The Perfumed Garden came from the late 15th century male-dominated North African culture and offered ample and often evocative instruction on what a man could do to and with his wife or mistress, but barely touched on her experiences. Many of the 11 postures are quite gymnastic in nature and probably cannot be sustained by a couple for very long.

In the Taoist counterpart to the Kama Sutra, the author describes 26 positions for lovemaking, nearly all of which are variations on four basic postures. These basic postures are the Intimate Union (man-on top), the Unicorn's Horn (woman-on-top), Close Attachment (side-by-side and face-to-face), and the Fish Sunning Itself (rear entry).

Although the positions are likely to seem similar to those in the other ancient (and even modern) texts, the beautiful names given to the positions (Butterflies in Flight, Swallows in Love, A Phoenix Playing in a Red Cave) reflect the Taoist tenet that life is a balance of opposites in which everything that occurs has an equal and opposite reaction. Sexual union exchanges the forces of Yin, which is negative, passive and nourishing, and Yang, which is positive, active and consuming.

With the exception of coitus, sexual positions for gay and lesbian couples do not differ much from those of heterosexual couples. Gay men may engage in anal intercourse more often than heterosexual couples and gay women may be more likely to introduce sexual aids into their lovemaking. However, the vast array of sexual positions that same or opposite sex couples may experience remains basically the same.

For more information on sexual positions you may want to consult: "The Joy of Sex", "The Joy of Gay Sex", and "The Joy of Lesbian Sex". Also for a modern interpretation of the classic ancient works of the Kama Sutra, see Anne Hooper's "Kama Sutra" (1994).

Copyright 2002 Sinclair Intimacy Institute