Talk:Sexual intercourse

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Homophobic article[edit]

This article should be edited as it was made a homophobic author. Sexual intercourse is not limited to heterosexual sex. Melonmelon1 (talk) 07:30, 30 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest that you read well past the first sentence, all the way through the article. As for "a homophobic author", you should know that 2229 editors have contributed to this article through the years, and the most active editor (now deceased) worked hard to be sure that LGTBQ perspectives were included. Cullen328 (talk) 07:40, 30 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
If that's the case, then the title should be changed to "penetrative intercourse" not "sexual." Melonmelon1 (talk) 07:44, 30 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
While reading the article, it appears that penetrative intercourse is the main subject. Melonmelon1 (talk) 07:46, 30 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
As should be obvious, many LGBTQ people engage in penetrative sexual behavior. We have an article Non-penetrative sex describing other types of sexual activities anong people. Article titles are based on common usage and "sexual intercourse" is far more common in formal contexts than "penetrative intercourse". How many people would search for that term? Cullen328 (talk) 07:54, 30 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Sexual intercourse is not limited to penetration. Many people engage in non-penetrative intercourse as well. This is misinforming anyone that searches for "sexual intercourse." Melonmelon1 (talk) 08:02, 30 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Well-written Wikipedia articles summarize what reliable sources say about the topic. The majority of reliable sources that discuss "sexual intercourse" are referring to penetrative sexual behaviour. The article repeatedly includes other views from other sources as well. I believe that it is fair to say that most English speakers are not thinking about non-penetrative sexual behavior when they talk about sexual intercourse. Cullen328 (talk) 08:19, 30 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Melonmelon1 and Cullen328: An editor changed the wording of this article to be more trans-inclusive, but this edit was quickly reverted. Jarble (talk) 17:07, 27 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]
No rationale was stated for that, but in any case "male" and "female" clearly refer to sex and are correct. Crossroads -talk- 17:51, 27 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Let's be sincerely grateful for the contributions of those editors. But can we pause for a moment and note the results – and how they are sometimes, well, rather queer?
I mean, take the first sentence of the article. It tells us what sexual intercourse is by articulating something looks just like a genus-differentia definition of the term. But then the third sentence tells us there are "other forms" of sexual intercourse as well, and lists them.
It's almost as if we had an article on "sexuinters" in geometry that ran: "A sexuinter is a plane figure with three straight sides. There are also sexuinters with two or four curvy sides."
A genus-differentia definition, Wikipedia tells us, is a type of intensional definition. An intentional definition, according to the same article, "gives meaning to a term by specifying necessary and sufficient conditions for when the term should be used." If sentence number one in an article on sexuinters gave having "three straight sides" as a necessary condition of being a sexuinter, then could a sexuinter be a sexuinter if it had just two sides and the sides were curvy? It would seem not.
Appearance, reality – what ultimately is the true nature of sentence number one in an article like that? Does it have a nature? It looks just like an intensional definition – but if it is one, then the following sentence contradicts it. If it isn't one, then what is it doing? Is it trying to pass as one? To arouse our expectations of logical normativity? Hmm... ~ Aingotno (talk) 10:43, 26 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Okay so, compromise suggestion, would it make sense to mention in the hatnote that the article focuses on penetrative sexual intercourse and add a wikilink toNon-penetrative sex? Konstantina07 (talk) 12:32, 23 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 25 March 2024[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. WP:SNOW. (closed by non-admin page mover) estar8806 (talk) 00:29, 27 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]


Sexual intercourseSex (penetration) – Sex is the most common name for what this article is about. Nobody refers to it as sexual intercourse. That is overly long. Fish567 (talk) 20:26, 25 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. Article title policy emphasizes the use of neutral, precise, and commonly recognizable titles, whereas "Sex" is a colloquialism and lacks specificity. EVaDiSh (talk) 21:35, 25 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Er, yes they do. Very commonly. And avoids having to disambiguate. -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:34, 26 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Per above. I have no words. 162 etc. (talk) 17:46, 26 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.