anal sex

{{See also|Prostate massage}}

Image:Male anatomy 1.png

The abundance of nerve endings in the anal region and rectum can make anal sex pleasurable for men and women. The internal and external sphincter muscles control the opening and closing of the anus; these muscles, which are sensitive membranes made up of many nerve endings, facilitate pleasure or pain during anal sex. Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia states that "the inner third of the anal canal is less sensitive to touch than the outer two-thirds, but is more sensitive to pressure" and that "the rectum is a curved tube about {{convert|8|or|9|in|cm|0|spell=in|disp=sqbr}} long and has the capacity, like the anus, to expand".

Research indicates that anal sex occurs significantly less frequently than other sexual behaviors, but its association with dominance and submission, as well as taboo, makes it an appealing stimulus to people of all sexual orientations.{{cite book|author=Joann S. DeLora|author2=Carol A. B. Warren|author3=Carol Rinkleib Ellison|title=Understanding Sexual Interaction|isbn=978-0-395-29724-7|publisher=Houghton Mifflin (Original from the University of Virginia)|orig-date=1981|year=2008|page=123|access-date=November 6, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lP4cAAAAYAAJ|quote=Many men find anal intercourse more exciting than penile-vaginal intercourse because the anal opening is usually smaller and tighter than the vagina. Probably the forbidden aspect of anal intercourse also makes it more exciting for some people.|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000722/https://books.google.com/books?id=lP4cAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Celia|last=Hunko|title=Anal sex: Let's get to the bottom of this|newspaper=The Daily of the University of Washington|date=February 6, 2009|access-date=March 11, 2017|url=https://www.dailyuw.com/news/anal-sex-lets-get-to-the-bottom-of-this/article_7fc8aaaa-0d87-55cb-9c49-49172db59f01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905125612/https://www.dailyuw.com/news/anal-sex-lets-get-to-the-bottom-of-this/article_7fc8aaaa-0d87-55cb-9c49-49172db59f01.html|archive-date=September 5, 2023|url-status=live}} In addition to sexual penetration by the penis, people may use sex toys such as a dildo, a butt plug or anal beads, engage in anal fingering, anilingus, pegging, anal masturbation, figging or fisting for anal sexual activity, and different sex positions may also be included.{{cite book|first = John C|last = Hawley|title = LGBTQ America Today: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1|publisher = Greenwood Press|year = 2008|page = 977|access-date = July 5, 2013|isbn = 978-0313339905|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MUIOAQAAMAAJ|archive-date = March 10, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000811/https://books.google.com/books?id=MUIOAQAAMAAJ|url-status = live}} Fisting is the least practiced of the activities,{{cn|date=February 2025}} partly because it is uncommon that people can relax enough to accommodate an object as big as a fist being inserted into the anus.

In a male receptive partner, being anally penetrated can produce a pleasurable sensation due to the object of insertion rubbing or brushing against the prostate through the anal wall. This can result in pleasurable sensations and can lead to an orgasm in some cases. Prostate stimulation can produce a deeper orgasm, sometimes described by men as more widespread and intense, longer-lasting, and allowing for greater feelings of ecstasy than orgasm elicited by penile stimulation only. The prostate is located next to the rectum and is the larger, more developed male homologue (variation) to the female Skene's glands.{{cite book|author=Gretchen M Lentz|author2=Rogerio A. Lobo|author3=David M Gershenson|author4=Vern L. Katz|title=Comprehensive Gynecology|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|year=2012|access-date=March 9, 2015|page=41|isbn=978-0323091312|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5KT_w6Nye8C&pg=PA41|archive-date=December 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210124759/https://books.google.com/books?id=X5KT_w6Nye8C&pg=PA41|url-status=live}} It is also typical for a man to not reach orgasm as a receptive partner solely from anal sex.{{cite book|author=Michael W. Ross|title=Psychopathology and Psychotherapy in Homosexuality|isbn=978-0866564991|publisher=Psychology Press|year=1988|pages=49–50|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWN2-QpbvY8C&pg=PA50|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000723/https://books.google.com/books?id=DWN2-QpbvY8C&pg=PA50|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Nathaniel McConaghy|title=Sexual Behavior: Problems and Management|isbn=978-0306441776|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=1993|page=186|access-date=March 25, 2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t31pR2FybjMC&pg=PA186|quote=In homosexual relations, most men do not reach orgasm in receptive anal intercourse, and a number report not reaching orgasm by any method in many of their sexual relationships, which they nevertheless enjoy.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506053119/https://books.google.com/books?id=t31pR2FybjMC&pg=PA186|archive-date=May 6, 2018}}

General statistics indicate that 70–80% of women require direct clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm.{{cite book|author=Joseph A. Flaherty|author2=John Marcell Davis|author3=Philip G. Janicak|title=Psychiatry: Diagnosis & therapy. A Lange clinical manual|isbn=978-0-8385-1267-8|publisher=Appleton & Lange (Original from Northwestern University)|date=1993|page=[https://archive.org/details/psychiatrydiagno00flah/page/217 217]|quote=The amount of time of sexual arousal needed to reach orgasm is variable — and usually much longer — in women than in men; thus, only 20–30% of women attain a coital climax. b. Many women (70–80%) require manual clitoral stimulation...|url=https://archive.org/details/psychiatrydiagno00flah/page/217}}{{cite journal | first1 = Dorothy | last1 = Kammerer-Doak | first2 = Rebecca G. | last2 = Rogers | title = Female Sexual Function and Dysfunction | journal = Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America | volume = 35 | issue = 2 | pages = 169–183 | doi = 10.1016/j.ogc.2008.03.006 |date=June 2008 | pmid = 18486835 | quote=Most women report the inability to achieve orgasm with vaginal intercourse and require direct clitoral stimulation ... About 20% have coital climaxes...}} The vaginal walls contain significantly fewer nerve endings than the clitoris (which has many nerve endings specifically intended for orgasm), and therefore intense sexual pleasure, including orgasm, from vaginal sexual stimulation is less likely to occur than from direct clitoral stimulation in the majority of women.{{cite book|author=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|title=Sex and Society, Volume 2|isbn=978-0-7614-7907-9|publisher=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|year=2009|page=590|access-date=August 17, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YtsxeWE7VD0C&pg=PA590|archive-date=April 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412102723/https://books.google.com/books?id=YtsxeWE7VD0C&pg=PA590|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|author=Wayne Weiten|author2=Dana S. Dunn|author3=Elizabeth Yost Hammer|title=Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century|isbn=9781111186630|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2011|page=386|access-date=January 5, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGu96TeAZo0C&pg=PT423|archive-date=June 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614031527/http://books.google.com/books?id=CGu96TeAZo0C&pg=PT423|url-status=live}} The clitoris is composed of more than the externally visible glans (head).{{cite book|last=Di Marino|first=Vincent|title=Anatomic Study of the Clitoris and the Bulbo-Clitoral Organ|publisher=Springer|year=2014|page=81|isbn=978-3319048949|access-date=September 4, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wKMpBAAAQBAJ|archive-date=September 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918185550/https://books.google.com/books?id=wKMpBAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} The vagina, for example, is flanked on each side by the clitoral crura, the internal legs of the clitoris, which are highly sensitive and become engorged with blood when sexually aroused.{{cite journal |vauthors=O'Connell HE, Sanjeevan KV, Hutson JM |s2cid=26109805 |title=Anatomy of the clitoris |journal=The Journal of Urology |volume=174 |issue=4 Pt 1 |pages=1189–95 |date=October 2005 |pmid=16145367 |doi=10.1097/01.ju.0000173639.38898.cd}}

