Conventional sex

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Conventional sex, colloquially known as vanilla sex, is sexual behavior that is within the range of normality for a culture or subculture. What is regarded as conventional sex depends on cultural and subcultural norms. It can also describe penetrative sex which does not have any element of BDSM, kink or fetish.<ref name="Loynaz2021">Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Conventional sexual acts in the Western world

Among heterosexual couples in the Western world, for example, conventional sex often refers to sexual intercourse in the missionary position.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The British Medical Journal regards conventional sex between homosexual couples as "sex that does not extend beyond affection, mutual masturbation, and oral and anal sex."<ref name="gay vanilla sex">Template:Cite journal</ref> In addition to mutual masturbation (including manual sex), penetrative sexual activity among same-sex pairings is contrasted by non-insertive acts such as intercrural sex, frot and tribadism, although tribadism has been cited as a common but rarely discussed sexual practice among lesbians.<ref name="Carroll">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Halberstam">Template:Cite book</ref>

"Vanilla sex"

The term "vanilla sex" is often used to describe conventional sex which does not include explicit elements of BDSM, kink or fetishism.

In relationships where only one partner enjoys less conventional forms of sexual expression, the partner who does not enjoy such activities as much as the other is often referred to as the vanilla partner. As such, it is easy for them to be erroneously branded unadventurous in sexual matters.<ref>Template:Cite book Paper on the difficulties facing "vanilla partners". Template:Google books.</ref> Through exploration with their partner, it may be possible for a more vanilla-minded person to discover new facets of their sexuality. As with any sexually active person, they may find their preferences on the commonly termed "vanilla-kink spectrum" are sufficient for their full satisfaction.<ref name="Sprinkles">Template:Cite book</ref>

The term "vanilla" in "vanilla sex" leverages the polysemic nature of the term, meaning both literally "vanilla", the flavour of as the pod of the Vanilla genus or the orchid Vanilla planifolia, or "conventional", depending on the context.<ref name="Tiidenberg2023">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Vanilla flavour has been the most common flavour for ice cream for over 200 years, leading to the flavor being associated with being plain, basic, or conventional.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The figurative meaning was added in the 1970s, though earlier examples exist.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

A notable early instance appears in a 1942 LIFE magazine article, suggesting the metaphorical use was already familiar to the public. In 1997, the OED expanded the definition to include sexual contexts, particularly "vanilla sex," referring to conventional, non-kinky activity. Several citations stem from 1970s gay and lesbian discourse, coinciding with a rise in visibility and activism, indicating cultural shifts shaped the modern usage.<ref name=":0" />

See also

• Plain vanilla