The history of anal sex is quite fascinating. And it’s also well worth exploring for anyone interested in it.
For as long as humans have been, well, human, we’ve enjoyed the pleasures of anal penetration.
Not least of which is why it has remained extraordinarily popular for so many years.
The same is true for how people have viewed it. Similarly, whether or not a society views it as taboo or as a valued part of a person’s sex life.
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Why You Should Trust Us
Regarding sex education, few sites match My Sex Toy Guide. We are staffed with experts on practically every aspect of it.
Not least for anal penetration. Heterosexual anal intercourse, homosexual sexual practices, bisexual play, as well as every other orientation and inclination, we know nearly everything about it.
But we realize we might need sex expert help now and again. Fortunately for you and us, we have many passionate educators available to help. These great people are always ready, willing, and able to lend a hand.
One of our favorites is M.Christian. Equally adept at erotic fiction as they are at sex tech journalism, they are here to guide you on a history of rectal penetration play.
Which we hope will help you understand why so many people, for so many years, have been excited by homosexual and heterosexual anal sex.
What Is Anal Sex?
Any direct stimulation of the anal area could technically be considered rectal play. It can be anal and oral sex, as in analingus. It can be caressing the outside of the sphincter, too.
But when most talk anal, they are referring to penetration play. Whether from a penis or a sex toy, its pleasure derives from stimulating its nerve endings.
We will be delving into the history of this particular sort of anal play because it would be impossible to try and explore every possible anal pleasuring practice. At least in one article.
Please do not think how you prefer anal sex is not respected because we have not mentioned it. As we are fond of saying, every consensual sex act is a good sex act.
So more power to you and your desires. Whether vaginal or oral sex, we ask that you play safe, be responsible, conscientious, respect your partners, and have fun!
Anal Sex Safety
On the same subject, let us briefly discuss how to perform safe anal sex – heterosexual anal sex, homosexual anal play, or otherwise.
From its earliest days to 2022, anal play is not without risks. HIV is one we all should know about. But there have always been other sexually transmitted diseases associated with anal play.
The Centers For Disease Control points out many of them. It’s a long list, too, beginning with potentially fatal ones like hepatitis B and C.
Then there is syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, and the human papilloma virus, which can cause anal cancer. These can be transmitted by anal and oral sex as well.
While frightening, these and other diseases are preventable by having the penetrating person wear a condom during anal. But not just any prophylactic but ones designed and manufactured for these sexual practices.
Naturally, your first step should be to get regular screening for STIs. Plus, insisting those you play with do the same. Straight men and women are not exempt from having to do the same.
But even if you and your sexual partners are negative, always use condoms to preserve your sexual health because some diseases may have slipped under your radar.
Not only that, but condoms reduce the risk of irritation for those receiving anal sex. The same for using appropriate lubrication. Plus, understanding the differences between your ass and a vagina.
We could go on, but the important thing is to be smart and careful concerning anal play.
Pleasurable though it might be, it is never worth contracting a possibly fatal illness. Or exposing those you care about to sexually transmitted infections.
When Did People First Enjoy Anal Sex?
No one knows the origin of anal sex and when humans discovered rectal play. But it was likely since time immemorial when humans first realized they had an anus.
Notably, when we found that putting fingers, a man’s penis, or objects up our butts was sexually arousing.
An early depiction of ass play in ancient cultures comes from Mesopotamia. Their erotic sculptures are at least four thousand years old. But this is just what we have found so far. But it probably goes much farther back than that.
One aspect of its popularity is as a form of birth control instead of vaginal sex, making a lot of sense when you think about it. After all, until condoms were invented, anal penetration was the only sure-fire birth control method available.
Predating Mesopotamia by two thousand years, Sumerian texts tell of priestesses engaging in anal instead of vaginal sex. They partially did this because they were banned from having children. But like how women find anal exciting today, they probably did it for pleasure too.
The ancient Greeks went through various periods when anal sex was or was not acceptable for same-sex or heterosexual couples. Right behind them, ancient Rome had the same sort of back and forth feelings regarding it. Even to how it pertained to enslaved people or free men.
This was a common attitude among other early civilizations, as well. Not just during Roman times. Like how it was sometimes connected to sexual orientation, other times not.
In Japan and Peru, archaeologists have unearthed several erotic sculptures. In fact, according to Sex In History by Reay Tannahill, anal is the most prevalent form of sex portrayed by the Moche people of Latin America. To the tune of thirty-one percent more than vaginal intercourse and other sexual activities.
Anal Sex In Europe And Asia
With the collapse of Rome, Western Europe entered a sexual dark age. A point in human history where the church banned nearly every sexual act. Anal play was no exception, consensual or not.
But what was said in public did not necessarily affect what was done in private. A few monasteries and convents became popular sex pots for those wanting to worship the pleasures of the flesh. Sex pots like these were often tolerated by many men in the Catholic church who liked those sorts of pleasures.
The Renaissance not only rediscovered the works of ancient Greeks but some of their attitudes towards anal sex, which saw butt sex being slightly more acceptable in Europe. For example, Pietro Aretino was an Italian playwright and poet brave enough to advocate for anal pleasure.
As evidenced by the legendary Kamasutra, pre-colonial India was fine with it. But the British changed all that, probably why anal sex in India is still often viewed in a negative light.
China has suffered the same fate. But their centuries of socially accepted rectal penetration play was first begun by the Qing dynasty in the 1600s. Then the People’s Republic of China banned same-sex anal play until 1997.
