Fisting

Fisting's emergence as a sexual practice is commonly attributed to gay male culture.{{cite journal |last1=Navin |first1=Helen |title=Medical and Surgical Risks in Handballing:: Implications of an Inadequate Socialization Process |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |date=March 1981 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=67–76 |doi=10.1300/J082v06n03_06 |pmid=7341668 }} However, its precise origin is disputed. Some claim fisting began in the twentieth century,{{cite book |last1=Damousi |first1=Joy |last2=Reynolds |first2=Robert |title=History on the Couch: Essays in History and Psychoanalysis |date=2003 |publisher=Melbourne Univ. Publishing |isbn=978-0-522-85057-4 |page=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9NIWYP7MmkC&pg=PA57 }}{{cite book |last1=Bergman |first1=David |title=The Violet Hour: The Violet Quill and the Making of Gay Culture |date=2004 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50383-9 |pages=206–207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yam1zo4yUlsC&pg=PA206 }}{{cite book|last=Piontek|first=Thomas|title=Queering Gay and Lesbian Studies|url=https://archive.org/details/queeringgaylesbi0000pion|url-access=registration|access-date=October 9, 2014|date=January 2006|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-03031-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/queeringgaylesbi0000pion/page/90 90]}} whereas others assert the practice dates back to the eighteenth century or earlier.{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Jarred H |title=Fisting intimacy: The sexual scripting of intimacy in gay men's anal fisting |journal=Psychology & Sexuality |date=3 April 2023 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=416–431 |doi=10.1080/19419899.2022.2148119 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2263/88857 }}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Jonathan |date=2011-08-15 |title=A Hand in the Bush - An Interview with Deborah Addington |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/jmvqx7/a-hand-in-the-bush-an-interview-with-deborah-addington |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Vice |language=en}} Sex educator Robert Morgan Lawrence, for example, claimed the practice dates back thousands of years.{{cite book |last=Taormino |first=Tristan |author-link=Tristan Taormino |date=1998 |title=The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women |publisher=Cleis Press |url=https://archive.org/details/ultimateguidetoa00taorrich |url-access=registration |page=103 |isbn=9781573440288}}Gayle Rubin, "The Catacombs: A Triumph of the Butthole", in Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice, Alyson Press, 1992, {{ISBN|1555831877}}, pp. 119-141; reprinted in Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader, Duke University Press, 2011, {{ISBN|0822349868}}, {{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://occupytampa.org/files/tristan/introfem/final/introfem%20final%20final/Gayle_S._Rubin_Deviations_A_Gayle_Rubin_Reader_a_John_Hope_Franklin_Center_Book__2011.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006082917/http://occupytampa.org/files/tristan/introfem/final/introfem%20final%20final/Gayle_S._Rubin_Deviations_A_Gayle_Rubin_Reader_a_John_Hope_Franklin_Center_Book__2011.pdf |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=September 30, 2014}}, retrieved September 30, 2014.

Fisting gained visibility and popularity around the time of the gay liberation movement.{{Cite book |last=Heidenry |first=John |title=What Wild Ecstasy: The Rise and Fall of the Sexual Revolution |date=1997 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-4184-7 |location=New York |pages=67, 162–163}}{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Jarred H. |title=Fisting Subjectivity: Narratives of Sexual Subjectivity Among Gay Fist-Fuckers |journal=The Journal of Sex Research |date=24 March 2025 |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=398–410 |doi=10.1080/00224499.2024.2339521 |pmid=38629693 |doi-access=free }} Whereas until the 1960s fisting was generally confined to the bedroom, by 1969 men openly engaged in fisting at gay bathhouses such as St. Marks Baths in New York. The hanky code and personal advertisements allowed fisters to safely and discreetly signal their interest to potential partners around the world.{{Cite web |last=Gremore |first=Graham |date=2016-05-19 |title=Levi's Is Bringing Back The Hanky Code Just In Time For Pride |url=https://www.queerty.com/levis-bringing-back-hanky-code-just-time-pride-20160519 |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=Queerty |language=en}}{{Cite journal |date=1979 |title=Happy Holidays Issue |journal=Drummer |volume=4 |issue=33 |pages=34-40}}{{Cite journal |date=February 1983 |title=Bondage Issue |journal=Drummer |volume=7 |issue=61 |pages=58-59}} By 1973, gay bars, bathhouses and clubs such as the Red Star Saloon in South of Market, San Francisco were publicly advertising fisting. Sex clubs dedicated to fisting quickly emerged, including the Catacombs, Handball Express,{{cite book |last=Rofes |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Rofes |url=http://www.ericrofes.com/pdf/70s_Walking_Tour.pdf |title=A Walking Tour of South of Market in the 1970s |date=2005 |location=San Francisco |pages=16–17 |chapter=The Handball Express, 975 Harrison Street |access-date=November 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031170033/http://www.ericrofes.com/pdf/70s_Walking_Tour.pdf |archive-date=October 31, 2014 |url-status=dead}} and Red Hanky Express.{{Cite web |title=Avatar Club Los Angeles records |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8t15b61/dsc/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Online Archive of California}}

