Sixty-nine or 69, also known by its
French name soixante-neuf (69),
is a group of
sex position
A sex position is a position of the body that people use for sexual intercourse or other sexual activities. Sexual acts are generally described by the positions the participants adopt in order to perform those acts. Though sexual intercourse ge ...
s in which two people align themselves so that each person's mouth is near the other's genitals, each simultaneously performing
oral sex
Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex per ...
on the other.
The participants are thus mutually inverted like the numerals 6 and 9 in the
number 69 (
), hence the name.
[ This position can involve any combination of sexes.
]
Method
Variations of the 69 positions include mutual anilingus
Anilingus (from the Latin ''anus'' + ''-lingus'', from ''lingere'', "to lick", variantly spelled "analingus") is the oral and anal sex act in which a person stimulates the anus of another by using the mouth, including lips, tongue, or teeth. I ...
or "double rimming", and digital penetration of either partner's anus
The anus (Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, the residual semi-solid waste that remains after food digestion, which, d ...
or vagina
In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...
.
In these positions, the partners are said to experience sexual stimulation
Sexual stimulation is any stimulation, stimulus (including bodily contact) that leads to, enhances and maintains sexual arousal, and may lead to orgasm. Although sexual arousal may arise without physical stimulation, achieving orgasm usually requ ...
simultaneously, but this can also distract those who try to focus solely on pleasuring themselves. The position can also be awkward for partners who are not similar in height.
History
The term sixty-nine or soixante-neuf for mutual simultaneous oral-genital stimulation is an English translation of the euphemistic French term, "''soixante-neuf''." The term "''soixante-neuf''" has not been traced any earlier than the ''Whore's Catechism''s published in the 1790s in France, usually attributed to the early leader of the French Revolution, Mlle. Théroigne de Méricourt
Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt (born ''Anne-Josèphe Terwagne''; 13 August 1762 – 8 June 1817) was a Belgian singer, orator and organizer in the French Revolution. She was born at Marcourt, in Prince-Bishopric of Liège (from which com ...
.
"The earliest unequivocal representation of the sixty-nine appears to be that on an oil-lamp preserved in the Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
Museum (Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...
), and first reproduced in Dr. Gaston Vorberg's ... portfolio, ''Die Erotik der Antiken in Kleinkunst und Keramik'' (Munich, 1921) plate 58, showing the woman lying on top of the man. Dr. Vorberg gives this ... to be of the period of the Roman Caesars ... . However, another oil-lamp of the same kind, showing the sixty-nine almost identically ... is more recently reproduced as a full-color plate, in Prof. Jean Marcadé
Jean Marcadé (27 April 1920 – 28 December 2012Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
: Nagel, 1965), facing page 58, in ... lamps preserved in the Heracleion Museum in Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
."
"A Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
temple-sculpture from the sacred caverns of the island of Elephanta, near Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, showing this position with the man actually standing, and holding the woman hanging down in this from his shoulders, was ... brought to England in the late eighteenth century ... . ... this sculptured fragment ... is both discussed and illustrated in Richard Payne Knight
Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best k ...
's ''A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus
In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...
'', privately issued for the Dilettanti Society
The Society of Dilettanti (founded 1734) is a British society of noblemen and scholars that sponsors the study of ancient Greek and Roman art, and the creation of new work in the style.
History
Though the exact date is unknown, the Society is b ...
of London in 1786 ... . The illustration in question is a detail engraving given in Payne Knight's plate XI; and the full form of this sculptured group is ... given as plate XXIV."
The ''Kama Sutra
The ''Kama Sutra'' (; sa, कामसूत्र, , ; ) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kama Sutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly ...
'' mentions this sex position, albeit by a different name: "When a man and woman lie down in an inverted order, i.e. with the head of the one towards the feet of the other and carry on outhcongress, it is called the 'congress of a crow'."[
]
Internet meme
In reference to the sex position, "69" has become an internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
, where users will respond to any occurrence of the number with the word "nice" and draw specific attention to it. This means to sarcastically imply that the reference to the sex position was intentional. Because of its association with the sex position and resulting meme, "69" has become known as "the sex number" in these communities, similar to the number 420
420 may refer to:
* 420 (number)
* 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20
**California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act
*AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar
* ...
, which is known as "the weed number".
See also
* Anilingus
Anilingus (from the Latin ''anus'' + ''-lingus'', from ''lingere'', "to lick", variantly spelled "analingus") is the oral and anal sex act in which a person stimulates the anus of another by using the mouth, including lips, tongue, or teeth. I ...
* Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed by a person on the vulva or vagina of another person. The clitoris is the most sexually sensitive part of the human female genitalia, and its stimulation may result in a woman becoming sexually aroused ...
* Fellatio
Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may ...
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:69 (Sex Position)
Cunnilingus
Fellatio
Oral eroticism
Sex positions
Pornography terminology
sv:Oralsex#69:an