According to Christian theology, the ‘missionary’ position was the only proper way to have sex. Among clerical as well as secular authors, one of the most serious deviations from this prescription was the position with the woman on top of the man. Although medieval and early modern defences of the woman-on-top prohibition are often focused on reproduction or health, modern scholars habitually explain it as a reflection of concern about the inversion of gender roles and hierarchies. Against the background of the hierarchical perspective on sexual intercourse in general, this hypothesis seems almost self-evident. Thus far, however, it has not been sufficiently supported with relevant source material. This article brings a focused case study of this topic to the historiography by analyzing the discussion of the woman-on-top position in Italian sources written between c. 1350-1550. Theological, medical and literary sources are used to support the hypothesis that the woman-on-top prohibition was to an important extent sanctioned by beliefs about gender roles and hierarchies. There were various ways in which the ‘missionary’ position could be defended, ranging from defences of innate male prerogatives to concern about female power.

中文翻译：

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女性居首位：意大利文艺复兴时期的性交位置和性别等级

根据基督教神学，“传教士”职位是唯一正确的性行为方式。在教士和世俗作者中，最严重的偏离这一规定的地方之一是女人在男人之上的位置。尽管中世纪和早期现代对女性在上头禁令的辩护往往侧重于生殖或健康，但现代学者习惯性地将其解释为对性别角色和等级倒置的担忧的反映。在一般性交的等级观念的背景下，这个假设似乎是不言而喻的。然而，迄今为止，相关源材料还没有充分支持它。本文通过分析在公元 10 年之间撰写的意大利文献中对女性居于首位的讨论，将这一主题的重点案例研究带入史学。1350-1550。神学、医学和文学资料被用来支持这样一种假设，即女性在上的禁令在很大程度上受到关于性别角色和等级制度的信仰的认可。捍卫“传教士”地位的方式多种多样，从捍卫男性与生俱来的特权到对女性权力的关注。