Sixty-nine or 69, also known by its French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 name soixante-neuf (69), is a group of sex positions in which two people align themselves so that each person's mouth is near the other's genitals, simultaneously performing oral sex

Oral sex

Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...

. The participants are thus mutually inverted like the numerals 6 and 9 in the number 69

69 (number)

69 is a number following 68 and preceding 70.- In mathematics:The aliquot sum of sixty-nine is 27 within the aliquot sequence 69 being the third composite number in the 13-aliquot tree.69 is a semiprime...

, hence the name. This position can involve any combination of sexes. Although not displayed in any of the images, a 69 can also be performed with both partners on their sides, perhaps a more relaxed position.

Method

Variations of the 69 positions include mutual anilingus

Anal–oral sex

Anilingus Anilingus Anilingus (from anus + lingus (Latin Lingere: to lick), also spelled analingus, also referred to or described as anal–oral contact or anal–oral sex, is a form of oral sex involving contact between the anus or perineum of one person and the mouth (lips) or tongue of another....

 or "double rimming," and digital penetration

Fingering (sexual act)

Fingering is the manual manipulation of the clitoris, vulva, vagina, or anus for the purpose of sexual arousal and stimulation. It may constitute the entire sexual encounter or it may be part of mutual masturbation, foreplay or other sexual activities. To "finger oneself" is to masturbate in this...

 of either partner's anus

Anus

The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...

 or vagina

Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...

.

In these positions, the partners are said to experience sexual stimulation

Sexual stimulation

Sexual stimulation is any stimulus that leads to, enhances and maintains sexual arousal, and may lead to ejaculation and/or orgasm...

 simultaneously, but this can also distract those who try to focus solely on pleasuring themselves. The position can also be awkward for partners who are not similar in height.

History

"Mutual simultaneous oragenitalism is usually referred to in English under the euphemistic French numerical form, “soixante-neuf.” … The ancient Chinese Yang and Yin (male&female) symbol is identical. … The term “soixante-neuf” has not been traced any earlier than certain Whore’s Catechisms published in the 1790s in France, usually attributed to the … early leader of the French Revolution, Mlle. Théroigne de Méricourt."

"The earliest unequivocal representation of the sixty-nine appears to be that on an oil-lamp preserved in the Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 Museum (Deutsches Museum

Deutsches Museum

The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...

), and first reproduced in Dr. Gaston Vorberg’s … portfolio, Die Erotik der Antiken in Kleinkunst und Keramik (Munich, 1921) plate 58, showing the woman lying on top of the man. Dr. Vorberg gives this … to be of the period of the Roman Caesars … . However, another oil-lamp of the same kind, showing the sixty-nine almost identically … is more recently reproduced as a full-color plate, in Prof. Jean Marcadé’s Eros Kalos (English-language edition, Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 : Nagel, 1965), facing page 58, in … lamps preserved in the Heracleion

Heracleion

Heracleion was an ancient Egyptian city near modern day Alexandria. It was known as early as the 12th century BC but its importance grew during the waning days of the pharaohs, the late period. Herakleion was Egypt's main port in the time of the pharaohs...

 Museum in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

."

"A Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 temple-sculpture from the sacred caverns of the island of Elephanta

Elephanta Island

Elephanta Island is one of a number of islands in Mumbai Harbour, east of Mumbai, India...

, near Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, showing this position with the man actually standing, and holding the woman hanging down in this from his shoulders, was … brought to England in the late eighteenth century … . … this sculptured fragment … is both discussed and illustrated in Richard Payne Knight

Richard Payne Knight

Richard Payne Knight was a classical scholar and connoisseur best known for his theories of picturesque beauty and for his interest in ancient phallic imagery.-Biography:...

’s A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus

Priapus

In Greek mythology, Priapus or Priapos , was a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his absurdly oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism...

, privately issued for the Dilettanti Society of London in 1786 … . The illustration in question is a detail engraving given in Payne Knight’s plate XI; and the full form of this sculptured group is … given as plate XXIV".