 10th century A.D., Courtesy of Sudheer Birodkar

The 4 basic types of sexual intercourse do not represent clear-cut alternatives or separate and exclusive approaches. It is true that some men and women restrict themselves to only one type of sexual intercourse, but most couples today prefer to make love by freely switching from one approach to another. Thus, their intercourse may first be manual, then oral, and finally genital. Indeed, if one wanted to be pedantic about it, one could introduce several more distinctions and speak, for example, of “visual intercourse” when the partners mutually intensify their responses by looking at each other. One may also speak of "femoral intercourse" (lat. femora: thighs) and "mammary intercourse" (lat. mamma: breast) when a man places his penis between the thighs or breasts of his partner. After all, a couple may spend hours in each other's arms trying all possible variations of lovemaking before they reach orgasm. At other times, they may simply relish the process of mutual stimulation itself without reaching any orgasm at all. None of this makes any difference for the purposes of our definition.
On the other hand, we have to remember that it is only the sexual character of this interaction that concerns us here. For example, our definition of manual intercourse does not apply to the manipulation of a patient's sex organs by an examining physician.The mere fact that the sex organs of one person come in contact with the hands, mouth, sex organs, or anus of another is, in itself, no reason to speak of sexual intercourse. The term is justified only if at least one of them shows a sexual response which is noticed and encouraged by the other. This also means, among other things, that children who touch each other's sex organs out of sheer curiosity are not engaging in sexual intercourse.