File:San Francisco Catacombs.jpg, a gay and lesbian fisting club, from the Leather Archives & Museum's collection]]By 1980, associations had formed in major cities around the world for fisters to meet, play, and socialize with like-minded men,{{Cite journal |date=1992 |title=Red Hankie Socials |url=https://leatherarchives.org/ca/index.php/Detail/occurrences/1083 |journal=Trust: Handballing Newsletter |location=San Francisco, California |publisher=Alamo Square Press |issue=17 |quote=Red Hankie Socials were fisting community bar nights advertised by the publishers of Trust. As of 1992, Trust listed Red Hankie Socials in Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York, Provincetown, San Diego, San Francisco and Vancouver, BC. Red Hankie Socials were organized by FFA in Fort Lauderdale and Washington DC, and by MAFIA in Chicago. |via=Leather Archives & Museum}} including "Fist Fuckers of America" (FFA), {{Cite web |title=M.A.F.I.A. News [Mid-America Fists in Action], 1997 |url=https://archives.lib.ku.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/88265 |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=University of Kansas - Kenneth Spencer Research Library Archival Collections |series=Steve Wheeler papers - File — Box: 8, Folder: 10}} "Total Ass Involvement League" (TAIL),{{Cite book |last=Holland |first=Erik |title=The Nature of Homosexuality: Vindication for Homosexual Activists and the Religious Right |date=2004 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-595-30508-7 |location=New York |page=33}} and "Mid America Fists In Action" (MAFIA). Founded in the late 1960s, FFA established chapters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, and Washington, D.C.{{Cite web |title=Fist Fuckers of America |url=https://leatherarchives.org/ca/index.php/Detail/entities/2822 |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Leather Archives & Museum |quote=}}{{Cite web |last=Cheshes |first=Jay |date=1999-05-27 |title=Sexual Roulette |url=https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/sexual-roulette-6331044 |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=New Times Broward-Palm Beach |language=en}} FFA registered as a non-profit under the pseudonym "Fall Festival Association."{{Cite web |title=Guide to the Mariposa Education and Research Foundation records, ca. 1951-1987. |url=https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM07300.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Cornell University |series=Collection Number: 7300}} TAIL was founded in the early 1970s and included members in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=GLBT Historical Society Archives - Periodicals |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b53b13285ede173115cb784/t/5c5a2322b208fc626186868c/1549411112694/GLBTHS+Complete+Periodicals+List.pdf |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=GLBT Historical Society |format=PDF}}{{Cite web |title=TAIL Newsletter |url=https://arquivescollections.andornot.net/link/catalogue15857 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=The ArQuives}} MAFIA was founded in Chicago in 1978 and remains active as of 2025.{{Cite journal |last=Ash |first=Donovan F. |date=1983 |title=M.A.F.I.A. Celebrates 5th Anniversary |url=https://www.houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Club%20Scene-Los%20Angeles%20794-Niebur/ClubScene12-83.compressed.pdf |journal=Club Scene |location=Houston, Texas |publisher=Alan Lipkin & Dan McIver |issue=12 |pages=9–10 |via=Houston LGBT History}}{{Cite web |last=Rhodes |first=Dave |date=1988-09-30 |title=1988 |url=https://www.theleatherjournal.com/news/1988 |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=The Leather Journal |language=en-gb}}

Fisting parties became a major social activity for "dedicated handballers," some of whom attended as many as three each month. Parties tended to be held at gay bathhouses with carefully controlled guest lists ranging from eight to eighty people. In 1975, approximately 300 men gathered for a two-day fisting convention and contest organized by FFA in Ossining, New York. In addition to arranging sex parties, associations organized social events including dinners, games, cook-outs and bar meet-ups.{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Rick |date=2003-06-11 |title=Tales from the Sexual Underground |url=https://windycitytimes.com/2003/06/11/tales-from-the-sexual-underground-8/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Windy City Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Fist Fuckers of America Miami |url=https://leatherarchives.org/ca/index.php/Detail/entities/10776 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Leather Archives & Museum}}

Crisco was commonly used as a fisting lubricant since it was inexpensive and widely available, as depicted in pornographic films such as Erotic Hands (1974).{{Cite web |title=Erotic Hands |url=https://bijougayporn.com/tour/dvds.php?id=24 |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Bijou Video |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=People v. Arno (1979) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/90/505.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Justia Law |language=en}} As a result, "Crisco" became a euphemism for fisting in gay slang.{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Harron |date=2020-01-30 |title=The Fisting Emoji Has Arrived |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/new-fisting-pinched-fingers-emoji-2020/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}

The onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s claimed the lives of countless fisters, many of whom were particularly vulnerable due to the common pairing of fisting with unprotected anal sex and drugs. In response to the AIDS crisis, safe sex advocates launched public health campaigns to promote the use of gloves.{{cite journal |last1=Slagstad |first1=Ketil |date=8 July 2023 |title=Visualizing BDSM and AIDS Activism: Archiving Pleasures, Sanitizing History |journal=Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=270–303 |doi=10.1093/jhmas/jrad012 |pmc=10329774 |pmid=37011106}}{{Cite web |title=There's more to safer sex than condoms: always love with a glove |url=https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101451336-img |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=United States National Library of Medicine |series=NLM 101451336}}{{Cite web |title=There's more to safer sex than condoms: always love with a glove |url=https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101451330-img |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=United States National Library of Medicine |series=NLM 101451330}}{{Cite web |title=Auf geht's |url=https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101451317-img |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=United States National Library of Medicine |series=NLM 101451317}} Meanwhile, cities such as San Francisco{{Cite news |last= |date=1984-10-10 |title=14 San Francisco Sex Clubs Told to Close to Curb AIDS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/10/us/14-san-francisco-sex-clubs-told-to-close-to-curb-aids.html |access-date=2024-01-20 |work=The New York Times |page=8 }} and New York{{Cite news |last=Carroll |first=Maurice |date=1985-10-26 |title=State Permits Closing of Bathhouses to Cut AIDS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/26/nyregion/state-permits-closing-of-bathhouses-to-cut-aids.html |access-date=2024-01-20 |work=The New York Times |page=1 }} forcibly closed gay establishments that—accurately or not—were believed to permit unsafe sex,{{Cite web |last=Hank |first=Trout |date=2021-12-22 |title=The bathhouse battle of 1984 |url=https://www.sfaf.org/collections/beta/the-bathhouse-battle-of-1984/ |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=San Francisco AIDS Foundation |language=en-US}} including fisting.{{cite journal |last1=Barcelos |first1=Chris A. |title=Adventures in fisting |journal=Sex Education |date=4 May 2023 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=279–286 |doi=10.1080/14681811.2022.2061441 }} Consequently, many popular venues for fisting permanently closed.Gayle S. Rubin, "Elegy for the Valley of Kings: AIDS and the Leather Community in San Francisco, 1981-1996", in In Changing Times: Gay Men and Lesbians Encounter HIV/AIDS, ed. John H. Gagnon, Peter M. Nardi, and Martin P. Levine, University of Chicago Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0226278573}}, pp. 101-144. Although closures were supported by some members of the gay community, many regarded the closures as a product of anti-gay hysteria as well as anti-sex attitudes and disapproval of gay sexual activity in particular. The gay press, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and San Francisco Human Rights Commission criticized the closures as counterproductive and a violation of civil liberties.