• {{cite news |author=Sharon Mascall |date=June 11, 2006 |title=Time for rethink on the clitoris |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5013866.stm |access-date=April 22, 2010 |archive-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104231647/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5013866.stm |url-status=live }}{{cite journal | last1 = Yang | first1 = Claire J. | last2 = Cold | first2 = Christopher | last3 = Yilmaz | first3 = Ugur | last4=Kenneth | first4=R. Maravilla | title = Sexually responsive vascular tissue of the vulva | journal = BJUI | volume = 97 | issue = 4 | pages = 766–772 | date = April 2006 | pmid = 16536770| doi = 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2005.05961.x | s2cid = 31001005 | display-authors = 2 | doi-access = }}{{cite book | first1 = John P. | last1 = Mulhall | first2 = Luca | last2 = Incrocci | first3 = Irwin | last3 = Goldstein | first4 = Ray | last4 = Rosen | title = Cancer and Sexual Health | isbn = 978-1-60761-915-4 | publisher = Springer | year = 2011 | page = 783 | access-date = June 23, 2012 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GpIadil3YsQC&pg=PA13 | archive-date = December 16, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191216021705/https://books.google.com/books?id=GpIadil3YsQC&pg=PA13 | url-status = live }} Indirect stimulation of the clitoris through anal penetration may be caused by the shared sensory nerves, especially the pudendal nerve, which gives off the inferior anal nerves and divides into the perineal nerve and the dorsal nerve of the clitoris. Although the anus has many nerve endings, their purpose is not specifically for inducing orgasm, and so a woman achieving orgasm solely by anal stimulation is rare.{{cite book|author=Shira Tarrant|title=Politics: In the Streets and Between the Sheets in the 21st Century|isbn=978-1317814757|publisher=Routledge|year=2015|pages=247–248|access-date=March 11, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6nwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT247|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310001003/https://books.google.com/books?id=t6nwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT247|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Natasha Janina Valdez|title=Vitamin O: Why Orgasms Are Vital to a Woman's Health and Happiness, and How to Have Them Every Time!|isbn=978-1-61608-311-3|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing Inc.|year=2011|page=79|access-date=November 6, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5PsNKTB87isC&pg=PT79|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000932/https://books.google.com/books?id=5PsNKTB87isC&pg=PT79|url-status=live}}

Stimulation from anal sex can additionally be affected by popular perception or portrayals of the activity, such as erotica or pornography. In pornography, anal sex is commonly portrayed as a desirable, painless routine that does not require personal lubricant; this can result in couples performing anal sex without care, and men and women believing that it is unusual for women, as receptive partners, to find discomfort or pain instead of pleasure from the activity.See [https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRnPtmdRVwC&pg=PA560 page 560] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000401/https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRnPtmdRVwC&pg=PA560 |date=March 10, 2021 }} for effects of viewing pornography with regard to anal sex, and [https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRnPtmdRVwC&pg=PA286 pages 286–289] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000810/https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRnPtmdRVwC&pg=PA286 |date=March 10, 2021 }} for anal sex as a birth control method. {{cite book | title = Our Sexuality | publisher = Cengage Learning | year = 2010–2011 | pages = 570 pages | access-date = May 7, 2013 | isbn = 978-0495812944 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRnPtmdRVwC | author1 = Robert Crooks | author2 = Karla Baur | archive-date = March 10, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000903/https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRnPtmdRVwC | url-status = live }}{{Citation |last= Flood | first = Michael | author-link = Michael Flood | contribution = Young men using pornography | editor-last = Boyle | editor-first = Karen | editor-link = Karen Boyle | title = Everyday pornography | pages = 170–171 | publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 2010 | isbn = 9780415543781 | postscript = .}} [http://www.xyonline.net/sites/default/files/Flood,%20Young%20men%20using%20porn.pdf Pdf.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020075102/http://www.xyonline.net/sites/default/files/Flood%2C%20Young%20men%20using%20porn.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.xyonline.net/sites/default/files/Flood%2C%20Young%20men%20using%20porn.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |date=October 20, 2016 }} [https://books.google.com/books?id=8yznvRX-hfAC&pg=PA170 Preview.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000812/https://books.google.com/books?id=8yznvRX-hfAC&pg=PA170 |date=March 10, 2021 }}{{cite book | title = The Transformation of Sexuality: Gender And Identity In Contemporary Youth Culture | publisher = Ashgate Publishing | year = 2007 | pages = 56–58 | access-date = May 7, 2013 | isbn = 978-1409490784 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XPm3JEiunnsC&pg=PA56 | author = Thomas Johansson | archive-date = March 10, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000808/https://books.google.com/books?id=XPm3JEiunnsC&pg=PA56 | url-status = live }} By contrast, each person's sphincter muscles react to penetration differently, the anal sphincters have tissues that are more prone to tearing, and the anus and rectum, unlike the vagina, do not provide lubrication for sexual penetration. Researchers say adequate application of a personal lubricant, relaxation, and communication between sexual partners are crucial to avoid pain or damage to the anus or rectum.{{Cite journal|last1= Carballo-Diéguez|first1= Alex|last2= Stein|first2= Z.|year= 2000 |title=Frequent use of lubricants for anal sex among men who have sex with men|journal= American Journal of Public Health|volume= 90|issue= 7|pages= 1117–1121|doi=10.2105/AJPH.90.7.1117 |last3= Saez |first3= H. |last4= Dolezal |first4= C. |last5= Nieves-Rosa |first5= L. |last6= Diaz |first6= F.|pmid=10897191 |pmc=1446289}} Additionally, ensuring that the anal area is clean and the bowel is empty, for both aesthetics and practicality, may be desired by participants.{{cite book|first=Victoria|last=Zdrok|title=The Anatomy of Pleasure|publisher=Infinity Publishing|year=2004|pages=100–102|access-date=July 5, 2013|isbn=978-0741422484|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cx62zwSwbcsC&pg=PA100|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000809/https://books.google.com/books?id=Cx62zwSwbcsC&pg=PA100|url-status=live}}

File:Anal Intercourse Artwork.jpg by Paul Avril depicting male-to-female anal sex.]]

The anal sphincters are usually tighter than the pelvic muscles of the vagina, which can enhance the sexual pleasure for the inserting male during male-to-female anal intercourse because of the pressure applied to the penis.See [https://books.google.com/books?id=bG8XqRO6rRQC&pg=PA3 page 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310001121/https://books.google.com/books?id=bG8XqRO6rRQC&pg=PA3 |date=March 10, 2021 }} for women preferring anal sex to vaginal sex, and [https://books.google.com/books?id=bG8XqRO6rRQC&pg=PA15 page 15] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000904/https://books.google.com/books?id=bG8XqRO6rRQC&pg=PA15 |date=March 10, 2021 }} for reaching orgasm through indirect stimulation of the G-spot. {{cite book|author=Tristan Taormino|author-link=Tristan Taormino|title=The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women|isbn=978-1-57344-221-3|publisher=Cleis Press|year=1997|pages=282 pages|access-date=November 6, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hLv1ohTIiicC|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000836/https://books.google.com/books?id=hLv1ohTIiicC|url-status=live}} Men may also enjoy the penetrative role during anal sex because of its association with dominance, because it is made more alluring by a female partner or society in general insisting that it is forbidden, or because it presents an additional option for penetration.

While some women find being a receptive partner during anal intercourse painful or uncomfortable, or only engage in the act to please a male sexual partner, other women find the activity pleasurable or prefer it to vaginal intercourse.{{cite book | author = Adrian Howe | title = Sex, Violence and Crime: Foucault and the 'Man' Question | publisher = Routledge | year = 2008 | page = 35 | access-date = July 16, 2013 | isbn = 978-0203891278 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W6aoQfurvT4C&pg=PA35 | archive-date = April 9, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210409210256/https://books.google.com/books?id=W6aoQfurvT4C&pg=PA35 | url-status = live }}{{cite book | author = Sandra Alters | author2 = Wendy Schiff | title = Essential Concepts for Healthy Living | publisher = Jones & Bartlett Publishers | year = 2012 | page = 144 | access-date = July 16, 2013 | isbn = 978-1449630621 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VegUiVbruBMC | archive-date = April 20, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210420024847/https://books.google.com/books?id=VegUiVbruBMC | url-status = live }}

In a 2010 clinical review article of heterosexual anal sex, anal intercourse is used to specifically denote penile-anal penetration, and anal sex is used to denote any form of anal sexual activity. The review suggests that anal sex is exotic among the sexual practices of some heterosexuals and that "for a certain number of heterosexuals, anal intercourse is pleasurable, exciting, and perhaps considered more intimate than vaginal sex".

