All Things Anal (8 Butt Related Sexual Facts You Really Should Know)

An analisticle for assficianados

I was chatting with a sex writer that I admire. He said, “you need to write about anal sex. Readers love butts.”

It was the advice I needed to hear. People love butts. Readers love butts. So do dogs, but that’s a different story.

I have always been a fan of the booty. A backside connoisseur. Or to use a phrase from one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes — an Assman.

Anal sex is on the rise. Recent studies state that over 40% of women between the ages of 20 and 49 have had anal sex. 40% of men between 20 and 59 years have had anal sex. 60 percent of homosexual men have anal sex on a regular basis; one study found. According to Pornhub, anal is the third most commonly searched term.

People love butts.

And so this article is written to all my fellow admirers of the ass. The praisers of the peach. The believers of the booty. The assficianados.

I present the analisticle.

1. Anyone can orgasm from anal sex

There is a common misconception that only males can orgasm from anal sex.

According to Sarah Melancon, Ph.D., clinical sexologist, “people of any gender have the physiological potential to orgasm from anal sex — giving or receiving.” Sometimes anal play is combined with clitoral stimulation, or women can use a strap-on or sex toy to penetrate their partner anally.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found 94% of women who received some sort of anal stimulation during their most recent sexual encounter had an orgasm.

2. Anal ancestors

While anal sex is increasingly popular, it is definitely nothing new — it has been around since the dawn of time.

According to sex expert Gabi Levi, it was popular in the times of Babylonia back in 2300BCE. “Anal sex has been around for centuries. The Babylonians were considered especially hedonistic, and both the Grecians and Babylonians would swing through various partners on a daily basis, regardless of sex. Everyone was bisexual, as sexuality wasn’t a huge consideration, thus normalizing anal sex within those communities.”

It wasn't just Babylonia; anal sex was also popular in Ancient Greece and Rome, where there wasn't a distinction between homo and heterosexuality. Sex was often done on a hierarchical or political structure. Whether someone was the penetrator or the receiver often depended on their age and role within society.

Archaeologists have found pottery that was made around 100 AD in Northern Peru by the Moche. Many of these pots featured scenes depicting anal sex involving pregnant women. There are a couple of theories for producing this anal art. One is that it was a form of sex education — to display a sexual position that prevents pregnancy.

Another theory offered for this art is that semen was viewed as an important life force, and putting semen into the mother’s anus produced milk.

3. You can get pregnant from anal sex

But the Moche may have been wrong about both supposed reasons. Obviously, women don't produce milk from semen ejected into their asses, but there is technically a chance that someone can become pregnant from anal sex.

All due to the dribble factor.

If the male ejaculates into a female's anus and isn’t careful with the exit, then there is a risk that the semen leaks down from the anus into the vagina. The chances of impregnation may be small, but there is still a chance.

This is yet another reason to wear a condom whenever enjoying anal sex.

4. You won’t have a brown penis. Or finger. Or tongue

While we are myth-busting, let’s shatter another one. That sticking anything in the anus will result in a brown fudge-colored appendage that, well, smells like shit.

Anal surgeon Dr. Evan Goldstein says this is very unlikely to happen as the stool is held in the sigmoid colon, which is higher up than the anus. He says that a regular healthy person that eats enough fiber will have an anal canal clean enough for any form of anal play.

“People tend not to believe it when we share this information, so take a toy and test the landing strip. Prove it to yourself,” Goldstein says.

I do have to interject at this point and relate an amusing sex story that happened to my college roommate. He had enjoyed anal sex with his partner, and when he withdrew, he found one solitary corn kernel on the end of his penis.

He never ate corn again. But still had lots of anal sex.

5. Anal all-stars

Porno star Brooke Ashley set the unofficial world record for anal sex with the most people — at least in the shortest time span. She had anal sex 50 times one day in 1998, which was captured in the unimaginatively titled “The World’s Biggest Anal Gangbang.” Unfortunately, Brooke claims to have contracted HIV during this event.

This didn't deter Victoria Givens, who broke Brooke’s record in 2004 in an event that was filmed at a nightclub in North Hollywood.

Givens invited 110 of her fans to show up to the club and participate in the world record attempt. Over seven hours and astonishingly without the use of any lubrication, Givens had anal sex with 101 men over the course of seven hours.

I guess the other nine men came to their senses. Or just liked to watch.

I also want to point out that typing anal sex world records into Google leads to many very interesting results.

6. You could be breaking the law

Adding an element of risk to sexual activity does make it more exciting. And there is some risk in engaging in anal sex in some states within the USA.

Sixteen states have sodomy laws against “perverted sexual practice” and “crimes against nature.”

Sodomy is illegal in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. In Kansas, Kentucky, and Texas, the act is only illegal for same-sex relations.

There was a landmark case in 2003 in Texas when a same-sex couple was charged with having anal sex in private. The Supreme Court ruled that making private same-sex activity between consenting adults illegal was unconstitutional.

This means the laws are rarely enforced.

7. Spreading the chocolate starfish

In 1994 when I was in college in Australia, there was a band that was very popular called Chocolate Starfish. They had a few hit songs that featured high on the Aussie charts. Despite being a sex-crazed college student, I thought nothing of the band name.

It was only years later when I heard the lead singer asked about the origins of the band's name that he said it was named after what the anus looked like. And hence I learned the term spreading the chocolate starfish as a term for anal sex.

There are a number of other terms that can be used — many of which are quite disgusting, but I do like the term ‘fifth base.’

I also sometimes giggle when radio DJ’s tell listeners they should get into Chocolate Starfish.

8. Salad time

‘He toss my salad like his name Romaine,’ Nicki Minaj

Another popular part of anal play is to perform anilingus. Often known as rimming or “tossing salad,” this is oral sex performed on the anal region.

Sex coach, Shelby Devlin, offers this advice for would-be salad tossers. “You can think of it just as traditional oral sex, but just on the back end. You can use your tongue, but you can also use your fingers [to stimulate the anus], you can use lube, you can use toys, you can just stay on the outside or penetrate with your tongue. There’s a whole variety of moves you can do.”

Due to a large number of nerves in the region, it can be very pleasurable to be on the receiving end of a rim job.

It is advisable to shower beforehand — you don't want any stray corn kernels to be found.

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