Not a bed; a scene with neither the time nor the will to lie down. The corner of a desk, a wall, the entryway step, the mirror of a changing room. The standing position stands furthest from the ritualised lovemaking of the bedroom. Each partner’s weight rests on two legs, and the posture can only be held by clutching or embracing. Gravity constantly pulls the bodies down, and the act tends to run shorter than in other positions. Yet that very constraint of time and tension of space is what has made standing an independent option, not a substitute for the lying positions. Ritsui (Japanese: 立位; English: standing position) is the umbrella term for intercourse positions performed while both partners stand.

Etymology and definition

Ritsui is a Sino-Japanese term meaning “standing posture,” used identically in medicine, physical education, and dance. The Kāmasūtra (c. 4th century CE) gives sthitarata (standing intercourse) its own classificatory entry, and the Heian-period Ishinpō (984, Tamba Yasuyori) describes standing in its bedchamber chapter.

Narrowly it can mean the face-to-face standing missionary; broadly it includes every position in which both partners stand. Representative variants are the face-to-face type (the two facing), the rear-entry type (tachi-back), the carried type (ekiben), the one-leg-raised type (one leg supported), and the wall-pressed type (the back pushed against a wall).

History

Standing is among the oldest intercourse positions, recorded in the sexological texts of ancient India, China, and the Mediterranean. Chinese bedchamber manuals (the Sunü jing, Xuannü jing, Later Han to Tang) lack an explicit standing category but scatter descriptions of standing intercourse, and the Ishinpō bedchamber chapter, which transmits the Chinese tradition, records the “standing” posture.

In the modern period standing has received comparatively little attention, owing to the modern family norm that centred sex in the bedroom. By contrast, Nikkatsu Roman Porno and pink film used standing frequently as a way to depict “sex within everyday space,” and from the 1990s tachi-back and ekiben differentiated into independent named variants, each forming its own genre.

Anatomical features

Standing has four anatomical features. First, the influence of height difference: a large difference makes penetration difficult, requiring one partner to stretch on tiptoe, stand on a step, or be supported by a wall, with face-to-face standing forming most readily within a 5-15 cm difference. Second, the relation to gravity: the receiving partner’s fluids flow downward with gravity, and more muscular effort is needed to maintain coupling than in other positions. Third, the constraint on duration: because both support their weight on their legs, muscular fatigue comes quickly and the position suits short rather than prolonged acts. Fourth, the symmetry of gaze: in face-to-face standing the faces come to the same height when heights are close, making gaze and kissing easy.

Variants

• Standing missionary (tachi-seijoui) — the representative face-to-face standing form
• Standing rear-entry (tachi-back) — the rear-entry standing form
• Standing face-to-face (ritsuitaimen-i) — a more specialised face-to-face standing form
• Ekiben — the carried-lift type
• Wall-press type: the back pushed against a wall
• One-leg-raised type: one leg placed on a chair or similar
• Mirror standing: facing a mirror
• Bath standing: in the bathroom amid the steam
• Entryway standing: an improvised type just inside the door

Cultural reference

Standing is frequently used in AV and adult media as a device to express “sex in everyday space,” “spontaneity,” and “an inability to wait.” The setup in which standing is chosen for a situation that does not, or cannot, reach the bedroom (entryway, hallway, kitchen, toilet, just inside a hotel room) is a fixed technique for visualising narrative tension.

Internationally, standing is an independent search category under “standing position” and “standing sex,” with a steady number of works in Western adult taxonomies. Works set in spaces with spatial constraint (changing rooms, elevators, cars, shop back rooms) make standing the central position almost by necessity.

Related terms

• Standing rear-entry (tachi-back)
• Standing face-to-face (ritsuitaimen-i)
• Ekiben
• Rear-entry (back position)
• Missionary (seijoui)
• Cowgirl (kijoui)
• Prone position (fuse-tai)
• All-fours (yotsunbai)
• Futamigaura