Anal intercourse is sometimes used as a substitute for vaginal intercourse during menstruation. The likelihood of pregnancy occurring during anal sex is greatly reduced, as anal sex alone cannot lead to pregnancy unless sperm is somehow transported to the vaginal opening. Because of this, some couples practice anal intercourse as a form of contraception, often in the absence of a condom.SIECUS Prevalence of Unprotected Anal Sex among Teens Requires New Education Strategies[https://web.archive.org/web/20171231103438/http://www.sexedlibrary.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Feature.showFeature&featureid=1036&pageid=682&parentid=478] Accessed January 26, 2010

Some couples may practice anal sex as a way of preserving female virginity because it is non-procreative and does not tear the hymen; this has been reported in Christian communities in the United States.{{Cite magazine |date=2017-02-06 |title=The Poophole Loophole: Exploring the paradox of having anal sex to preserve purity |url=https://therooster.com/articles/poophole-loophole-exploring-paradox-having-anal-sex-preserve-purity/|magazine=Rooster|location=Longmont, Colorado|quote=}}{{cite magazine|url=https://slate.com/culture/2021/07/brigham-young-university-virginity-club-byuvirgin-instagram-interview.html| magazine=Slate |date=21 July 2021 | last=Malone Kircher |first=Madeline |title=Is the Brigham Young University Virginity Club for Real? An Investigation|quote=But, then, a closer look at a post about the 'poophole loophole'—anal sex as a workaround for religious tenet—and you’re right back to laughing and thinking the account is just good performance art. }} A person, especially a teenage girl or woman, who engages in anal sex or other sexual activity with no history of having engaged in vaginal intercourse may be regarded as not having yet experienced virginity loss. This is sometimes called technical virginity.See [https://books.google.com/books?id=6qNCeI2AcY4C&pg=PT11 here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814105404/https://books.google.com/books?id=6qNCeI2AcY4C&pg=PT11 |date=August 14, 2020 }} and [https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC&pg=PA48 pages 48–49] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201074430/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC&pg=PA48 |date=December 1, 2016 }} for the majority of researchers and heterosexuals defining virginity loss/"technical virginity" by whether or not a person has engaged in vaginal sex. {{Cite book|author=Laura M. Carpenter|title=Virginity lost: an intimate portrait of first sexual experiences|publisher=NYU Press|year=2005|access-date=October 9, 2011|pages=295 pages|isbn=978-0-8147-1652-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC|archive-date=April 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428003620/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC|url-status=live}}{{Cite book |author1=Bryan Strong |author2=Christine DeVault |author3=Theodore F. Cohen |title=The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationship in a Changing Society |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2010 |access-date=October 8, 2011 |page=186 |isbn=978-0-534-62425-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjvoSOMB5JMC&pg=PA186 |quote=Most people agree that we maintain virginity as long as we refrain from sexual (vaginal) intercourse. But occasionally we hear people speak of 'technical virginity' [...] Data indicate that 'a very significant proportion of teens ha[ve] had experience with oral sex, even if they haven't had sexual intercourse, and may think of themselves as virgins' [...] Other research, especially research looking into virginity loss, reports that 35% of virgins, defined as people who have never engaged in vaginal intercourse, have nonetheless engaged in one or more other forms of heterosexual sexual activity (e.g., oral sex, anal sex, or mutual masturbation). |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724205226/https://books.google.com/books?id=qjvoSOMB5JMC&pg=PA186 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news|first=Sharon|last=Jayson|title='Technical virginity' becomes part of teens' equation|work=USA Today|date=October 19, 2005|access-date=August 7, 2009|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-10-19-teens-technical-virginity_x.htm|archive-date=April 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428054421/http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-10-19-teens-technical-virginity_x.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite book | author = Ken Plummer | title = Modern Homosexualities: Fragments of Lesbian and Gay Experiences | publisher = Routledge | year = 2002 | pages = 187–191 | access-date = August 24, 2013 | isbn = 1134922426 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OSO3q4XEfz4C&pg=PA189 | quote = The social construction of 'sex' as vaginal intercourse affects how other forms of sexual activity are evaluated as sexually satisfying or arousing; in some cases whether an activity is seen as a sexual act at all. For example, unless a woman has been penetrated by a man's penis she is still technically a virgin even if she has had lots of sexual experience. | archive-date = March 18, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150318215831/http://books.google.com/books?id=OSO3q4XEfz4C&pg=PA189 | url-status = live }}

Heterosexuals may view anal sex as "fooling around" or as foreplay; scholar Laura M. Carpenter stated that this view "dates to the late 1600s, with explicit 'rules' appearing around the turn of the twentieth century, as in marriage manuals defining petting as 'literally every caress known to married couples but does not include complete sexual intercourse.'" One study found US teens who pledged to not have sex until marriage were more likely to engage in anal sex without vaginal sex than teens who had not made a sexual abstinence pledge, and found pledge-takers were just as likely to test positive for an STI five years after taking the pledge as those who had not pledged to abstinence.{{Cite journal|title=After the promise: The STD consequences of adolescent virginity pledges|journal=Journal of Adolescent Health|publisher=Elsevier|url=https://www.jahonline.org/action/showPdf?pii=S1054-139X%2805%2900055-8|date=April 2005|volume=36|issue=4|first1=Hannah|last1=Brückner|first2=Peter|last2=Bearman|page=274,276|doi=10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.01.005 |pmid=15780782 }}

Because most research on anal intercourse addresses men who have sex with men, little data exists on the prevalence of anal intercourse among heterosexual couples.{{cite book |editor-first=Hardin L.K. |editor-last=Coleman |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Yeh|title =Handbook of School Counseling|isbn = 978-1135283599|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|page=247|access-date=December 10, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBiPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA247}} In Kimberly R. McBride's 2010 clinical review on heterosexual anal intercourse and other forms of anal sexual activity, it is suggested that changing norms may affect the frequency of heterosexual anal sex. McBride and her colleagues investigated the prevalence of non-intercourse anal sex behaviors among a sample of men (n=1,299) and women (n=1,919) compared to anal intercourse experience and found that 51% of men and 43% of women had participated in at least one act of oral–anal sex, manual–anal sex, or anal sex toy use. The report states the majority of men (n=631) and women (n=856) who reported heterosexual anal intercourse in the past 12 months were in exclusive, monogamous relationships: 69% and 73%, respectively. The review added that because "relatively little attention [is] given to anal intercourse and other anal sexual behaviors between heterosexual partners", this means that it is "quite rare" to have research "that specifically differentiates the anus as a sexual organ or addresses anal sexual function or dysfunction as legitimate topics. As a result, we do not know the extent to which anal intercourse differs qualitatively from coitus."

According to a 2010 study from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB) that was authored by Debby Herbenick et al., although anal intercourse is reported by fewer women than other partnered sex behaviors, partnered women in the age groups between 18 and 49 are significantly more likely to report having anal sex in the past 90 days. Women engaged in anal intercourse less commonly than men. Vaginal intercourse was practiced more than insertive anal intercourse among men, but 13% to 15% of men aged 25 to 49 practiced insertive anal intercourse.{{cite book|author=Janell L. Carroll|title=Discovery Series: Human Sexuality|edition=1st|publisher=Cengage Learning|pages=285–286|isbn=978-1111841898|year=2012|access-date=December 10, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gU3SZSh-eXsC&pg=PT316|archive-date=March 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305140952/https://books.google.com/books?id=gU3SZSh-eXsC&pg=PT316|url-status=live}}[http://www.nationalsexstudy.indiana.edu/ National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201060530/http://www.nationalsexstudy.indiana.edu/ |date=February 1, 2014 }} Findings from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Vol. 7, Supplement 5. 2010.

