Rear entry allows for deep penetration and vigorous pushing if the couple wants that. The man's hands are free to caress the woman and he can reach her clitoris easily. It is more difficult for the woman to caress the man in this position than in others because she has to reach behind her. The drawbacks of rear entry intercourse are that the penis entering from behind gives very little stimulation to the clitoris and some couples do not like the lack of face-to-face intimacy.

Which sexual positions a couple uses depends on a variety of factors. Each partner's physical comfort with a position certainly influences its use, as might their inhibitions about experimenting with unfamiliar positions. Sometimes the capacity to prolong or hasten orgasmic response determines what position a couple may choose. In some cases, circumstances (e.g. amount of space or time available) dictate the position for intercourse.

Some couples will use one position almost to the exclusion of all others, perhaps because they mutually find it to be the most satisfying. Other couples may regularly use several positions or experiment with positions but not regularly include them in their lovemaking. Whatever the choices made, couples may find that the position influences the emotional as well as the physical aspects of lovemaking.

Ancient Sexual Wisdom
Books of sexual wisdom and techniques such as the Kama Sutra and its associated texts, the Ananga Ranga, The Perfumed Garden and The Tao, offer ways of enhancing sensuality through innovative techniques and positions. In most people's minds, the words Kama Sutra evoke images of exotic, erotic and perhaps even impossible lovemaking positions. In fact, the work describes only about two dozen positions, and many of these are easy to accomplish if the woman is reasonably flexible.

The majority of the positions described in the Kama Sutra involve the woman lying on her back with her legs in a variety of positions (e.g. the Yawning Position, The Splitting of a Bamboo, Fixing of a Nail), but there are a few woman-on-top postures as well (e.g. The Swing, The Pair of Tongs).

The Ananga Ranga, another text from ancient India (late 15th or early 16th Century), was written by Kalyana Malla to protect marriage from the sexual tedium that can set in. It describes various groups of lovemaking positions such as "uttana-bandha" (supine positions with the man on top), "tiryak-bandha" (side-by-side positions), "Upavishta" (sitting positions), and "purushayita-bandha" (role-reversal or woman-on-top positions).