This pattern we repeatedly see when looking at the history of anal sex. A country or society is either OK with it or does not consider it a problem. Then, for whatever reason, do a one-eighty-degree turn, turning an otherwise healthy sexual practice into something to be shunned. Worse, punishing anyone daring to enjoy it.
What Anal Sex Was Like 200 Years Ago
From 1800 to modern times, anal sex has seen its fair share of ups and downs. Though arguably, many of the most progressive changes were usually secretive.
Like how anal sex in Victorian times was fine as long as it did not frighten the horses. Meaning it was acceptable behind locked doors but never openly discussed.
There’s also the famous rumor it was okay for a woman to do because Queen Victoria did not believe gay women existed.
During this time, very few societies acknowledged the pleasures of anal sex. Fewer when same-sex participants were involved.
In the Western World, it was not until the sexual revolution of the 1960s that it began to improve. If only by a relatively small amount.
It was greatly fueled by Alfred Kinsey’s groundbreaking sexuality research in the United States.
His studies helped to revealing anal sex was far from taboo. And finding it was extremely popular for homosexuals and heterosexuals, women and women alike.
The beginning of the gay rights movement did its part as well. The LGBTQ community is still leading the fight for the right to enjoy every kind of consensual sex. Not least is when it involves your or someone else’s ass.
Anal Sex Today
We would like to say anal sex is no longer in the closet. And attitudes have shifted a lot over the last decade or so.
This is reflected by a recent FutureMethod survey of 880 adults, which found approximately one out of four have anally penetrated or been penetrated by a partner. To give you a better idea of this amount, it translates to a whopping seventy-two percent of those polled!
Despite its evident popularity, sixty-eight countries have anti-sodomy laws still on their books, with eleven even carrying the death penalty for homosexual men and non-straight sexual orientations.
In the United States, fourteen states have anti-consensual anal sex laws remaining on their books. This is regardless of the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling that these ordinances are unconstitutional.
What is extremely troubling is illegal anti-sodomy laws continue to be used to persecute consenting adults.
In 2014, USA Today reported police in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had illegally arrested several gay men for “crimes against nature.” The charges were eventually dropped, but young men like them are still targeted in the United States.
The Future Of Anal Sex
It’s natural to be pessimistic about ass pleasuring’s future. But it is important to realize things are looking up.
Sure, many countries have not gotten the memo that everyone should be able to enjoy consensual sex.
Particularly the butt variety. But one thing is for sure; human sexuality is steadily moving forward.
A big help has been the Internet. For the first time, people from all over the world have access to non-judgmental sexual information. Sites like Planned Parenthood and the Centers For Disease Control are two of the best.
These and other websites are where everyone from heterosexual men to homosexual couples can learn how to perform anal sex safely.
Being online can also help when you or anyone else feels isolated. Previously, it was difficult or risky to try and locate other people interested in anal sex. Now anyone can type “butt sex” into a search engine. It means whatever your sexual interests, you can find someone somewhere who likes it as well.
Access to sexual support and information makes it more difficult for groups or individuals to spread anal sex misinformation. These all play a significant role in why anal sex is slowly leaving the closet.
And once out, it can’t go back in, which is equally true for other consensual sex acts, too.
Sex toys are another way butt sex is gaining momentum. A few years ago, the idea of prostate massagers was way out there. But not anymore, as there are now hundreds of them to choose from. More accurately, it is more like thousands.
For the first time, we can buy a toy designed for nearly every kind of rectal stimulation! Be they built for rhythmic penetration, lengthening or widening of the anus, and more.
So it is a very safe bet that you can find any number of high-tech sex toys to fit your rear-end sexual desires.
A new generation of young people is also pushing things forward. In the United States and in different cultures, people are getting involved in fighting anti-sexual pleasure laws.
Things may not be exactly perfect for anal sex enthusiasts right now. However, we feel strongly that butt play will lose its stigma sooner rather than later.
It will eventually become a regular part of people’s sex lives in the United States and other cultures. If that is, they are interested in it.
Until that day comes, do your best to support non-biased sex education. Not least, everyone should be able to do what feels good. Consensually, of course.
What You Should Know About Anal Sex
You cannot go over the annals of anal play without mentioning whether or not it is “normal” or “taboo.”
In a word, it is not. It is not unusual or abnormal because there is no normal way to have sex. The truth is everyone on this planet gets turned on in one or more special ways.
Sometimes it is a private fantasy that excites them. In other cases, it could be a distinct fondness for a specific sexual activity. Butt sex is one such example.
Like the nearly infinite things, people like to consensually do with their and their playmate’s bodies.
The bottom line is consensual butt sex is fine and dandy. It’s not at all unusual or wrong to like. Those who say differently are misinformed. We would even go so far as to tell those who disagree are speaking from ignorance or are biased against it.
So feel free to embrace your desires. Be it rectal sex or anything else which arouses you. If it’s consensually done with other people, there is nothing wrong with ass play.
And history has proven us right. As in the thousands or millions of years, people have done it. Which, during all that time, has proven to be exceedingly popular. It will no doubt continue to be. Who knows, maybe we will keep doing it for a million years from now.
Because when it comes to sexual pleasure, butt sex and humanity go hand in hand. Or maybe it would be better to say a hand or something else in the butt?
Thanks for reading my guide to anal sex history!
M.Christian
Do you have any anal sex questions? Ask us on Twitter.
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