With regard to adolescents, limited data also exists. This may be because of the taboo nature of anal sex and that teenagers and caregivers subsequently avoid talking to one another about the topic. It is also common for subject review panels and schools to avoid the subject. A 2000 study found that 22.9% of college students who self-identified as non-virgins had anal sex. They used condoms during anal sex 20.9% of the time as compared with 42.9% of the time with vaginal intercourse.

Anal sex being more common among heterosexuals today than it was previously has been linked to the increase in consumption of anal pornography among men, especially among those who view it on a regular basis.{{cite book|title=Introducing the New Sexuality Studies|edition=2nd|author=Steven Seidman|author2=Nancy Fischer|author3=Chet Meeks|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|pages=108–112|isbn=978-1136818103|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rmjynItoEkC&pg=PA108|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505053108/https://books.google.com/books?id=2rmjynItoEkC&pg=PA108|url-status=live}} Seidman et al. argued that "cheap, accessible and, especially, interactive media have enabled many more people to produce as well as consume pornography", and that this modern way of producing pornography, in addition to the buttocks and anus having become more eroticized, has led to a significant interest in or obsession with anal sex among men.

File:Édouard-Henri Avril anal sex detail.jpg and Antinous (detail), by Paul Avril.]]

Anal sex has been commonly associated with male homosexuality. However, not all homosexual men engage in anal sex.{{cite journal |first1=Wendy |last1=Heywood |last2=Smith |first2=M. A. Anthony |year=2012 |title=Anal sex practices in heterosexual and male homosexual populations: a review of population-based data. |journal=Sexual Health |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=517–526 |doi=10.1071/SH12014|pmid=22951046 }} Oral sex and mutual masturbation are more common than anal stimulation among men in sexual relationships with other men.{{cite book|title=Gay Perspective: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God & the Universe|isbn=978-1-59021-015-4|publisher=Lethe Press|year=2008|page=139|access-date=February 12, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPyhsuVbUlAC&pg=PA139|author=Edwin Clark Johnson|author2=Toby Johnson|author2-link=Toby Johnson|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000652/https://books.google.com/books?id=LPyhsuVbUlAC&pg=PA139|url-status=live}}{{cite book |author =Linda Brannon|title =Gender: Psychological Perspectives, Sixth Edition|isbn =978-1317348139|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2015|page=484|access-date=December 10, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qd85CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT484}} Among men who have anal sex with other men, the insertive partner may be referred to as the top and the one being penetrated may be referred to as the bottom. Those who enjoy either role may be referred to as versatile.{{cite book|author=Steven Gregory Underwood|title=Gay Men and Anal Eroticism: Tops, Bottoms, and Versatiles|isbn=978-1-56023-375-6|publisher=Harrington Park Press|year=2003|pages=4–225|access-date=February 12, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4wRl0_8NuUC&pg=PA4|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000601/https://books.google.com/books?id=i4wRl0_8NuUC&pg=PA4|url-status=live}} Though some men who have sex with men may find that being a receptive partner during anal sex makes them question their masculinity,{{cite book|author1=John H. Harvey|author2=Amy Wenzel|author3=Susan Sprecher|title=The handbook of sexuality in close relationships|isbn=0805845488|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|pages=355–356|access-date=March 12, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsl4AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA355|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310001122/https://books.google.com/books?id=qsl4AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA355|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RhBGAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT104|title=Being a Man in a Transnational World: The Masculinity and Sexuality of Migration Routledge Advances in Feminist Studies and Intersectionality|isbn=978-1134601882|publisher=Routledge|last1=Vasquez del Aguila|first1=Ernesto|date=2013|pages=104–105|access-date=June 29, 2021|archive-date=June 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629015826/https://books.google.com/books?id=RhBGAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT104|url-status=live}} playing bottom in sexual intercourse is at least as common as playing top among western gay and bisexual men and, among committed male couples, anal intercourse is rated as providing the most satisfying orgasms.{{cite journal|title=Not All Orgasms Were Created Equal: Differences in Frequency and Satisfaction of Orgasm Experiences by Sexual Activity in Same-Sex Versus Mixed-Sex Relationships|year=2018|author1=Karen L. Blair|author2=Jaclyn Cappell|author3=Caroline F Pukall|volume=55|issue=6|journal=J Sex Res|pages=719–733 |doi=10.1080/00224499.2017.1303437|pmid=28362180 }}

Reports regarding the prevalence of anal sex among men who have sex with men vary. According to 2011 research from the Journal of Sexual Medicine, in the most recent sexual intercourse between homosexual men, the most common behavior was kissing the partner on the mouth, followed by oral sex, and mutual masturbation. Anal sex occurred in less than half of the sexual relationships between homosexual men.

A survey publish by The Advocate in 1994 indicated that 46% of homosexual men who have anal sex, preferred to penetrate their partners, while 43% preferred to be the receptive partner. Other sources suggest that roughly three-fourths of homosexual men have had anal sex at least one time, with an equal percentage participating as tops and bottoms. In a 2012 sex survey conducted by the NSSHB in the U.S., among homosexual men who have anal sex, 83.3% report ever having anal sex in the insertive position, and 90% in the receptive position.{{cite journal|title=Sexual Behaviors of U.S. Men by Self-Identified Sexual Orientation: Results From the 2012 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior|first=Brian |last=Dodge |display-authors=etal |year=2016|journal=J Sex Med|volume=13|issue=4 |pages=637–649|doi=10.1016/j.jsxm.2016.01.015 |pmid=26936073}}

According to Weiten et al., anal intercourse is more popular among homosexual male couples than among heterosexual couples, but "it ranks behind oral sex and mutual masturbation" among both sexual orientations in prevalence. Wellings et al. reported that "the equation of 'homosexual' with 'anal' sex among men is common among lay and health professionals alike" and that "yet an Internet survey of 180,000 MSM across Europe (EMIS, 2011) showed that oral sex was most commonly practised, followed by mutual masturbation, with anal intercourse in third place". Though anal sex is less common than oral sex and handjobs among committed male couples, they rate orgasms derived from anal intercourse as more satisfying than that of any other sexual practice.

File:Wiki-pegging.png about to engage in anal sex with a man (pegging)]]

Women may sexually stimulate a man's anus by fingering the exterior or interior areas of the anus; they may also stimulate the perineum (which, for males, is between the base of the scrotum and the anus), massage the prostate or engage in anilingus.{{cite book|first=Barbara|last=Keesling|title=Sexual Pleasure: Reaching New Heights of Sexual Arousal and Intimacy|publisher=Hunter House|year=2005|page=221|access-date=July 6, 2013|isbn=9780897934350|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EG2qGvbgneoC|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410043629/https://books.google.com/books?id=EG2qGvbgneoC|url-status=live}} Sex toys, such as a dildo, may also be used. The practice of a woman penetrating a man's anus with a strap-on dildo for sexual activity is called pegging.{{Cite book |last1=Beckett |first1=Cooper S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HZ5EAAAQBAJ |title=The Pegging Book: A Complete Guide to Anal Sex with a Strap-On Dildo |last2=Miller |first2=Lyndzi |date=October 14, 2022 |publisher=Thorntree Press LLC |isbn=978-1-952125-22-5 |language=en}}

Reece et al. reported in 2010 that receptive anal intercourse is infrequent among men overall, stating that "an estimated 7% of men 14 to 94 years old reported being a receptive partner during anal intercourse".{{cite book|author=Janell L. Carroll|title=Discovery Series: Human Sexuality|edition=1st|publisher=Cengage Learning|page=285|isbn=978-1111841898|year=2012|access-date=August 25, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gU3SZSh-eXsC&pg=PT317|archive-date=March 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324013314/https://books.google.com/books?id=gU3SZSh-eXsC&pg=PT317|url-status=live}}

