(NSFW) To what, exactly, does the term "Vanilla" refer?

I think it depends on how sexually “adventurous” one is. But I would say in general it is used for someone who is most comfortable with the “mainstream” sexual activities.

Vanilla means plain. No frills.
Vanilla sex is missionary. It probably has to be in a bed. The back seat of a car might qualify. Pool tables are right out.
Vanilla chilli doesn’t have any spices to goose it up.
Vanilla Ice is terrible music.

A long sleeved white shirt is very vanilla. So is a Ford Focus.

1 man, 1 woman, missionary.

I am very vanilla.
But I add loads of whipped cream!

Vanilla means boring and ordinary.

As opposed to [NSFW], say, tying up a woman spread eagle on your bed (consensual, of course) with her head hanging back over the edge of the bed and needles through her nipples, while you f**k her in the mouth and beat her with a riding crop, while she holds her breath and pukes all over your crotch.

Vanilla is everything I’m not

@HungryGuy: So there’s no speed between boring and physical abuse?

@KatawaGrey – Oh, about 5 to 10 KPH :-p

Oh, sure. Laugh. But if David Carridine was a little more vanilla, he’s still be making movies.

of course the movies probably wouldn’t be as good.

@filmfann: Who’s laughing? I went into my friend’s room to take a nap and found handcuffs, chains and a bit and kinda went, “Oh, that would have been an interesting surprise if we hooked up.”

But, yeah, I do miss David Carridine. :(

I think people have different definitions of “vanilla-” it’s like a continuum to me.

You have at one end, the “lights out, missionary only, minimal sounds and foreplay, over in 4 minutes” type of sex (believe it or not that exists… poor ladies… ick.) Then the other end includes pretty much what @HungryGuy‘s referring to along with things like maximum bondage, sex machines, fetishes with body fluids, sex with food, etc. etc. [edit: sex with food isn’t your usual chocolate or edible undies stuff, but more extreme stuff; there’s a club for that in San Francisco]

I think along the middle is what you can find at Spencer’s or your friendly neighborhood adult toy store.

Whats wrong with Vanilla?

I happen to love Vanilla wafers, Vanilla ice cream and Vanilla coffee, as long as these items are only inserted into my mouth. lol

Vanilla definitely has its place. But I’d rather listen to Little Richard singing Long Tall Sally than Pat Boone’s vanilla version.

@Coloma: Read the question. I never said there was anything wrong with vanilla. I only want to know what the term refers to during sex. LOL.

@linguaphile: Ah, that explanation makes a lot of sense. I guess I’d call myself mint chocolate chip then. I mean, if vanilla refers to vanilla ice cream…

<——- Waiting for a follow up question: What ice cream flavor is your sex?

@KatawaGrey I like that!! Good way to put it! :D :D In your next Q you should as, “If vanilla is this, what are you? I think I’ll be burgundy cherry :D

LOL @filmfann, same idea but you beat me to it by 3 seconds!

That took all of 5 seconds.
Waiting for someone to say they are “fudge brownie” or “french vanilla”.

@KatawaGrey

Got’cha..yes, it means bland, benign, common, pedestrian. ;-)

Heh..this reminds me of a little Cool Whip play with an ex in my teen years. I’ll never forget finding a container of Cool Whip in his parents fridge and trying to get him to dip his wick in it for a little fellatiating fun. Poor guy, guess I was too bold for him…he was mortally offended and exclaimed ” My family eats out of that!” lolol

Well, duh, I’d be chocolate :-p

@HungryGuy From what I’ve seen, I think you’d be triple dark chocolate with espresso beans. Chocolate’s still a tad too mild to describe you, don’t ya think? :D

@linguaphile – Ayyyyyup….

It means plain or boring. Or sometimes even the “begginning” of something that’s expanded. Example: a lot of gamers refer to the original World of Warcraft as “Vanilla WoW”.

“Ice ice baby”…...... bum bum bum de de bum bum!
Someone who likes, err…..bums?

I’m with @linguaphile on the continuum. It’s really hard to claim that missionary style in a bed with no sounds and lights out isn’t vanilla, but then you get to stuff like food and role playing that isn’t necessarily BDSM, and it seems to depend on if someone thinks those things are kinky or not. For the people who react to food and role playing with “isn’t sex already fun enough for you???!!?”, it’s going to be kinky, and they’re going to be closer to the missionary end of the spectrum. But for @HungryGuy, whipped cream and chocolate sauce in pirate/wench costumes is almost definitely vanilla. So, I find use of the term “vanilla” to tell me more about the person using it than the person it’s directed at.

I always thought referring to “normal” or “boring” things as “vanilla” showed that people didn’t know how much vanilla to put in food. I mean, for fuck’s sake, it’s a strong spice!

@incendiary_dan: Right? Plus it makes any sweet thing instantly amazing! Vanilla in hot chocolate = pure win.

@incendiary_dan I think it means more ubiquitous to the point of becoming boring, which vanilla has become.