Fisting's visibility and popularity has grown in the twenty-first century,{{Cite web |date=2023-07-24 |title=Exploring The Pleasures Of Fisting: A Guide To Safe And Enjoyable Fisting Sexual Experiences |url=https://www.allohealth.care/healthfeed/sex-education/fisting-sexual |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Allo Health |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last1=Hayes |first1=Kaitlyn |last2=Beresford |first2=Meka |date=2016-06-23 |title=UK sex trends: "Fisting is the new black" |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2016/06/23/uk-sex-trends-fisting-is-the-new-black/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=PinkNews |language=en-US}} likely due in large part to the internet and greater HIV prevention and treatment options.{{Cite web |last=Cheves |first=Alexander |date=2019-07-10 |title=4 Perspectives On How The Internet Has Changed Kink |url=https://www.them.us/story/how-the-internet-has-changed-kink-bdsm-leather |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Them |language=en-US}} Fisting pornography is now widely available online and fisters can easily meet via social media platforms, some of which are tailored for fisting (e.g. Recon).{{Cite web |last=Dickson |first=E. J. |date=2014-10-21 |title=Is fisting the Internet's last taboo sex act? |url=https://cashmeremag.com/fisting-taboo-law-75692/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Cashmere Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Cox |first=Joseph |date=2016-05-10 |title=Another Day, Another Hack: Is Your Fisting Site Updating Its Forum Software? |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/qkjj4p/rosebuttboard-ip-board |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Vice |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cheves |first=Alexander |date=2016-12-13 |title=Don't Make Vanilla Guys Bark |url=https://www.advocate.com/love-and-sex/2016/12/13/dont-make-vanilla-guys-bark |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=The Advocate |language=en}} Gay bathhouses have made a comeback, with some once again hosting and advertising fisting parties.{{Cite web |date=2017-05-24 |title=IML 2017: International Mr. Leather in Chicago |url=https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/IML-2017-International-Mr-Leather-in-Chicago/59220.html |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=Windy City Times}}

Trust between partners is generally imperative to ensure physical and psychological safety and enjoyment. A common technique, particularly for beginners, is to extend four fingers straight with thumb tucked beneath. Some refer to this technique as the "silent duck." In more vigorous forms of fisting, often referred to as "punching" or "punch fisting", the hand is partly or fully clenched into a fist before, during, and/or after insertion.{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Megan |date=2023-04-27 |title=The ultimate guide to fisting |url=https://mashable.com/article/fisting-vaginal-anal-how-to |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Mashable |language=en}}File:Silentduck.jpgOftentimes, hands are inserted up to the wrist. Some experienced fisters enjoy deeper penetration, referred to as "depth play", in which hands may be inserted as far as (or past) the elbow. Taking two hands at once is referred to as "double fisting". In the case of double fisting, pleasure may be derived more from the stretching of the anus or vagina than from the in-and-out movement of hands. In rare cases, experienced fisters are capable of taking three hands.{{Cite web |date=2020-09-22 |title=How Far Can You Go |url=https://www.fistrik.com/fistrik/all-about-fisting/how-far-can-you-go/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=Fistrik |language=en-US}}

Lubricants designed specifically for fisting or with fisting as an intended use are widely available in some countries.{{Cite web |last=Cheves |first=Alexander |date=2018-05-09 |title=25 Tips for Your First Fist |url=https://www.advocate.com/sexy-beast/2018/5/09/25-tips-your-first-fist |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=The Advocate |language=en}} Fisters commonly use sex toys to loosen the anus or vagina before or during a fisting session.{{Cite web |last=Wolf |first=Dolan |date=2018-07-19 |title=Expert advice: 8 steps for first-time fisters |url=https://www.sfaf.org/collections/beta/expert-advice-8-steps-for-first-time-fisters/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=San Francisco AIDS Foundation |language=en-US}} Sometimes a penetrative partner may insert their penis or a sex toy at the same time as their hand(s), to masturbate inside the receptive partner's rectum or vagina.

Douching is common before anal fisting both for aesthetic purposes and to reduce risk of fecal contamination.File:Self Fisting.jpg

According to The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English, "fisting" and "fist fuck" entered the American slang lexicon no later than 1969. Common fisting-related terms include:

• Fist; fist fuck (verb): "the practice of inserting the hand (and part of the arm) into a partner's anus (or vagina) for the sexual pleasure of all involved,"{{Cite book |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English |publisher=Routledge |year=2018 |isbn=9781351765206 |editor-last=Dalzell |editor-first=Tom |edition=2nd |location=New York}} commonly abbreviated as "FF" or "FFun."{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Jarred H. |title=No Cock Needed: Exploring the Hapto-Erotic Assemblage of Fist-Play in Gay Men's Anal Fisting |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |date=9 November 2024 |volume=71 |issue=13 |pages=2974–2996 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2023.2275299 |pmid=37921700 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2263/95060}}
• Handball: synonym for fisting{{Ref|handball|A}}
• Fister; fist-fucker: a practitioner of fisting; or, depending on context, a penetrative partner ("top") in a fisting session involving two or more people.
• Fistee: a receptive partner ("bottom") in a session involving two or more people.
• Punch; punch fist (verb): fisting in which the hand is partly or fully clenched into a fist before, during, and/or after insertion.
• Double; double fist (verb): fisting in which two hands are inserted simultaneously.
• Rosebud; prolapse: when rectal walls prolapse to such degree that they protrude out of the anus. Can be induced by fisting or other ass play (named due to resemblance to a rose flower).{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-01-19 |title=Rectal Prolapse: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment |url=https://bespokesurgical.com/2022/01/19/rectal-prolapse/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Bespoke Surgical |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Tolley |first=Michael Jess |date=2020 |title=Absurd Vessel |url=https://core.ac.uk/reader/322920500 |journal=Georgia State University |pages=35 |via=ScholarWorks}}{{Cite web |date=2019-08-20 |title=Anal Prolapse? Such A Thing Exists And Gay Fisting Causes It |url=https://redixx.com/anal-prolapse-such-a-thing-exists-and-gay-fisting-causes-it/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Redixx |language=en-US}}
• Bloom (verb): the act of inducing a rosebud or prolapse.