The BMJ stated in 1999:{{Blockquote|There are little published data on how many heterosexual men would like their anus to be sexually stimulated in a heterosexual relationship. Anecdotally, it is a substantial number. What data we do have almost all relate to penetrative sexual acts, and the superficial contact of the anal ring with fingers or the tongue is even less well documented but may be assumed to be a common sexual activity for men of all sexual orientations.{{cite journal|first=Robin|last=Bell|title=ABC of sexual health: Homosexual men and women|publisher=National Institutes of Health/BMJ|pmc=1114912|pmid=9974466|volume=318|issue=7181|date=February 1999|journal=BMJ|pages=452–5|doi=10.1136/bmj.318.7181.452}}}}

Image:Wiki-analoral.png on another woman]]

With regard to lesbian sexual practices, anal sex includes anal fingering, use of a dildo or other sex toys, or anilingus.{{cite book |author=JoAnn Loulan|title=Lesbian Sex |isbn=0-933216-13-0 |publisher=The University of California |date=1984 |page=53 |access-date=February 3, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bS0EAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000428/https://books.google.com/books?id=bS0EAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}

There is less research on anal sexual activity among women who have sex with women compared to couples of other sexual orientations. In 1987, a non-scientific study (Munson) was conducted of more than 100 members of a lesbian social organization in Colorado. When asked what techniques they used in their last ten sexual encounters, lesbians in their 30s were twice as likely as other age groups to engage in anal stimulation (with a finger or dildo). A 2014 study of partnered lesbian women in Canada and the U.S. found that 7% engaged in anal stimulation or penetration at least once a week; about 10% did so monthly and 70% did not at all.{{cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=Jacqueline N. |last2=Byers |first2=E. Sandra |title=Beyond Lesbian Bed Death: Enhancing Our Understanding of the Sexuality of Sexual-Minority Women in Relationships |journal=Journal of Sex Research |date=2014 |volume=51 |issue=8 |pages=893–903 |doi=10.1080/00224499.2013.795924 |pmid=23924274|s2cid=205443248 |issn=0022-4499}}{{Non-primary source needed|date=February 2025}} Anilingus is also less often practiced among female same-sex couples.{{cite book |title=Sexually Transmitted Infections: Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers |year=2011 |pages=329–330 |access-date=November 4, 2012 |isbn=978-0495812944 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lO5BND02eBwC&pg=PA329 |author1=Jonathan Zenilman |author2=Mohsen Shahmanesh |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312224711/https://books.google.com/books?id=lO5BND02eBwC&pg=PA329 |url-status=live}}{{cite journal|author-link2=Janet Lever |vauthors=Diamant AL, Lever J, Schuster M |title=Lesbians' Sexual Activities and Efforts to Reduce Risks for Sexually Transmitted Diseases |journal=J Gay Lesbian Med Assoc |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=41–8 |date=Jun 2000 |doi=10.1023/A:1009513623365 |s2cid=140505473 }}

File:Gray1082.png]]

Anal sex can expose its participants to two principal dangers: infections due to the high number of infectious microorganisms not found elsewhere on the body, and physical damage to the anus and rectum due to their fragility. Unprotected penile-anal penetration, colloquially known as barebacking,{{Cite book |last1=Partridge |first1=Eric |year=2006 |title=The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: A-I |first2=Tom |last2=Dalzell |first3=Terry |last3=Victor |edition=reprint |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-25937-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YfsEgHLjboC |quote=Bareback – to engage in sex without a condom. |page=92 |access-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-date=May 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517031540/https://books.google.com/books?id=4YfsEgHLjboC |url-status=live}} carries a higher risk of passing on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) because the anal sphincter is a delicate, easily torn tissue that can provide an entry for pathogens. Use of condoms, ample lubrication to reduce the risk of tearing, and safer sex practices in general, reduce the risk of STIs.{{cite book| author = Donna D. Ignatavicius| author2 = M. Linda Workman| title = Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient-Centered Collaborative Care| publisher = Elsevier Health Sciences| year = 2013| page = 1655| access-date = April 30, 2015| isbn = 978-0323293440| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-rjwAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1655| archive-date = March 10, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000430/https://books.google.com/books?id=-rjwAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1655| url-status = live}} However, a condom can break or otherwise come off during anal sex, and this is more likely to happen with anal sex than with other sex acts because of the tightness of the anal sphincters during friction.

Unprotected receptive anal sex (with an HIV positive partner) is the sex act most likely to result in HIV transmission.

As with other sexual practices, people without sound knowledge about the sexual risks involved are susceptible to STIs. Because of the view that anal sex is not "real sex" and therefore does not result in virginity loss, or pregnancy, teenagers and other young people who are unaware of the risks of the anal sex may consider vaginal intercourse riskier than anal intercourse and also they may believe that an STI can only result from vaginal intercourse.{{cite book |first1=Bhushan |last1=Kumar |first2=Somesh |last2=Gupta |title=Sexually Transmitted Infections |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |year=2014 |page=123 |access-date=December 15, 2016 |isbn=978-8131229781|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=kQ9tAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123}}{{cite book |author=Katharine O'Connell White |title=Talking Sex With Your Kids: Keeping Them Safe and You Sane - By Knowing What They're Really Thinking |publisher=Adams Media |year=2010 |pages=85–86 |access-date=May 1, 2015 |isbn=978-1440506840 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SGSJfC8ku_4C&pg=PA85 |archive-date=April 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407194052/https://books.google.com/books?id=SGSJfC8ku_4C&pg=PA85 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |author=Twila Pearson |title=The Challenging Years: Shedding Light on Teen Sexuality |publisher=WestBow Press |year=2012 |page=63 |access-date=December 15, 2016 |isbn=978-1449773281 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AiedzzsCoz0C&pg=PT63}} It may be because of these views that condom use with anal sex is often reported to be low and inconsistent across all groups in various countries.

Although anal sex alone does not lead to pregnancy, pregnancy can still occur with anal sex or other forms of sexual activity if the penis is near the vagina (such as during intercrural sex or other genital-genital rubbing) and its sperm is deposited near the vagina's entrance and travels along the vagina's lubricating fluids; the risk of pregnancy can also occur without the penis being near the vagina because sperm may be transported to the vaginal opening by the vagina coming in contact with fingers or other non-genital body parts that have come in contact with semen.{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=R. Murray|title=Sex and the American Teenager: Seeing through the Myths and Confronting the Issues|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Education|location=Lanham, Md.|isbn=9781607090182|page=81|year=2009|access-date=May 21, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gM9EFgsJHyoC&pg=PA81|archive-date=November 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116155105/https://books.google.com/books?id=gM9EFgsJHyoC&pg=PA81|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Edlin|first=Gordon|title=Health & Wellness.|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning|isbn=9781449636470|page=213|year=2012|access-date=May 21, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=csGk6j5rlN0C&pg=PA213|archive-date=November 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116175037/https://books.google.com/books?id=csGk6j5rlN0C&pg=PA213|url-status=live}}

