Would You Let A Stranger Control Your Sexual Pleasure?

Watch out for Russian hackers!

Usually, when you watch a topical news show, you don’t expect to learn about anal butt plugs.

But here I was sitting down to eat dinner when John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, started discussing the potential dangers of an anal sex toy. The episode was on malware and, in particular Russian hackers that access electronic devices.

You may have feared them accessing your financial records or email accounts — but a sex toy?

It seems even your anus may not be safe.

Oliver highlighted a product called the QIUI Pear Flower Anal Plug Male Chastity Belt Remote Control. Aside from having a ridiculously long name, it is an anal sex toy that allows a person to control it remotely via the internet. So one person uses the device and can then allow another person to control it from anywhere in the world.

As Oliver said, “that product could essentially give the internet control over your anus. Which doesn’t seem great. Assholes are like opinions: letting the internet be in charge of yours is a really bad idea.”

It got me thinking.

How many people have sexual experiences with complete strangers? And would you let one control your sexual pleasure?

A stranger is just a friend you’ve never met.

For the purposes of this article, we are focusing on strangers. This is, of course very different from letting a partner or someone you know have a form of sexual dominance or control over you.

Before we get to the remote toy part, let’s take a quick look at sexual intercourse with a stranger. I’m sure most people reading this have had a one-night stand at some point in their life. But how quickly did you go from hello to yes, please! How many of you have immediately agreed to a sexual liaison with someone you literally just met.

The answer may depend on your sex.

Clark and Hatfield published a paper in the Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality that looked at the differences between males and females when consenting to sex with strangers. They had researchers posing as students approach people across college campuses and ask, “I’ve been noticing you around campus. I find you to be very attractive. Would you go to bed with me tonight?”

The results showed that 75 percent of men agreed to have sex with a complete stranger, whereas 0 percent of women agreed. That is a vast discrepancy and perhaps says something about male college students and their desire for sex. The researchers believed a lot of the concerns from women came down to physical safety and trusting a complete stranger with such a forward approach.

A history of anonymity

Let’s now take it up a notch into even more anonymous sex with a stranger — when you never even see them. And for that, we take a peek through the glory hole.

The glory hole is a hole, usually in bathroom stalls, that allows for public, quasi-anonymous sex acts to take place. A man can place his penis through the hole, and the person on the other side can partake in sexual acts.

The origins of the glory hole stem back to 1707 in the United Kingdom, where it was mentioned in a court case, the Tryals of Thomas Vaughn and Thomas Davis. At the time, homosexuality was illegal and gay men were often arrested attempting to hook up at a place called Lincoln’s Inn. It was said to be so popular for meet-ups that the ‘Society for the Reformation of Manners’ — a society that sounds incredibly dull — would wait outside the toilet stalls so they could make an arrest.

The transcript from the case notes that a hole had been deliberately cut in the partition wall between two toilet stalls. In effect, it was the world's first recorded glory hole.

There have also been some historians who speculate that glory holes were used by the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians and are depicted in ancient art.

So sex with strangers has been around for over 300 years, if not longer.

And as recently as last year, the New York Department of Health may have inadvertently encouraged its use.

What’s the story, morning glory?

Ok, Ash. We appreciate the quick history lesson. But who uses the glory hole — just gay men, right? No, dear reader, that is incorrect.

Plenty of straight or ‘curious’ men have used glory holes. A quick at glory hole forums — which I never knew existed until today — and you can find where glory holes are and who uses them. A lot of straight men post on these forums admitting to using these glory holes. From my brief research, adult bookstores and theatres are favored locations. There were also women posting who like to give oral sex via a glory hole.

And there are many swingers clubs that have glory holes for use by patrons. So it’s not just the bastion for gay men.

Last year it even became mainstream—sort of.

The New York City Health Department encouraged residents to be sexually creative to stay safe. One suggestion was for New Yorkers to adopt new sexual practices, including “physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face to face contact.”

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

WIFI enabled

As an Aussie, I’m proud to say that a team of Australian scientists invented wifi. However, I’m not sure when they came up with WLAN technology that they thought that thirty years later, it would be used as a selling point for anal plugs.

Yay, science!

Anal play is on the increase. The booty, the peach, the bum has become a key part of sexual play. Both men and women can orgasm from anal stimulation, and what may have once been seen as taboo is a part of regular sex play for people.

This has led to a diverse range of anal sex toys being available many incorporating new technology.

For example, the Lovense Hush Butt Plug is a technophile’s wet dream. It can be controlled via an app or by anyone on the same WiFi or Bluetooth connection. It even syncs with your Apple Watch so it can vibrate and dance along with your music. Perhaps even count some calories.

You can even offer random strangers on the app the chance to control your anal sensations. I have never used one, but it seems a brave choice to allow someone sitting in a garage on the other side of the world to play with my anus.

This brings us back to Russian hackers.

If they can — allegedly — manipulate elections then they can easily manipulate erections. What if they hacked into the app and the Kremlin now had complete control of your anal plug.

It’s like Putin put in your anus. And that’s a horrible thought — and also an awful pun.

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