In medical contexts, fisting is sometimes referred to brachioproctic eroticism{{cite journal |last1=Lowry |first1=Thomas P. |last2=Williams |first2=Gregory R. |date=June 1983 |title=Brachioproctic Eroticism |journal=Journal of Sex Education and Therapy |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=50–52 |doi=10.1080/01614576.1983.11074765}} or brachioproctic/brachiovaginal insertion.{{cite journal |last1=Cappelletti |first1=Simone |last2=Aromatario |first2=Mariarosaria |last3=Bottoni |first3=Edoardo |last4=Fiore |first4=Paola Antonella |last5=Fineschi |first5=Vittorio |last6=di Luca |first6=Natale Mario |last7=Ciallella |first7=Costantino |date=November 2016 |title=Variability in findings of anogenital injury in consensual and non-consensual fisting intercourse: A systematic review |journal=Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine |volume=44 |pages=58–62 |doi=10.1016/j.jflm.2016.08.013 |pmid=27614327}}

{{Note|handball|A}}"Fisting" and "handballing" are often used interchangeably, but some consider the former term to be crude or violent and perceive the latter as more closely associated with "intimate love-making and spiritual communion."File:Red rose with black background.jpg

Safe enjoyment of fisting requires an understanding of potential risks and techniques for mitigating them. Fisting carries a risk of transmitting sexually transmitted infections. When practiced improperly, fisting can cause serious injuries, including perforation of the vagina, perineum, rectum, or colon, that in rare cases can result in death.{{cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=C. E. |last2=Giles |first2=A. |last3=Nelson |first3=M. |date=2004 |title=Sexual trauma associated with fisting and recreational drugs |journal=Sexually Transmitted Infections |volume=80 |issue=6 |pages=469–470 |doi=10.1136/sti.2004.011171 |pmc=1744939 |pmid=15572616}}{{cite journal |last1=Preuß |first1=Johanna |last2=Strehler |first2=Marco |last3=Dettmeyer |first3=Reinhard |last4=Madea |first4=Burkhard |title=Tod nach analem 'fisting' |trans-title=Death after anal 'fisting' |language=de |journal=Archiv fur Kriminologie |date=January 2008 |volume=221 |issue=1–2 |pages=28–35 |pmid=18389861 }}{{cite journal |last1=Torre |first1=Carlo |title=Delayed Death from 'Fisting' |journal=The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology |date=March 1987 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=91 |doi=10.1097/00000433-198703000-00026 |pmid=3578218 }}{{cite journal |last1=Fain |first1=Dawn B. |last2=McCormick |first2=George M. |title=Vaginal 'Fisting' as a Cause of Death |journal=The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology |date=March 1989 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=73–75 |doi=10.1097/00000433-198903000-00019 |pmid=2929548 }}{{cite journal |last1=Reay |first1=Donald T. |last2=Eisele |first2=John W. |title=Sexual abuse and death of an elderly lady by 'fisting' |journal=The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology |date=December 1983 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=347–350 |doi=10.1097/00000433-198312000-00013 |pmid=6666762 }} Sexual activities that force air into the vagina can lead to a fatal air embolism, predominantly during pregnancy.{{cite journal |last1=Kaiser |first1=Rachel T. |title=Air Embolism Death of a Pregnant Woman Secondary to Orogenital Sex |journal=Academic Emergency Medicine |date=November 1994 |volume=1 |issue=6 |pages=555–558 |doi=10.1111/j.1553-2712.1994.tb02552.x |pmid=7600403 |doi-access=free }}

A 2021 study found that men who practiced anal fisting were more likely to experience fecal incontinence than men who engaged in other forms of anal sex, but more research is required to establish a causal link and determine whether this is temporary or long-term.{{Cite web |last=Baxter |first=Rachel |date=2022 |title=Factors Associated With Fecal Incontinence After Receptive Anal Intercourse in Men Who Have Sex With Men |url=https://www.smsna.org/patients/blog/factors-associated-with-fecal-incontinence-after-receptive-anal-intercourse-in-men-who-have-sex-with-men |access-date=2023-09-25 |website=SMSNA |language=en-us}}{{cite journal |last1=Garros |first1=Aurélien |last2=Bourrely |first2=Michel |last3=Sagaon-Teyssier |first3=Luis |last4=Sow |first4=Abdourahmane |last5=Lydie |first5=Nathalie |last6=Duchesne |first6=Lucie |last7=Higuero |first7=Thierry |last8=Damon |first8=Henri |last9=Velter |first9=Annie |last10=Abramowitz |first10=Laurent |title=Risk of Fecal Incontinence Following Receptive Anal Intercourse: Survey of 21,762 Men Who Have Sex with Men |journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine |date=1 November 2021 |volume=18 |issue=11 |pages=1880–1890 |doi=10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.07.014 |pmid=34645594 }}{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Avital Bar |last2=Kalichman |first2=Leonid |title=Pelvic Floor Disorders Due to Anal Sexual Activity in Men and Women: A Narrative Review |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |date=November 2024 |volume=53 |issue=10 |pages=4089–4098 |doi=10.1007/s10508-024-02995-2 |pmc=11588838 |pmid=39287780 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Sarah |date=2022 |title=Is It Safe to Have Anal Sex? |url=https://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/sexual-health/anal-sex-safe |access-date=2023-09-25 |website=GoodRx |language=en}}