There are a variety of factors that make male-to-female anal intercourse riskier than vaginal intercourse for women, including the risk of HIV transmission being higher for anal intercourse than for vaginal intercourse.{{cite book|author = Dianne Hales|title = An Invitation to Health|publisher = Cengage Learning|year = 2014|page = 363|access-date = May 1, 2015|isbn = 978-1305142961|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2OTKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT382|archive-date = March 10, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000600/https://books.google.com/books?id=2OTKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT382|url-status = live}}{{cite journal | last1 = Leichliter | first1 =Jami S| year = 2008 | title = Heterosexual Anal Sex: Part of an Expanding Sexual Repertoire?| journal = Sexually Transmitted Diseases | volume = 35 | issue = 11 | pages = 910–911| doi = 10.1097/olq.0b013e31818af12f| pmid =18813143| s2cid =27348658| doi-access = free}} The risk of injury to the woman during anal intercourse is also significantly higher than the risk of injury to her during vaginal intercourse because of the durability of the vaginal tissues compared to the anal tissues.{{cite book |author=M. Sara Rosenthal| title = The Gynecological Sourcebook| publisher =McGraw Hill Professional|year = 2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/gynecologicalsou00msar/page/153 153]|access-date = August 28, 2013| isbn = 0071402799 |url = https://archive.org/details/gynecologicalsou00msar|url-access=registration}}{{cite book |author=Deborah Dortzbach |author2=W. Meredith Long| title = The AIDS Crisis: What We Can Do| publisher =InterVarsity Press|year = 2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/aidscrisiswhatwe0000dort/page/97 97]|access-date = August 28, 2013| isbn = 0830833722 |url = https://archive.org/details/aidscrisiswhatwe0000dort|url-access=registration }} Additionally, if a man moves from anal intercourse immediately to vaginal intercourse without a condom or without changing it, infections can arise in the vagina (or urinary tract) due to bacteria present within the anus; these infections can also result from switching between vaginal sex and anal sex by the use of fingers or sex toys.{{cite book|author = Nikol Hasler|title = An Uncensored Introduction|publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year = 2015|page = 91|access-date = May 1, 2015|isbn = 978-1936976843|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_Mp5CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91|archive-date = April 10, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210410055459/https://books.google.com/books?id=_Mp5CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91|url-status = live}}

Pain during receptive anal sex is formally known as anodyspareunia.[https://books.google.com/books?id=0sHWnt9WmRsC Handbook of affirmative psychotherapy with lesbians and gay men] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310001007/https://books.google.com/books?id=0sHWnt9WmRsC |date=March 10, 2021 }} By Kathleen Ritter, Anthony I. Terndrup; p350{{Cite journal |last1=Nercessian |first1=Tiga-Rose |last2=Banbury |first2=Samantha |last3=Chandler |first3=Chris |date=2023-10-03 |title=A Systematic Review Looking at Anodyspareunia Among Cisgender Men and Women |url=https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/8525/1/anos.pdf |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |language=en |volume=49 |issue=7 |pages=829–841 |doi=10.1080/0092623X.2023.2196265 |pmid=37089031 |issn=0092-623X |url-access=}} Factors predictive of pain during anal sex include inadequate lubrication, feeling tense or anxious, lack of stimulation, as well as lack of social ease with being gay and being closeted. Research has found that psychological factors can in fact be the primary contributors to the experience of pain during anal intercourse and that adequate communication between sexual partners can prevent it, countering the notion that pain is always inevitable during anal sex. The prevalence of anodyspareunia is difficult to measure; in two population studies of men receiving anal sex, 18% and 14% reported experiencing anodyspareunia. In a study of 2002 women, 8.7% of those who had engaged in anal sex reported experiencing severe pain.

Anal sex can exacerbate hemorrhoids and therefore result in bleeding; in other cases, the formation of a hemorrhoid is attributed to anal sex.{{cite book|author=Janet R. Weber|author2=Jane H. Kelley|title=Health Assessment in Nursing|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|isbn=978-1469832227|page=588|year=2013|access-date=May 1, 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuGdAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA588|archive-date=March 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324112614/https://books.google.com/books?id=XuGdAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA588|url-status=live}} If bleeding occurs as a result of anal sex, it may also be because of a tear in the anal or rectal tissues (an anal fissure) or perforation (a hole) in the colon, the latter of which being a serious medical issue that should be remedied by immediate medical attention. Because of the rectum's lack of elasticity, the anal mucous membrane being thin, and small blood vessels being present directly beneath the mucous membrane, tiny tears and bleeding in the rectum usually result from penetrative anal sex, though the bleeding is usually minor and therefore usually not visible.

By contrast to other anal sexual behaviors, anal fisting poses a more serious danger of damage due to the deliberate stretching of the anal and rectal tissues; anal fisting injuries include anal sphincter lacerations and rectal and sigmoid colon (rectosigmoid) perforation, which might result in death.{{cite book|author=John J. Miletich|author2=Tia Laura Lindstrom|title=An Introduction to the Work of a Medical Examiner: From Death Scene to Autopsy Suite|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0275995089|page=29|year=2010|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_l_9peGFRz0C&pg=PA29|archive-date=April 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428003636/https://books.google.com/books?id=_l_9peGFRz0C&pg=PA29|url-status=live}}

Repetitive penetrative anal sex may result in the anal sphincters becoming weakened, which may cause rectal prolapse or affect the ability to hold in feces (a condition known as fecal incontinence). Rectal prolapse is very uncommon, and its causes are not well understood.{{cite book|author=Donato F. Altomare|author2=Filippo Pucciani|title=Rectal Prolapse: Diagnosis and Clinical Management|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-8847006843|pages=12–14|year=2008|access-date=May 1, 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uv8PNLiIOmEC&pg=PA12|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000404/https://books.google.com/books?id=uv8PNLiIOmEC&pg=PA12|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Mark D. Walters|author2=Mickey M. Karram|title=Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-0323262576|page=501|year=2015|access-date=May 1, 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZu9BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA501|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000402/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZu9BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA501|url-status=live}} Kegel exercises have been used to strengthen the anal sphincters and overall pelvic floor, and may help prevent or remedy fecal incontinence.

Most cases of anal cancer are related to infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV). The risk of anal cancer through anal sex is attributed to HPV infection, which is often contracted through unprotected anal sex.*{{cite web |date=May 2, 2014 |title=Detailed Guide: Anal Cancer What Are the Key Statistics About Anal Cancer? |url=http://www.cancer.org/cancer/analcancer/detailedguide/anal-cancer-what-is-key-statistics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203184456/http://www.cancer.org/cancer/analcancer/detailedguide/anal-cancer-what-is-key-statistics |archive-date=December 3, 2016 |access-date=September 14, 2014 |publisher=American Cancer Society}}

• {{cite web |date=May 2, 2014 |title=What are the risk factors for anal cancer? |url=http://www.cancer.org/cancer/analcancer/detailedguide/anal-cancer-risk-factors |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123132121/http://www.cancer.org/cancer/analcancer/detailedguide/anal-cancer-risk-factors |archive-date=November 23, 2016 |access-date=September 14, 2014 |publisher=American Cancer Society}} Anal cancer is significantly less common than cancer of the colon or rectum (colorectal cancer); the American Cancer Society estimates that in 2023 there were approximately 9,760 new cases (6,580 in women and 3,180 in men) and approximately 1,870 deaths (860 women and 1,010 men) in the United States, and that, though anal cancer has been on the rise for many years, it is mainly diagnosed in adults, "with an average age being in the early 60s" and it "affects women somewhat more often than men."

File:Wiki anal sex.jpg Attic red-figure kylix]]

File:Suzuki Harunobu Shunga.jpg, A shunga print depicting an older and a younger man]]

Different cultures have had different views on anal sex throughout human history, with some cultures more positive about the activity than others.{{cite book|title=Psychology: Concepts and Applications|author=Jeffrey S. Nevid|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2008|page=417|isbn=978-0547148144|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LsVK0kSpzx8C&pg=PA417|quote=Some cultures are more permissive with respect to such sexual practices as oral sex, anal sex, and masturbation, whereas others are more restrictive.|archive-date=May 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503084813/https://books.google.com/books?id=LsVK0kSpzx8C&pg=PA417|url-status=live}} Historically, anal sex has been restricted or condemned, especially with regard to religious beliefs; it has also commonly been used as a form of domination, usually with the active partner (the one who is penetrating) representing masculinity and the passive partner (the one who is being penetrated) representing femininity. A number of cultures have especially recorded the practice of anal sex between males, and anal sex between males has been especially stigmatized or punished.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of AIDS: A Social, Political, Cultural and Scientific Record of the HIV Epidemic|author=Raymond A. Smith|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1998|pages=73–76|isbn=0203305493|access-date=December 23, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vuAWLtgnUm0C&pg=PA73|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000937/https://books.google.com/books?id=vuAWLtgnUm0C&pg=PA73|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures|author=George Haggerty|publisher=Routledge|year=2000–2013|pages=788–790|isbn=1135585067|access-date=December 23, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Be39AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA789|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000837/https://books.google.com/books?id=Be39AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA789|url-status=live}} In some societies, if discovered to have engaged in the practice, the individuals involved were put to death, such as by decapitation, burning, or even mutilation.

