Group sex

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For the album by Circle Jerks, see Group Sex.
Peter Fendi, 1835
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Peter Fendi, 1835

Group sex is sexual behaviour involving more than two participants at the same time. The main focus of this page is group sex among humans; however, group sex also exists with other species in the animal kingdom -- e.g., bighorn sheep and bonobos.

Any and all sexual behaviour performed by two people can be a part of group sex, as well as a number of behaviors only possible with more than two people. Group sex involving one participant being penetrated by multiple people is sometimes termed a gang bang.

The same safe sex considerations that apply to one-on-one sex apply to group sex, for the same reasons. People who have group sex may have higher numbers of sexual partners, and may for this reason be more likely to have sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or to be at risk for STIs than those who have fewer sexual partners.

Group sex occurs amongst people of all sexual orientations and genders.

Contents

[edit] Sexual positions and combinations possible only in group sex

An illustrated list of possible group sex positions is given at list of sex positions for group sex.

[edit] Initialism codes

A system of initialisms has evolved to describe the variety of group sex arrangements. These codes can appear in erotic literature and film descriptions, member profiles in online communities, and personal ads. These codes consist of arrangements of the letters M (for male) and F (for female). Adjacent letters explicitly signify sexual contact between the participants represented by those letters, though this does not necessarily mean there is no contact between the other participants. For example, MMF would signify a ménage à trois of two men and one woman in which the center male has sexual contact with the other male and the female, and in which it is not specified whether there is contact between the female and the other male. MFM (situation pictured in photo to right), on the other hand, implies no same-sex contact.

Peter Fendi portrayed group sex in lithography, c. 1834
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Peter Fendi portrayed group sex in lithography, c. 1834

Variations on this system exist that use case to convey more information. Within the BDSM and D/s subcultures, upper and lower case letters can signify dominant (or top) and submissive (or bottom), respectively.

[edit] Bukkake

Bukkake is a group sex practice seen in pornography where a series of men take turns to ejaculate on a kneeling recipient. At the end of the process, the recipient may drink the semen. Bukkake is often alleged to have been around for thousands of years, supposedly invented in Japan as a punishment for sexual misbehavior by women in a town, but this is without any factual basis. The credit to its first filming can to adult filmmaker Kazuhiko Matsumoto in 1998. Bukkake originally became a porn trend because of the mandatory porn mosaic in Japan. Since the directors could not show penetration they had to figure out new, visually appealing ways to approach sex acts that would satisfy the audience without violating Japanese law. Bukkake is not and never has been confined to pornography. Some women have gone public regarding their sexual enjoyment of bukkake; one prominent example is Catherine Millet.

[edit] Group sex in popular culture

[edit] Novels

[edit] Non-fiction

[edit] Film

[edit] Prevalence of group sex

A "table" threesome
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A "table" threesome

While group sex is common as a fantasy, the actual prevalence of group sex is unknown.

Some dismiss group sex as a phenomenon confined to pornography. This is demonstrably false, as shown by the existence of various private sex clubs that practice various forms of group sex. There are many people who openly recount their group sex experiences. Moreover, many pornographic movies are simply documentary recordings of unscripted sex acts performed as much for fun as for money. For example, a great deal of homemade pornography fits this category. Group sex activity appears in documentary pornography, such as homemade pornography produced by erotic affinity groups.

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