A 2022 study found that "clinical and forensic research has over-inflated the ‘dangers’ of fisting without an understanding of contexts in which fisting takes place." It also found that anal and vaginal fisting present "low to no risk" of sexually transmitted infections. Gloves, lubricant, and fingernail trimming can help reduce risk.{{cite book|last=van Dyk|first=Alta C.|title=HIVAIDS Care & Counselling|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZQ9LqUHDWYC&pg=PA156|access-date=March 4, 2014|edition=4|year=2008|publisher=Pearson South Africa|isbn=978-1-77025-171-7|page=156}}

References to fisting can be found in art, music, cinema and other forms of popular culture. Examples include:

• The San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, opened in 2017, honors Steve McEachern (owner of the Catacombs) and Bert Herrman (a fisting community leader, author, and publisher), among other members of the leather community.{{cite web |author=Cindy |date=July 17, 2017 |title=Reginold Alley's Leather Memoir |url=http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/ringold-alleys-leather-memoir.html |access-date=July 7, 2018 |website=Public Art and Architecture from Around the World |publisher=Art and Architecture}}{{cite news |last=Paull |first=Laura |date=June 21, 2018 |title=Honoring gay leather culture with art installation in SoMa alleyway |url=https://www.jweekly.com/2018/06/21/honoring-gay-leather-culture-with-art-installation-in-soma-alleyway/ |access-date=June 23, 2018 |newspaper=J. The Jewish News of Northern California |publisher=}}
• Erotic photography by Robert Mapplethorpe, including "Double Fist Fuck" (1977),{{Cite web |title=Double Fist Fuck (2016.57.137) |url=https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109GDQ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=J. Paul Getty Museum |language=en}} "Fist Fuck / Full Body" (1978),{{Cite web |title=Fist Fuck / Full Body (M.2016.152.139) |url=https://collections.lacma.org/node/2233389 |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=LACMA Collections}} "Helmut Fist Fuck" (1978),{{Cite web |title=Helmut Fist Fuck (2016.57.140) |url=https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109GDT |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=J. Paul Getty Museum |language=en}} and “Helmut and Brooks, N.Y.C." (1978).{{cite web |date= |title=Helmut and Brooks, N.Y.C. (2011.9.41.10) |url=http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/254559/robert-mapplethorpe-helmut-and-brooks-nyc-american-1978/ |accessdate=2020-01-03 |publisher=Getty}}{{cite news |author=Jason Bennetto |date=1998-10-01 |title=Mapplethorpe images cleared |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mapplethorpe-images-cleared-1175348.html |accessdate=2020-01-03 |work=The Independent |publisher=}}
• Erotica by Tom of Finland,{{Cite web |last=Street |first=Mikelle |date=2021-01-04 |title=Your Favorite (Explicit) Tom of Finland Art Is Now a Set of Magnets |url=https://www.out.com/art/2021/1/04/your-favorite-explicit-tom-finland-art-now-set-magnets#toggle-gdpr |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Out |language=en-US}} Dom Orejudos,{{Cite web |title=Tom of Finland Foundation Galleries, Galleries of Artists: Etienne/Stephen |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/toff-gallery/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Tom of Finland Foundation |date=February 8, 2021 |language=en-US}} Bill Schmeling,{{Cite web |title=Poster of Leatherman/Biker in Chaps fisting a bound nude man with can of Crisco at feet #1/10 by The Hun [Bill Schmeling] - 1981 |url=https://biblio.com.au/book/poster-leatherman-biker-chaps-fisting-bound/d/1397088558 |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Biblio |language=en}} Chuck Arnett,{{cite book |doi=10.25549/one-c4-46786 |doi-access=free |date=2021 |title=Posters and graphic materials |chapter=Red Star Saloon S.F. |series=ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives |publisher=University of Southern California Digital Library (USC.DL) }}{{Cite web |title=Chuck Arnett collection |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c82z1cb6/entire_text/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=Online Archive of California |series=Collection Number: 1997-42}} Gengoroh Tagame,{{Cite web |last=Bayly |first=Zac |date=2024-08-22 |title=Gengoroh Tagame: Japanese Author of Brutal Sadomasochistic Comics Is Actually a Big Softy |url=https://buttmagazine.com/interviews/gengoroh-tagame/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Butt Magazine |series=Issue 33 |language=en}} John Klamik,{{Cite web |title=Syndicate Sex by Sean 1970 John Klamik Rare 1st Ed 32pgs Gay Comic Pictorial, Hudson Bookstore NYC M28288 |url=https://oxxbridgegalleries.com/products/syndicate-sex-by-sean-1970-john-klamik-rare-1st-ed-32pgs-gay-comic-pictorial-hudson-bookstore-nyc-m28288?variant=46874114457842 |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Oxxbridge Galleries |language=en}} and Drubskin{{Cite web |date=2021-06-17 |title=Artworks |url=https://www.drubskin.com/2023/,%20https://www.drubskin.com/2023/ |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=Drubskin |language=en-US }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Hanky Panky (2020) by Kent Monkman

File:Ringold Alley, San Francisco.jpg]]

