# Why is it called the "missionary position" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131 "2004-03-08T15:20:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/1 "2004-03-08T15:20:37Z")
I can’t imagine missionaries were out and about “demonstrating”, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Quint\_Essence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/54ee81/32.png) [@Quint\_Essence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint_Essence)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/2 "2004-03-08T15:33:12Z")
actually missionaries did espouse that particular position especially over a rear “doggystyle” approach that is the most common position. They insisted that the missionary position was the only acceptable means of fornication as far as the church was concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/3 "2004-03-08T15:36:48Z")
> [@Quint Essence](#): > > actually missionaries did espouse that particular position especially over a rear “doggystyle” approach that is the most common position. > They insisted that the missionary position was the only acceptable means of fornication as far as the church was concerned. Thanks for that - have you any reasons / work-safe websites that explain ? Many thanks ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/4 "2004-03-08T15:42:05Z")
> [@Quint Essence](#): > > actually missionaries did espouse that particular position especially over a rear “doggystyle” approach that is the most common position. > They insisted that the missionary position was the only acceptable means of fornication as far as the church was concerned. I know that’s the accepted/general/probably true explanation, but… Didn’t it ever occur to those missionaries that when doin’ it doggie-style, _ **both** _ fornicators are on their knees? From a religious viewpoint, one would think that would be preferable, right? I mean, what’s holier than a double double genuflection? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/5 "2004-03-08T15:43:40Z")
[The Master Speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_215.html) ---
**Author:** ![rodent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@rodent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rodent)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/6 "2004-03-08T15:46:38Z")
From the Master: [Missionary Position](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_215.html) ---
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/7 "2004-03-08T15:47:59Z")
> [@x-ray vision](#): > > [The Master Speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_215.html) I’ll consider it done and done. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/8 "2004-03-08T16:34:54Z")
Just an addition on the “why” of the missionary position: [http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0891.html](http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0891.html) > [@](#): > > It was named the missionary position when Christian missionaries told potential converts in the New World that other positions were unnatural. This most likely came from the teachings of St. Paul, who said that a woman should be subordinate to a man during intercourse (on the bottom) and St. Augustine, who taught that any other position was a sin against nature. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/9 "2004-03-08T16:39:03Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Just an addition on the “why” of the missionary position: > > [http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0891.html](http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0891.html) Oddly enough, no citations in that article. I’d go with Cecil on the matter–the term was probably made up in the 20th century to make fun of a purely fictional characature. It’s another bit of pseudohistorical rubbish like _Jus Prima Noctis_–a lie invented to promote disdain for the bad old past. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/10 "2004-03-08T16:49:21Z")
Can’t you imagine 19th century missionaries demonstrating it John Cleese-style (Meaning of Life). “Robert, are you sleeping?! Pay attention!” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/11 "2004-03-09T03:34:20Z")
> [@](#): > > [1929 B. MALINOWSKI Sexual Life of Savages x. 284 The natives [of the Trobriand Islands] despise the European position and consider it unpractical and improper. 1929 B. MALINOWSKI Sexual Life of Savages xiii. 403 Tokolibeloa, once a famous Don Juan,…insisted that this was misinari si bubunela, ‘missionary fashion’, one of the novel immoralities introduced by Christianity.] This is the first print cite, from the OED. [Bronislaw Malinowski](http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/klmno/malinowski_bronislaw.html) was a pretty neat fellow in anthropology in the early days. The ‘Tobriand Islands’ where he did this research are New Guinea. And, from the cites in his work, you can surmise that the natives certainly considered the position favored by the Europeans as not their first choice. But I would like to hear more about Alice’s suggesting that St. Paul talked about fucking in the Bible. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/12 "2004-03-09T14:43:09Z")
samclem, where in the OED is the quote that you give? It’s not listed in my copy of the OED under “missionary position” nor under “European position” (which isn’t given at all). What edition of the OED are you using? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/13 "2004-03-09T15:18:02Z")
It’s in my OED, but not as a listed term. It’s a compound in the “Missionary” heading. However, the 1929 usage is not “missionary position” but “European position”. “Missionary fashion” is not documented until 1948. The Kinsey Institute refers to it as the “Anglo-American”. I’ve a feeling that the position was far more likely to have been spread by European sailors than by European missionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/14 "2004-03-09T15:25:35Z")
I know that “missionary position” is listed in the OED. The first cite for it is in 1969. That doesn’t answer my question. Where in the OED is the quote that samclem gives? It’s not listed anywhere under “missionary” or “European” or any compounds of those words. I also don’t see “missionary fashion” either as a separate entry nor listed under “missionary” as a compound in the OED. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/15 "2004-03-09T16:00:22Z")
Retrocopulate. Cool. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/16 "2004-03-10T01:08:30Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > samclem, where in the OED is the quote that you give? It’s not listed in my copy of the OED under “missionary position” nor under “European position” (which isn’t given at all). What edition of the OED are you using? On-line OED. This entry was added as of June, 2002. It’ll be in the next hardbound edition in the next 3-5 years. It’s under _missionary_ in the new listing. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/17 "2004-03-10T03:24:15Z")
So this is actually an important new fact about the origin of the term “missionary position.” At the time that Cecil wrote the column (presumably before June 2002), no written mention of the term “missionary position” before 1969 had ever been found. Now, though, we know that there was a mention of “European position” and “missionary fashion” in an anthropological text as early as 1929. samclem, does the online OED give any citations for “missionary position” between 1929 and 1969? So we ought to inform Cecil of this so he can update his column on this subject. So what’s the best way to tell Cecil of this? I presume he doesn’t read every thread on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/18 "2004-03-10T11:58:02Z")
What I found interesting in the Malinowsky quote is that the condemnation was directed _at_ the missionaries, not _by_ them. In other words, it does not seem that the missionaries went out and tried to dictate the “correct” position to the locals, but that at some point a member of a missionary group demonstrated that position\* and that the locals decided that it was a bad thing. In other words, the story has been completely reveresed to make the missionaries the bad guys while the real prigs were the locals rejecting the “new” position. \*The demonstration could have occurred in any number of ways, from some wayward missionary having a fling with a local to a missionary actually marrying a local. In a society where sex is more openly discussed, the local partner would have talked about it, incurring the condemnation of the locals who knew the “right” positions for sex. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/19 "2004-03-10T15:38:23Z")
> [@Quint Essence](#): > > They insisted that the missionary position was the only acceptable means of fornication as far as the church was concerned. I don’t think that any kind of fornication is acceptable to the church. Fornication is, by definition, a sin. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131/20 "2004-03-10T16:16:26Z")
I’d imagine that wholesale adoption of the missionary position could not proceed until first the toothbrush was invented. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-missionary-position/233131.md?page=2)