Facesitting, also known as queening, is a sexual practice in which one partner sit on or over the other's face, typically to allow or force oral-genital

Oral sex

Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...

 or oral-anal contact. It is common for this position to form part of BDSM

BDSM

BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...

, involving dominance and submission

Domination and submission (BDSM)

Dominance and submission is a set of behaviors, customs and rituals involving the giving by one individual to another individual of control over them in an erotic episode or as a lifestyle....

, though this need not be the case. Within a BDSM or D/S context, facesitting can be an especially intense form of erotic humiliation

Erotic humiliation

Erotic humiliation is the consensual use of psychological humiliation in a sexual context, whereby one person gains arousal or erotic excitement from the powerful emotions of being humiliated and demeaned, or of humiliating another; often in conjunction with sexual stimulation of one or both...

.

Facesitting is common among dominant and submissive individuals, for demonstrating superiority and for sexual gratification.

Unlike smothering, in facesitting the bottom partner is not deprived of air

Breathing

Breathing is the process that moves air in and out of the lungs. Aerobic organisms require oxygen to release energy via respiration, in the form of the metabolism of energy-rich molecules such as glucose. Breathing is only one process that delivers oxygen to where it is needed in the body and...

.
The full-weight body-pressure, moisture

Moisture

Humidity is the amount of moisture the air can hold before it rains. Moisture refers to the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts...

, sex

Sex

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

 odors and darkness

Darkness

Darkness, in contrast with brightness, is a relative absence of visible light. It is the appearance of black in a color space. When light is not present, rod and cone cells within the eye are not stimulated. This lack of stimulation means photoreceptor cells are unable to distinguish color...

 can be perceived as powerful sexual attractions or compulsions. The person sat upon may be in bondage

Bondage (BDSM)

Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...

, sexually submissive, or simply held down by the body-weight of the other person.

Furniture

Sometimes special furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

 is used, such as a "queening stool" or "smotherbox".

A queening stool is a low seat which fits over the submissive's face and contains an opening to allow oral-genital and/or oral-anal stimulation of the domme

Dominatrix

Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...

 while seated. In modern BDSM vernacular, the queening stool allows open access to the crotch while seated. The position allows the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) to relax and therefore partly exposing the labia minora

Labia minora

The labia minora , also known as the inner labia, inner lips, or nymphae, are two flaps of skin on either side of the human vaginal opening, situated between the labia majora...

 to intimate touch. The gluteus maximus, levator ani

Levator ani

The levator ani is a broad, thin muscle, situated on the side of the pelvis.It is attached to the inner surface of the side of the lesser pelvis, and unites with its fellow of the opposite side to form the greater part of the floor of the pelvic cavity....

 and puborectalis or sphincter recti muscles, the major muscles of the crotch, can relax and sag allowing easy access to the vagina and anus. The queening stool is also related to a "smotherbox," which also allows the person under the seat to be locked in place, restrained by the neck

Neck

The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...

 as in a set of stocks

Stocks

Stocks are devices used in the medieval and colonial American times as a form of physical punishment involving public humiliation. The stocks partially immobilized its victims and they were often exposed in a public place such as the site of a market to the scorn of those who passed by...

.
A smotherbox (or smothering box) has two openings. One is in a vertical side of the box for the neck

Neck

The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...

 of the person who has their head inside the smotherbox. The other is in the top of the box to expose their face. The inside of a smotherbox is often padded to provide support for their neck and prevent their head from moving. The padding may also muffle noises from the outside, causing a relaxation effect and heightening their other senses.
A smotherbox gives a more dramatic experience. Smotherboxes are usually custom made pieces of furniture that may have a special significance for their users. They are often made out of precious woods, with leather used for the seat.

The smotherbox is placed on a stable surface. The cover (top half of the smotherbox) is open while the submissive lies down on their back and places their head in the box. When they are in position the cover is closed. The cover can have hinge

Hinge

A hinge is a type of bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation. Hinges may be made of flexible material or of moving components...

s or be a separate part. Locks may be used to emphasize the submissive position or the submissive's hands may be fastened above their head to the box.