• In Solar Anus (1999), Ron Athey challenged the feminization and sexual roles associated with male penetration by both giving and receiving penetration through self-fisting.{{cite journal |last1=Gallego |first1=Julia R. |date=2014 |title=The Dissector's Cut, the Wound and the Orifice: Seeing Ron Athey's performances through a cultural anatomy of the vagina |journal=Performance Research |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=74–84 |doi=10.1080/13528165.2014.947124 }}
• In Being Green (2009), Jess Dobkin was fisted while dressed as the hand puppet Kermit the Frog.{{Cite web |title=Being Green |url=https://www.jessdobkin.com/jd_work/being-green/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Jess Dobkin |language=en-US |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114222122/https://www.jessdobkin.com/jd_work/being-green/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=Dupuis |first=Chris |date=2021-09-16 |title=Jess Dobkin, a Performance Artist With a Unique Sense of Humor |url=http://hyperallergic.com/677439/jess-dobkin-a-performance-artist-with-a-unique-sense-of-humor/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Hyperallergic |language=en-US}}
• In 2013, Detroit-based artist Jerry Vile placed a 4-ft. tall can of Crisco in front of the fist-shaped Monument to Joe Louis for "helping to ease the pain of Detroit's bankruptcy."{{Cite web |date=2013-08-08 |title=Detroit's massive jar of Crisco up for sale on eBay |url=https://www.michiganradio.org/offbeat/2013-08-08/detroits-massive-jar-of-crisco-up-for-sale-on-ebay |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Michigan Public Media |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Olshansky |first=Clara |date=2013-07-31 |title=Artist Gives Detroit Crisco, "To Ease the Pain" |url=http://artfcity.com/2013/07/31/artist-gives-detroit-crisco-to-ease-the-pain/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Art F City |language=en-US}}

• The album cover for Slide... Easy In by Rod McKuen (1977) depicts gay porn star Bruno's fist clenching "Disco" shortening.{{Cite web |last=Frank |first=Gillian |date=2015-02-19 |title=Straight After Death: Misremembering the Queer Life and Times of Rod McKuen |url=https://notchesblog.com/2015/02/19/not-by-my-definition-remembering-rod-mckuens-queer-life-and-times/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=NOTCHES |language=en-GB}}1977 cover art for Slide Easy In by Rod McKuen, digitized and published on [http://glamjacknyc.blogspot.com/2015/01/ Blogspot.com] on January 29, 2015. Inscription on cover reads, in part: "If this album sounds different, it tried to be. The performers, producers, the players (whether part of the enormous rhythm section or the full symphony complement of strings) knew this was a project everyone had to get into; not just on the surface, but deeply—and together. If you don't feel "easy in" then perhaps your threshold of pain or pleasure needs looking into. [...] Photos of Bruno courtesy of Target Studios. Bruno Courtesy of The Bull Pen. Special thanks to Target." The inscription states "this was a project everyone had to get into; not just on the surface, but deeply—and together. If you don't feel "easy in" then perhaps your threshold of pain or pleasure needs looking into." (The European edition of the album featured a different cover because the original was considered "too outrageous."){{Cite web |last=Doyle |first=JD |title=Rod McKuen "Slide...Easy In" LP |url=https://www.queermusicheritage.com/oct2012mckuen.html |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Queer Music Heritage}}
• "Krisco Kisses" (1984) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood{{Cite web |last=Hilton |first=Danny |date=2014-03-28 |title=The 10 best songs about gay sex |url=https://www.queerty.com/the-10-best-songs-about-gay-sex-20140328 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Queerty}}
• "Stinkfist" (1996) by Tool
• Music video for "House of Air" (2017) by Brendan Maclean{{Cite web |last=Michelson |first=Noah |date=2017-02-10 |title=This Singer's 'Shocking' XXX Music Video Is A 'Royal F**K You' To The Trump Era |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brendan-maclean-house-of-air_n_589dc5d9e4b03df370d5811c |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Huffington Post |language=en}}

File:Monument to Joe Louis--.jpg, which made headlines in 2013 for what was widely considered a fisting joke]]

• Caligula (1979){{Cite news |last=Bray |first=Catherine |date=2023-05-19 |title='An irresistible mix of art and genitals': Caligula finally comes to Cannes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/19/an-irresistible-mix-of-art-and-genitals-caligula-finally-comes-to-cannes |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=The Guardian }}
• Cruising (1980){{Cite web |last=White |first=Rachel Rabbit |date=2019-04-18 |title=Sex Scenes: 'Cruising' Through 1970s Gay NYC |url=https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/gy4bd4/sex-scenes-cruising-through-1970s-gay-nyc |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Garage |language=en}}
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999){{Cite magazine |last=Hochman |first=David |date=1999-07-09 |title=Putting the 'R' in South Park |url=https://ew.com/article/1999/07/09/putting-r-south-park/ |access-date=2024-01-20 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Usher |first=Shaun |date=2009-09-30 |title=P.S. This is my favorite memo ever |url=https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/ps-this-is-my-favorite-memo-ever |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=Letters of Note |language=en}}
• Fifty Shades of Grey (2015){{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Joy Y. |date=2015-02-16 |title=Least sexy scene in 'Fifty Shades' is also the most progressive |url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/least-sexy-scene-fifty-shades-also-the-most-progressive-msna530936 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=MSNBC |language=en}}

• Drive (1974)
• Candy Strippers (1978)
• The Other Side of Aspen (1978)
• Erotic Hands (1980){{Cite web |title=Erotic Hands |url=https://gay.aebn.com/gay/movies/125210/erotic-hands |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=AEBN}}
• Tampa Tushy Fest, Part 1 (1999)

