Sex manual
Sex manuals are books and guides which explain how to perform different sexual practices. They commonly include information about sex positions, oral sex, masturbation, orgasm, birth control, safe sex and sexual relationships. Modern sex manuals may also cover subjects such as anal sex, BDSM, sexual fantasy, threesomes and ways for couples to improve their sex life.
Contents
Early Sex Manuals
Some of the earliest known sex manuals were written thousands of years ago. These works often combined practical sexual advice with ideas about love, marriage, relationships and social customs.
In the Graeco-Roman world, a sex manual was written by Philaenis of Samos, possibly a courtesan of the Hellenistic period (3rd–1st century BC). Only fragments of the work survive, but it appears to have been widely known. It may also have influenced Ovid's Ars Amatoria, written around 3 BC, which combines advice about love, seduction and relationships.
The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana is probably the world's most famous historical sex manual. It is believed to have been compiled in India sometime during the first centuries AD.
Despite its modern reputation, only part of the Kama Sutra is actually devoted to sex positions or sexual techniques. Much of the work discusses relationships, attraction, marriage, courtship and the social customs of its time.
The sexual sections describe different types of lovers, kissing, touching, oral sex, sexual positions and ways of giving pleasure. The book became particularly famous in the West because of its descriptions and later illustrations of different sexual positions.
The Kama Sutra was originally written mainly for wealthy male city-dwellers. It was not intended simply as a collection of exotic sex positions or as a Tantric sex manual.
Several centuries later, some of the sexual positions associated with the Kama Sutra became connected with Tantric sex and Tantra. Modern Western books sometimes mix the two traditions even though they developed separately.
Other important historical erotic and sex manuals include:
- Ananga Ranga – an Indian erotic work dealing with love, relationships and sexual pleasure.
- The Perfumed Garden – a famous Arabic erotic work discussing sex, sexual techniques and relationships.
- Speculum al foderi (The Mirror of Coitus) – a medieval European work discussing sexuality and sexual positions.
- Liber de coitu – a medieval medical work dealing with sexuality and intercourse.
Historical sex manuals are interesting because they show that subjects such as oral sex, sex positions, orgasm and sexual pleasure were being discussed centuries before modern sex education existed.
Modern Sex Manuals
Despite the existence of ancient sex manuals in other cultures, explicit sexual information was difficult to publish openly in much of Western society for many years.
Sexual information was generally available through medical books, privately circulated erotic works or illicit pornography. Medical books often concentrated on reproduction, sexual physiology and sexual disorders rather than explaining how people could enjoy sex.
Some medical writers even wrote the most sexually explicit parts of their books in Latin so ordinary readers could not easily understand them.
Translations of ancient erotic works such as The Perfumed Garden and the Kama Sutra nevertheless circulated privately and gradually became better known in Europe.
During the late 19th century, Ida Craddock wrote instructional works about human sexuality and sexual relations between married couples. Her works included The Wedding Night and Right Marital Living.
In 1918 Marie Stopes published Married Love, which became one of the best-known early modern books dealing openly with marriage and sexuality.
Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde's book Het volkomen huwelijk (The Perfect Marriage), published in 1926, became well known in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Estonia.
The book was controversial but extremely successful. Its English version, Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique, became an influential twentieth-century marriage and sex guide.
David Reuben's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask), published in 1969, brought detailed discussion about sex to a much larger mainstream audience. It answered common questions about sexual intercourse, the male and female body and orgasm.
The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort became one of the most famous modern sex manuals after its publication in 1972. Unlike many earlier books, it included illustrations and openly discussed sexual techniques and pleasure.
Its success helped make sex manuals acceptable in ordinary bookstores. Hundreds of sex guides have since been published covering almost every imaginable part of human sexuality.
Another popular modern manual is The Guide to Getting It On! by Paul Joannides, first published in the 1990s and subsequently released in numerous editions.
What Modern Sex Manuals Cover
Modern sex manuals are considerably broader than many of the traditional marriage guides.
Common subjects include:
- Sex positions
- Foreplay
- Kissing
- Masturbation
- Hand jobs
- Fingering
- Oral sex
- Fellatio
- Cunnilingus
- Anal sex
- Female and male orgasm
- Sexual fantasy
- Sexual roleplay
- BDSM
- Threesomes and group sex
- Safe sex
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Condom use
- Relationships and communication
Some books concentrate almost entirely on sex positions, while others concentrate on techniques for giving better oral sex, achieving orgasm or improving intimacy between couples.
There are also specialist sex manuals dealing with gay sex, lesbian sex, BDSM, Tantric sex, anal sex and other specific sexual interests.
Sex Manuals and the Internet
The internet has changed the traditional sex manual considerably.
Information that once required buying a book can now be found through websites, videos, forums and online sex guides. People can search directly for information about a particular sex position, sexual technique or problem instead of reading an entire book.
Traditional sex manuals nevertheless remain popular because a good manual can organize information about anatomy, pleasure, communication, techniques and safe sex into one guide.
Online sex guides have also made information about less commonly discussed subjects such as BDSM, sexual fantasy, threesomes and alternative sexual practices much easier to find.
