Positions Step-by-step guide · 5 steps -18

Scissoring

Legs entwined, grinding together

Lying crosswise with your legs entwined, you press your genitals together, and the pleasure comes from the friction. Born of love between women, scissoring works with or without a toy, and man-woman couples can borrow it too.

Duration20 min

DifficultyMedium

IntensitySustained

Props a water-based lube, a strap-on or a little vibe (optional)

Start

Scissoring, an ultra-sensual side-by-side position for every couple — Step 1Warm up the whole body first

See in Photo Comic art

Warm up the whole body first

Take your time: no touching the vulva until the whole body has been caressed. Kiss, brush against each other, from the neck down to the ankles.
There's a real reason for the detour: arousal, whether it starts in the head or under the hands, can make the clitoris swell, both its visible part and its internal part. The whole genital area then becomes ultra-responsive, and that's exactly the area scissoring is going to rub.
Then wet the inner labia, with a water-based lube or simply saliva, so the whole area is nice and slick. Avoid petroleum jelly and baby oil: they upset the vagina's pH and aren't condom-compatible.
To get your partner's vulva ready by hand, place your thumbs on the perineum, one just above the other, and slide them up over the inner labia with light pressure. Once you reach the clitoris, part your thumbs and slide back down on either side, between the inner and outer labia, to the perineum. Repeat several times.

Two women lying face to face on a bed, one stroking the hip and thigh of the other, who smiles with her eyes half-closed. — The whole body first, and only then the vulva. AI-generated illustrations.

Lie crosswise, legs entwined

Lie on your back with your legs apart. Your partner lies on their side, across you, and brings their pelvis flush against yours.
Interlace your legs like the blades of a pair of scissors: one of your legs goes between theirs, the other rests over their hip. Seen from above, your two bodies form a cross that meets at the hips.
Adjust until your genitals are pressed snugly together: that's where everything is going to happen. No need to touch anywhere else, your upper bodies stay apart.
Nothing should strain: if spreading your thighs gets uncomfortable, change the angle of your bodies rather than forcing it.

Grind against each other

Get your hips waltzing: rub your genitals against each other, gently at first, then pressing a little harder as you go.
Between two women, the pleasure is mutual: the clitoris and the inner labia, the most erogenous areas, get the same friction on both of you. (For a man and a woman, it's his penis that caresses her vulva, without going in to begin with.)
Play with the angle of your hips to gradually focus the friction around the clitoris, or right on it: it's the most sensitive part of the vulva.
You find the rhythm together: ask each other what suits you best, slower, firmer, a little higher.

Make the most of free hands

Here, your hands stay free, and your partner's legs are within easy reach: thighs, ankles, feet.
Brush them with your fingertips, or knead a calf or a thigh with both hands, alternating: one hand loosens its grip while the other closes just beside it, like kneading dough.
Watch for their reactions: you'll soon know which caresses they love.

Watch for their reactions: you'll soon know which caresses they love.
Step 4 · Make the most of free hands

Guide each other, then let go

Your faces are far apart, and that's just fine: you don't need to look at each other to come. Close your eyes if you feel like it and let the friction carry you.
Talk to each other: scissoring takes a good knowledge of each other's body. One word is enough to guide, faster, gentler, more.
And afterwards, come back together head to head: cuddles and sweet nothings are on the menu too.

Who it's for, and when

For couples of women, first of all. The position comes from love between women: two bodies meeting vulva to vulva, and a pleasure that's mutual, each woman feeling the friction on her clitoris and inner labia. With or without a toy, as you please (see the variations).

For man-woman couples too. She lies on her back, he lies across her, and you start with caresses, genitals pressed together. Penetration comes later, gently: his penis enters at an unusual, slightly twisted angle, so ease in with small movements, and if anything pulls, slow down or change position.

For partners who know each other well. This position calls for a good knowledge of each other's body and a solid intimacy, physical as well as emotional: it's a position for partners in crime more than for a first night.

When? On evenings when you want to make love without penetration, or to play with angles and positions over the course of the same night. And at those moments when you want to let go without having to look at each other.

Precautions: get the whole area nice and wet before you start rubbing. If the friction or the penetration hurts, stop, and if the pain persists, talk to a doctor or a sex therapist. If you're pregnant, have a painful back, hips or knees, or limited mobility, ask a health professional for advice first.

Variations to take it furtherVariation 1: with a strap-on, penetration from the side

To add penetration between women, one of you wears a strap-on: a dildo mounted on a leather or latex harness.

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The album · Photo

Scissoring, in pictures.

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Your questions

What people wonder.

Does the position have other names?

Yes, and old ones. Women lovers who tangled their legs together in search of pleasure were once called fricatrices, and in French, their way of making love was la fricarelle. People also spoke of tribadism, after the tribades: the women who rub (hence today's "tribbing").

Does there have to be penetration?

No. In its original version, you meet vulva to vulva, and the pleasure comes from the friction on the clitoris and inner labia. Penetration remains an option: with a strap-on between women, or for a man-woman couple, once the caresses are well under way.

And if the friction isn't enough?

Play with the angle of your hips so the clitoris gets more of the action, add more lube and tell your partner what you'd like. A little vibe held against the clitoris can also make up the difference. You have nothing to prove.

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