The mind boggles as to how anyone can fit a rolled-up wad of paper in their rectum. Until you consider that it is an empty cavity about 5 to 9 inches long and made of highly expandable tissue.
The rectum does not store faeces but this passes through it during a bowel movement. The fact is that everyone is apparently capable of fitting an entire fist in their rectum – a highly skilled practice known as anal fisting – but few would actually want to. The tricky part is not whether you can actually get an entire manuscript or other large object to fit inside your rectum. It’s getting the two sphincter muscles at the entrance to the anus to relax enough to let the object in, and also negotiating the two curves of the rectum so that the delicate lining is not damaged.
For many people, the mere thought of anal sex gives them cold shivers. Why would anyone want to play where their faeces comes out? Isn’t it dirty – and doesn’t it hurt? Will you become incontinent after years of anal play? Despite these common fears – and despite anal sex still being culturally ‘taboo’ in many places – the practice is currently growing at a phenomenal rate, especially among heterosexuals.
Are ‘straight’ couples into anal play?
Yes, and a relatively high percentage of them. Research shows that more and more people are enjoying anal play, including ‘straight’ couples. In the US, a 2002 survey showed that 40% of men and 35% of women had tried anal sex with an opposite sex partner. More recent research shows about 30-40% of heterosexual couples had tried anal sex and about half of these were indulging in it regularly.
This is a significantly higher percentage than those polled in the 1990s. A 1994 study revealed that 26% percent of heterosexual men and 20% of heterosexual women said they had had anal sex. And Kinsey reported in 1990 that 11% of married men had tried or regularly indulged in anal sex.
Interestingly, only about half of gay men in the U.S. practice anal sex. And plenty of lesbians do.
Why is anal play growing in popularity?
Over time, attitudes relax. What was culturally unacceptable or ‘abnormal’ not so long ago, like oral sex and women working, is now considered perfectly normal. The same goes for anal sex. Once considered ‘taboo’ in many societies (or the preserve of gay men) attitudes towards anal play have relaxed in the last two or three decades. What has caused such a monumental shift in thinking?
The influence of porn, which is now just a click away, is one factor. Porn producers are constantly seeking new ways to titillate viewers and while showing couples having anal sex was not common in the late 1980s, in recent years it has become so. And porn has an impact on the men and women who view it. A recent Swedish study of heterosexual men who attended a medical clinic showed that viewing porn affected their behaviour – they were inspired by what they saw. And most of them had tried anal sex.
The digital age has also had a big influence on the growth in anal sex. Information about anal sex and almost every sexual practice conceivable is a mere click of the mouse away – and access to knowledge tends to lead to the lowering of barriers.
Why do men enjoy anal play?
Many men enjoy being penetrated anally because this stimulates the prostate gland and the base of the penis. Many men can orgasm purely from stimulation of the prostate via anal penetration. The prostate, which is the male version of the G-spot, can be stimulated through the rectal wall about 3 inches into the rectum. Massaging this spot often leads to a particularly deep orgasm for him – and anal play during oral sex, intercourse or masturbation can dramatically up the pleasure stakes.
Why do men love anal play with a woman?
Heterosexual men often enjoy having anal sex with their female partner as a woman’s anus is considered ‘forbidden’ territory sexually which makes it highly erotic and deliciously kinky. The societal taboo that the anal canal is ‘dirty’ and therefore out of bounds adds to the kinky experience, as does the mistaken notion that it is a ‘homosexual act’ and therefore forbidden. Moreover, the anal canal feels tight, which translates to greater friction for the penis and hence more intense pleasure.
Next:
Why do women enjoy anal play?
Did you know the anus contracts during orgasm?
Why the anus is an erogenous zone
Why do people have reservations about anal sex?
Isn't the anal cavity 'dirty'?
Isn't anal sex painful?
Will my female partner worry that I'm gay?
What you need to know about the anus
Isn't anal sex messy?
Tips to pleasure her
Can she orgasm from anal sex?
What are good positions for anal sex?
What not to do in anal sex
A note about infections
What to do in anal play
› Solo anal play
› Anal play for couples
What toys are great for anal play?
Sources of information:
“The last lovemaking taboo lifted?” – Brian Alexander at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17285757
302 Advanced techniques for driving a man wild in bed – Olivia St. Claire
superhotsex – Tracey Cox
The Big Bang: nerve’s guide to the new sexual universe – the writers at nerve
The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex – Cathy Winks and Anne Semans
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