What is the 69 position?

In the wake of the sex revolution of the ‘60s and ‘70s, several sexual positions have been appropriated by the pop culture and turned into attitudes toward sex. For instance, the Missionary position has since been known as a symbol of things boring and conventional, while the Woman on Top position was used to show both the power of newly liberated women and the liberal attitude of the men who enjoyed this position. Anal sex and the Doggy Style position are still seen in certain places as substitutes for a domination/submission relation or experience, which is meant to humiliate a person or to teach that person a lesson.

The Sixty-nine position, on the other hand, is a symbol of shared pleasure and adventure. At the beginning of the ‘60s, much of the Western world, and especially the Anglo-Saxon countries, was still trapped in the old fashioned style of sex, aptly described by George Carlin as “man on top, get it over with quick”. The free and frank discussion of sex was not universal even in France, which was the leading libertarian country of that time. The codes of laws of most, if not all, American states still had laws prohibiting almost every kind of sex that did not belong to the established pattern, including oral and anal sex within heterosexual couples.

The classic 69 position has the two individuals lie down, one on top of the other. One of the two partners, let’s assume it’s the man, lies on its back while the woman gets on top with her head toward the man’s penis. The woman will eventually assume an “all fours” position, with her knees on either side of the man’s head. Thus, each of the two partners has an excellent view of the other’s genitals and enough space to give delightful pleasure. Moreover, the position allows each partner to use his hands for added fun. The man can insert one or two fingers in the woman’s vagina or anus, while the woman can add stroking to the oral stimulation and also insert a finger in the man’s anus.

This is why the 69 position first represented a man and a woman that did not mind trying new things and who were also at ease with servicing one another orally. At the time when the 69 position started making its way into pop culture, many men thought that going down on their ladies was demeaning or disgusting. Many men still think that way even today, which is why the 69 position can be seen as the mark of the open minded people who have overcome the old ideas about sex.