• In 1993, Julian Clary joked "I've just been fisting Norman Lamont 'round the corner" during a live broadcast of the British Comedy Awards viewed by 13 million people.{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Emma |date=2019-09-23 |title=Julian Clary doesn't regret that infamous Norman Lamont joke |url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/23/julian-clary-doesnt-regret-infamous-norman-lamont-gag-good-joke-10793365/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Metro |language=en}}
• In South Park season 5 episode 14 ("Butters' Very Own Episode," December 2001), Butters' father watches the film "Fisting Firemen 9" at a gay adult theater.{{Cite web |last=Vivona |first=Veronica |date=2017-06-24 |title=South Park: 15 Times Butters Didn't Know What Was Going On |url=https://screenrant.com/south-park-times-butters-had-no-idea-oblivious/ |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=Screen Rant |language=en}}
• Judges and contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race and its spin-offs are known to sometimes make fisting-related jokes.{{Cite web |last=Henderson |first=Eric |date=2018-03-23 |title=RuPaul's Drag Race Recap: Season 10, Episode 1, "10s Across the Board" |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/rupauls-drag-race-recap-season-10-episode-1-10s-across-the-board/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Slant Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Frank |first=Jason P. |date=2023-06-16 |title=RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Recap: Yes, And? |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/rupauls-drag-race-all-stars-recap-season-8-episode-7-forensic-queens.html |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Vulture |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |last=Nolfi |first=Joey |date=2017-06-01 |title=Watch 'Drag Race' Queens Crack RuPaul up During Shady Puppet Challenge |url=https://ew.com/tv/2017/06/01/rupaul-drag-race-shady-puppet-challenge/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en}}

• All trilogy (1969–1971) by Dirk Vanden{{Cite web |last=Gunn |first=Drewey Wayne |date=2014-11-06 |title=Remembering Dirk Vanden |url=https://lambdaliterary.org/2014/11/remembering-dirk-vanden/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=Lambda Literary |language=en}}
• The Fist Fucker's Manual (circa 1970) by Art Hamilton{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSgvGwAACAAJ |title=The Fist Fucker's Manual |date= |publisher=Art Hamilton |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Fisting Pedagogy |url=https://ouci.dntb.gov.ua/en/works/4NweEk6l/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=OUCI |language=en}}
• Faggots (1978) by Larry Kramer
• Maitreya (1978) by Severo Sarduy{{cite journal |last1=Riobó |first1=Carlos |title=Raiding the 'Anales' of the Empire: Sarduy's Subversions of the Latin American Boom |journal=Hispanic Review |date=2013 |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=331–352 |doi=10.1353/hir.2013.0029 |jstor=43279288 }}
• The Divine Androgyne According To Purusha (1981) by Peter Christopher Larkin{{Cite news |last=Saylor |first=Steven |date=1982-04-29 |orig-date= |title=A Search for Ecstasy |url=https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Sentinal/1982_SFS_Vol09_No12_Apr_29.pdf |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=The Sentinel |location=San Francisco |pages=11 |via=University of California, Berkeley |volume=9 |issue=12}}
• The Intelligent Man's Guide to Handball (The Sexual Sport) (1983) by R.A. Fournier{{Cite book |last=Fournier |first=R. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOdRywAACAAJ |title=The Intelligent Man's Guide to Handball (the Sexual Sport) |date=1983 |publisher=R.A. Fournier |location=New York |language=en}}
• Trust: The Handbook: A Guide to the Sensual and Spiritual Art of Handballing (1991) by Bert Herrman
• A Hand in the Bush: The Fine Art of Vaginal Fisting (1997) by Deborah Addington

• Crisco Disco, discotheque in New York City (1970s-1980s){{Cite web |last=Sawyer |first=Drew |editor-last=Fowles |editor-first=Sev |title=Crisco Or How To Do Queer Theory With Things |url=https://www.columbia.edu/~sf2220/TT2007/web-content/Pages/drew2.html |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Columbia University |series=Thing Theory (2007)}}
• Catacombs, sex club in San Francisco (1975 to 1981, reopened at another location from 1982 to 1984)
• Mineshaft, bar and sex club in New York City (1976–1985)
• Caldron, sex club in San Francisco (1980–1984)
• Crisco Club, gay bar and sex club in Florence, Italy (est. 1981){{Cite web |title=LGBTQ Florence |url=https://www.feelflorence.it/en/dalle-redazioni/lgbtq-florence |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Feel Florence - Municipality of Florence Official Tourism Website}}{{Cite web |title=Una Bella Storia |url=http://www.criscoclub.com/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Crisco Club - American Crisco Club Firenze}}
• La Fistinière, fisting guesthouse in Assigny, France (2007–2018)
• Le One Way, gay bar and sex club in Paris, France{{cite book |doi=10.25549/one-c4-46937 |doi-access=free |date=2021 |title=Posters and graphic materials |chapter=One Way |series=ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives |publisher=University of Southern California Digital Library (USC.DL) }}{{Cite web |title=One Way |url=https://www.parislgbt.com/en/listing/one-way/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Paris LGBT+ Guide |language=Fr}}

File:La Fistinière.jpg, a fisting club in France]]

• In 1980, Drummer reported that the Rodeo Riders (a Chicago-based leather club) "are making plans for their first annual "Mr. Fist Contest." They'll have you singing the praises of two-fisted love in no time!"{{Cite journal |date=1980 |title=REDOUBT |journal=Drummer |location=San Francisco |publisher=Alternate Publishing |volume=5 |issue=38 |pages=51}}
• In 2011, adult performers Jiz Lee and Courtney Trouble proclaimed October 21 as "International Fisting Day," which Lee described as "a day of international celebration and education" intended in part to combat censorship.
• In the handkerchief code, the color red signifies interest in fisting.{{cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=Andrew |last2=Saethre |first2=Eirik J. |title=The hankie code revisited: From function to fashion |journal=Critical Studies in Men's Fashion |date=October 2013 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=69–78 |doi=10.1386/csmf.1.1.69_1 }}

File:Red-Hanky-Handkerchief-Code.jpg, the color red signifies interest in fisting.]]

