The term “missionary position” for the sex position where two people lie on their backs, facing each other, with the man on top of the woman, is a bit of a misnomer, and its origin is not entirely clear.
There are a few different theories about how this position got its name:
1. **Missionary work**: One theory suggests that the position got its name from 19th-century missionaries in foreign lands, who were known to couple up with the local women. This was seen as a way for the missionaries to propagate their faith through their offspring, rather than through proselytizing. Over time, the term “missionary position” arose as a euphemism for this practice.
2. **Colonial and imperialistic overtones**: Another theory suggests that the name has its roots in colonialism and imperialism. During the colonial era, European powers often imposed their values and practices on indigenous populations, including their sex norms. The idea that the missionary position was “pure” or “innocent” reflects the attitudes of colonial powers towards the sex lives of their subjects.
3. **Late 19th and early 20th-century sex manuals**: Some historians believe that the term “missionary position” originated from sex manuals and advice books from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where it was promoted as a respectable and morally upright way of having sex.
4. **H.H. Kimmel’s theory**: Dr. H.H. Kimmel suggested that it might have come from missionary activity of the Seventh-day Adventist missionaries, and other denominations in Africa and South America which encouraged the local people to take up sexual practices of the West in particular missionary position which the westerners thought the best way to produce children.
It’s essential to note that these theories are speculative and not entirely confirmed by historical evidence. Nonetheless, they provide a few possible explanations for the origins of the term “missionary position.”
Despite the somewhat problematic origins of its name, the “missionary position” is still one of the most common sex positions practiced by couples worldwide.