Anal sex has been more accepted in modern times; it is often considered a natural, pleasurable form of sexual expression. The buttocks and anus have become more eroticized in modern culture, including via pornography. Engaging in anal sex is still, however, punished in some societies.{{cite web |title=PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/010/2008. UA 17/08 Fear of imminent execution/ flogging |date=January 18, 2008 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=December 22, 2013 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/010/2008/en/ |archive-date=October 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025191259/http://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE13/010/2008/en/ |url-status=live }} For example, regarding LGBT rights in Iran, Iran's Penal Code states in Article 109 that "both men involved in same-sex penetrative (anal) or non-penetrative sex will be punished" and "Article 110 states that those convicted of engaging in anal sex will be executed and that the manner of execution is at the discretion of the judge".

{{See also|Homosexuality in ancient Greece|Homosexuality in ancient Rome|Sexuality in ancient Rome#Anal sex}}

From the earliest records, the ancient Sumerians had very relaxed attitudes toward sex{{cite book|last=Dening|first=Sarah|date=1996|chapter=Chapter 3: Sex in Ancient Civilizations|title=The Mythology of Sex|chapter-url=http://www.ishtartemple.org/myth.htm|location=London, England|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-02-861207-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mythologyofsexan0000deni}} and did not regard anal sex as taboo. {{lang|sux|Entu}} priestesses were forbidden from producing offspring{{citation|last=Leick|first=Gwendolyn|title=Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-134-92074-7|location=New York City, New York|page=219|orig-date=1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKoWblE4pd0C&pg=PA64|access-date=January 3, 2018|archive-date=April 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414055100/https://books.google.com/books?id=WKoWblE4pd0C&pg=PA64|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Nemet-Nejat|first=Karen Rhea|date=1998|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|location=Santa Barbara, California|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0313294976|page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/137 137]|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/137}} and frequently engaged in anal sex as a method of birth control. Anal sex is also obliquely alluded to by a description of an omen in which a man "keeps saying to his wife: 'Bring your backside.{{' "}} Other Sumerian texts refer to homosexual anal intercourse. The {{lang|sux|gala}}, a set of priests who worked in the temples of the goddess Inanna, where they performed elegies and lamentations, were especially known for their homosexual proclivities.{{cite book|last1=Roscoe|first1=Will|last2=Murray|first2=Stephen O.|date=1997|title=Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature|location=New York City, New York|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=0-8147-7467-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ&q=Gordon+1959+gala&pg=PA65|pages=65–66|access-date=October 24, 2020|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000906/https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ&q=Gordon+1959+gala&pg=PA65|url-status=live}} The Sumerian sign for {{lang|sux|gala}} was a ligature of the signs for 'penis' and 'anus'. One Sumerian proverb reads: "When the {{lang|sux|gala}} wiped off his ass [he said], 'I must not arouse that which belongs to my mistress [i.e., Inanna].'"

The term Greek love has long been used to refer to anal intercourse, and in modern times, "doing it the Greek way" is sometimes used as slang for anal sex.{{cite book|title=Jokes and Target|author=Christie Davies|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2011|pages=155–156|isbn=978-0253223029|access-date=December 23, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cKQt-nCJEOAC&pg=PA155|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000431/https://books.google.com/books?id=cKQt-nCJEOAC&pg=PA155|url-status=live}} Male-male anal sex was not a universally accepted practice in Ancient Greece; it was the target of jokes in some Athenian comedies.{{cite book|title =Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People|author=Joan Roughgarden|publisher=University of California Press|year=2004|pages=[https://archive.org/details/evolutionsrainbo00roug/page/367 367]–376|isbn=0520240731|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionsrainbo00roug|url-access =registration}} Aristophanes, for instance, mockingly alludes to the practice, claiming, "Most citizens are {{lang|grc|europroktoi}} ('wide-arsed') now."{{cite book|title=Andreia: Studies in Manliness and Courage in Classical Antiquity|author=Ralph Mark Rosen|author2=Ineke Sluiter|publisher=Brill|year=2003|page=115|isbn=9004119957|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ko1iAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310001004/https://books.google.com/books?id=ko1iAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} The terms {{lang|grc|kinaidos}}, {{lang|grc|europroktoi}}, and {{lang|grc|katapygon}} were used by Greek residents to categorize men who chronically{{cite journal|last1=Nussbaum|first1=Martha C.|title=Platonic Love and Colorado Law: The Relevance of Ancient Greek Norms to Modern Sexual Controversies|journal=Virginia Law Review|date=1994|volume=80|issue=7|pages=1562–3|doi=10.2307/1073514|jstor=1073514|quote=the kinaidos is clearly a person who chronically plays the passive role [...] More recently, I have been convinced by arguments of the late John J. Winkler that kinaidos usually connotes willingness to accept money for sex, as well as habitual passivity [...] In any case, there is no doubt that we are not dealing with an isolated act, but rather a type of person who habitually chooses activity that Callicles finds shameful. That, and no view about same-sex relations per se, is the basis of his criticism. In fact, Callicles is depicted as having a young boyfriend of his own. *The boyfriend is named Demos, also the name for the Athenian "people," to whom Callicles is also devoted. It is likely that the pun on the name is sexual: as Callicles seduces Demos, so also the demos. (It would be assumed that he would practice intercrural intercourse with this boyfriend, thus avoiding putting him in anything like the kinaidos shamed position}} practiced passive anal intercourse.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures Topics and Cultures A-K - Volume 1; Cultures L-Z -|author=Carol R. Ember|author2=Melvin Ember|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|year=2004|page=207|isbn=030647770X|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUAsskBg8ywC&pg=PA207|archive-date=May 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515091537/https://books.google.com/books?id=XUAsskBg8ywC&pg=PA207|url-status=live}} Pederastic practices in ancient Greece (sexual activity between men and adolescent boys), at least in Athens and Sparta, were expected to avoid penetrative sex of any kind. Greek artwork of sexual interaction between men and boys usually depicted fondling or intercrural sex, which was not condemned for violating or feminizing boys,{{cite book|title=Desire: A History of European Sexuality|author=Anna Clark|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|page=23|isbn=978-1135762919|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFaoI5RbVKQC&pg=PA23|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000910/https://books.google.com/books?id=fFaoI5RbVKQC&pg=PA23|url-status=live}} while male-male anal intercourse was usually depicted between males of the same age-group.{{cite book|last1=Dover|first1=Kenneth J.|title=Greek Homosexuality|url=https://archive.org/details/greekhomosexuali00dove_0|url-access=registration|date=1978|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674362616|page=[https://archive.org/details/greekhomosexuali00dove_0/page/99 99]}} Intercrural sex was not considered penetrative and two males engaging in it was considered a "clean" act. Some sources explicitly state that anal sex between men and boys was criticized as shameful and seen as a form of hubris.David Cohen, "Sexuality, Violence, and the Athenian Law of Hubris" Greece and Rome; V.38.2, pp 171-188 Evidence suggests, however, that the younger partner in pederastic relationships (i.e., the {{lang|grc|eromenos}}) did engage in receptive anal intercourse so long as no one accused him of being 'feminine'.{{cite book|last1=Dover|first1=Kenneth J.|title=Greek Homosexuality|url=https://archive.org/details/greekhomosexuali00dove_0|url-access=registration|date=1978|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674362616|page=[https://archive.org/details/greekhomosexuali00dove_0/page/107 107]}}