In some nations, fisting—particularly anal fisting—has historically been censored and criminalized due to its association with gay sex and characterization by critics as an obscene and deviant act.{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Jarred H |title=Exploring gender subversion and recuperation in anal fisting among gay men |journal=South African Journal of Psychology |date=September 2020 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=336–346 |doi=10.1177/0081246319888975 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2263/73713}}{{Cite journal |last=Van Meter |first=Eric |date=1978 |title=37 & Hot: Richard Locke Unlocked |journal=Drummer |issue=24 |pages=74 |via=Drummermen.com}}

In the United Kingdom, performing fisting{{cite news|author=Myles Jackman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/aug/08/extreme-porn-trial-simon-walsh |title=Extreme porn trial: consensual sex and the state |newspaper=The Guardian |date=August 8, 2012 |access-date=January 4, 2013 |location=London}} and fisting pornography are both legal.{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Matilda |date=2019-01-31 |title=Ban on fetish porn including BDSM overturned in England in landmark ruling |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/violent-porn-including-bdsm-no-longer-illegal-uk-long-performers-consenting-155930303.html |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-GB}} However, until 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) considered publication of fisting material to be grounds for prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act 1959{{cite web |title=Obscene publications: Legal Guidance |url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/obscene_publications/#a05 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215064811/http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/obscene_publications/#a05 |archive-date=2016-12-15 |access-date=April 20, 2023 |website=Crown Prosecution Service}}{{void|comment|Fabrickator|Evidently, fisting had been removed from the website by about 2019, claim may need to be reviewed and updated}} and Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, the latter of which prohibits so-called "extreme pornography."{{Cite web |title=Extreme Pornography |url=https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/extreme-pornography |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Crown Prosecution Service |archive-date=January 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118000008/https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/extreme-pornography |url-status=dead }} In 1998, the University of Central England was involved in a controversy when a library book by Robert Mapplethorpe was confiscated from a student by the police, who informed the university that two photographs in the book (including one involving fisting) would have to be removed. If the university agreed to the removal (which it did not) the book would be returned. The two photographs, which were deemed possibly prosecutable as obscenity, included “Helmut and Brooks, NYC, 1978”, which shows anal fisting.{{cite web |title=UCE pages on the Mapplethorpe controversy |url=http://www.uce.ac.uk/mapplethorpe/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990209055420/http://www.uce.ac.uk/mapplethorpe/ |archivedate=February 9, 1999 |accessdate=12 November 2002}} However, after a delay of about six months, the affair came to an end when Peter Knight, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, was informed that no legal action would be taken. The book was returned to the university library without removal of the photos.{{cite book |author=Ursula Smartt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qCLR5fyc7N0C&pg=PA277 |title=Media and Entertainment Law |date=19 April 2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-73641-4 |pages=277–}} In R v Peacock (2012), the jury found Michael Peacock not guilty of breaching the Obscene Publications Act for selling DVDs containing anal fisting.{{cite news |last1=Beaumont |first1=Peter |last2=Hodgson |first2=Nichi |date=2012-01-07 |title=Obscenity law in doubt after jury acquits distributor of gay pornography |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/jan/07/obscene-publications-act-future-doubt |access-date=2012-01-07 |newspaper=The Guardian}} That same year, a jury took less than 90 minutes{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Caroline |date=2012-08-08 |title=Former Boris Johnson aide cleared of possession of 'extreme pornography' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/aug/08/boris-johnson-aide-extreme-pornography-cleared |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=The Guardian }} to acquit Simon Walsh for possession of images of anal fisting that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) alleged constituted illegal, extreme pornography. In 2019, the CPS declared it would no longer prosecute pornography produced by consenting adults engaging in legal acts,{{Cite news |last=Waterson |first=Jim |date=2019-01-31 |title=Pornography of adult consensual sex no longer taboo, says CPS |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jan/31/pornography-of-adult-consensual-sex-no-longer-taboo-says-cps |access-date=2024-01-18 |work=The Guardian }} including fisting.

Fisting was historically subject to censorship in the United States. For example, in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Police Department forced director Wakefield Poole to remove depictions of fisting from his films as a precondition for airing them in the city.{{Cite journal |last=Fritscher |first=Jack |date=1978 |title=Dirty Poole |journal=Drummer |issue=27 |pages=15 |via=Drummermen.com}} Fisting was included on the Cambria List, meant to be a list of sex acts that carry risk of prosecution under U.S. obscenity law, created by Paul Cambria in 2001 to help producers avoid obscenity lawsuits. However, as of 2019, the Cambria List is generally regarded as obsolete within the American pornography industry.{{Cite web |last=Zorkin |first=Gene |date=2019-06-12 |title=Are Obscenity Prosecution Concerns Obsolete? |url=https://www.ynot.com/obscenity-prosecution-obsolete/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=YNOT |language=en-US}}

{{Portal|Human sexuality}}

• Anal sex
• Sex toy
• Sexual intercourse
• Sexual penetration

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last1=Addington |first1=Deborah |last2=Rothrock |first2=Megan |last3=McCutcheon |first3=Jill |title=A Hand in the Bush: The Fine Art of Vaginal Fisting |date=1997 |publisher=Greenery Press |isbn=978-1-890159-02-3 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=B |last2=Tindall |first2=B |last3=Cooper |first3=D |title=Brachioproctic eroticism and transmission of retrovirus associated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) |journal=Sexually Transmitted Infections |date=1 December 1986 |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=390–392 |doi=10.1136/sti.62.6.390 |pmid=3643880 |pmc=1012005 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Herrman |first1=Bert |title=Trust--the Hand Book: A Guide to the Sensual and Spiritual Art of Handballing |date=1991 |publisher=Alamo Square Press |isbn=978-0-9624751-5-3 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Inciardi |first1=James |last2=Surratt |first2=Hilary |last3=Telles |first3=Paulo R. |title=Sex, Drugs, And Hiv/aids In Brazil |date=2000 |publisher=Avalon Publishing |isbn=978-0-8133-3424-0 }}
• Medical terminology and some information on risks were taken from [http://www.winternet.com/~redright/aimgth.htm#anchorTOP The Intelligent Man's Guide To Handball], a guide to man-on-man fisting.

{{Refend}}

• {{commons category-inline}}

{{Human sexuality}}

{{Sexpositions}}

Category:Anal eroticism

Category:Sexual acts

Category:Vagina

Category:Anus

Category:Fetish subculture

Category:BDSM activities

Category:Fisting

Category:Fisting subculture