Vanilla sex
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
Vanilla sex is sometimes used to describe what society might regard 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.). It can also be used to describe insertive sex without any element of BDSM or any fetish.
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" — the original meaning of the Latin word vagina.
"Vanilla Sex" was also the name of a compilation by bands Rancid and NOFX