File:Coppa_warren,_5-15_dc.,_02.JPG males on the Warren Cup, British Museum]]

In later Roman-era Greek poetry, anal sex became a common literary convention, represented as taking place with "eligible" youths: those who had attained the proper age but had not yet become adults. Seducing those not of proper age (for example, non-adolescent children) into the practice was considered very shameful for the adult, and having such relations with a male who was no longer adolescent was considered more shameful for the young male than for the one mounting him. Greek courtesans, or hetaerae, are said to have frequently practiced male-female anal intercourse as a means of preventing pregnancy.{{cite journal | last1 = Miller | first1 = James E.|year = 1995 | title = The Practices of Romans 1:26: Homosexual or Heterosexual? | journal = Novum Testamentum | volume = 37 | issue = 1| page = 9 | quote = Heterosexual anal intercourse is best illustrated in Classical vase paintings of hetaerae with their clients, and some scholars interpret this as a form of contraception | doi=10.1163/1568536952613631}}

A male citizen taking the passive (or receptive) role in anal intercourse ({{lang|la|paedicatio}} in Latin){{cite journal |last=Pollini|first=John|title =The Warren Cup: Homoerotic Love and Symposial Rhetoric in Silver | journal = The Art Bulletin| volume = 81 | issue = 1 | pages = 21–52 |date=March 1999 | doi = 10.2307/3051285|jstor=3051285|quote="I have derived the word pedicate from the Latin paedicare or pedicare, meaning "to penetrate anally." Note 6.}} was condemned in Rome as an act of {{lang|la|impudicitia}} ('immodesty' or 'unchastity'); free men, however, could take the active role with a young male slave, known as a {{lang|la|catamite}} or {{lang|la|puer delicatus}}. The latter was allowed because anal intercourse was considered equivalent to vaginal intercourse in this way; men were said to "take it like a woman" ({{lang|la|muliebria pati}} 'to undergo womanly things') when they were anally penetrated, but when a man performed anal sex on a woman, she was thought of as playing the boy's role.{{cite book|title=Invading the Roman Body: Manliness and Impenetrability in Roman Thought. Roman Sexualities|author=Marilyn B. Skinner|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1997|pages=14–31|isbn=0-691-01178-8|access-date=February 22, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZPC3TqBZEQC&pg=PA14|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000603/https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZPC3TqBZEQC&pg=PA14|url-status=live}} Likewise, women were believed to only be capable of anal sex or other sex acts with women if they possessed an exceptionally large clitoris or a dildo. The passive partner in any of these cases was always considered a woman or a boy because being the one who penetrates was characterized as the only appropriate way for an adult male citizen to engage in sexual activity, and he was therefore considered unmanly if he was the one who was penetrated; slaves could be considered "non-citizen". Although Roman men often availed themselves of their own slaves or others for anal intercourse, Roman comedies and plays presented Greek settings and characters for explicit acts of anal intercourse, and this may be indicative that the Romans thought of anal sex as something specifically "Greek".{{cite book|title=Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents|author=Thomas K. Hubbard|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003|page=309|isbn=0520234308|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nE9RxOP4OE4C&pg=PA309|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000724/https://books.google.com/books?id=nE9RxOP4OE4C&pg=PA309|url-status=live}}

File:Larcomuseumanalsex.jpg Culture. 300 C.E. Larco Museum Collection.]]

In Japan, records (including detailed shunga) show that some males engaged in penetrative anal intercourse with males.{{cite book|title=Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan|author=Gary P. Leupp|publisher=University of California Press|year=1997|page=122|isbn=052091919X|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a6q-PqPDAmIC&pg=PA122|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000606/https://books.google.com/books?id=a6q-PqPDAmIC&pg=PA122|url-status=live}} Evidence suggestive of widespread male-female anal intercourse in a pre-modern culture can be found in the erotic vases, or stirrup-spout pots, made by the Moche people of Peru; in a survey, of a collection of these pots, it was found that 31 percent of them depicted male-female anal intercourse significantly more than any other sex act.{{cite book|title=Sex In History|author=Reay Tannahill|publisher=Abacus Books|year=1989|pages=297–298|isbn=0349104867|access-date=December 22, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7SUHAAACAAJ|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000605/https://books.google.com/books?id=z7SUHAAACAAJ|url-status=live}} Moche pottery of this type belonged to the world of the dead, which was believed to be a reversal of life. Therefore, the reverse of common practices was often portrayed. The Larco Museum houses an erotic gallery in which this pottery is showcased.{{cite web|url=http://www.museolarco.org/iep_er.shtml |title=Larco Museum - Lima Peru - Experience Ancient Peru - Permanent Exhibition |publisher=Museolarco.org |access-date=March 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304101359/http://www.museolarco.org/iep_er.shtml |archive-date=March 4, 2013 }}

File:Sodoma - Elluin.jpg, Sodomites provoking divine wrath, from Le pot-pourri (1781)]]

{{Further|Sodomy}}

{{See also|Buddhism and sexual orientation|LGBT topics and Hinduism}}

The Mishneh Torah, a text considered authoritative by Orthodox Jewish sects,Isidore Twersky, Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah), Yale Judaica Series, vol. XII (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1980). passim, and especially Chapter VII, "Epilogue", pp. 515–538. states "since a man's wife is permitted to him, he may act with her in any manner whatsoever. He may have intercourse with her whenever he so desires and kiss any organ of her body he wishes, and he may have intercourse with her naturally or unnaturally [traditionally, unnaturally refers to anal and oral sex], provided that he does not expend semen to no purpose. Nevertheless, it is an attribute of piety that a man should not act in this matter with levity and that he should sanctify himself at the time of intercourse."{{cite book |title=Mishneh Torah |first=Moshe |last=Maimonides |page=Laws Concerning Forbidden Relations 21:9}}

{{See also|Sodomy#Christianity}}

Christian texts may sometimes euphemistically refer to anal sex as the {{lang|la|peccatum contra naturam}} ('the sin against nature', after Thomas Aquinas) or {{lang|la|Sodomitica luxuria}} ('sodomitical lusts', in one of Charlemagne's ordinances), or {{lang|la|peccatum illud horribile, inter christianos non nominandum}} ('that horrible sin that among Christians is not to be named').{{cite book|title=Sexuality in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Times: New Approaches to a Fundamental Cultural-historical and Literary-anthropological Theme|author=Albrecht Classen|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2010|page=13|isbn=978-3110205749|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dX0LAQAAMAAJ|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000312/https://books.google.com/books?id=dX0LAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Homophobia: A History|author=Byrne Fone|publisher=Macmillan|year=2001|page=133|isbn=1466817070|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xB-z1WUCKOEC&pg=PA133|archive-date=March 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326174742/http://books.google.com/books?id=xB-z1WUCKOEC&pg=PA133|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Louis Crompton|title=Homosexuality and Civilization|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2009|page=529|isbn=978-0674030060|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TfBYd9xVaXcC&pg=PA529|archive-date=March 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326171737/http://books.google.com/books?id=TfBYd9xVaXcC&pg=PA529|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Islamic views on anal sex}}

File:An ottoman miniature from the book Sawaqub al-Manaquib depicting Homosexuality.jpg illustration depicting two young men having sex (from Sawaqub al-Manaquib)]]

{{transl|ar|Liwat}}, or the sin of Lot's people, which has come to be interpreted as referring generally to same-sex sexual activity, is commonly officially prohibited by Islamic sects; there are parts of the Quran which talk about smiting on Sodom and Gomorrah, and this is thought to be a reference to "unnatural" sex, and so there are hadith and Islamic laws which prohibit it.{{cite book|author=Mark M Leach|title=Cultural Diversity and Suicide: Ethnic, Religious, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Perspectives|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|page=121|isbn=978-1317786597|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NqLrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|archive-date=March 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326182308/http://books.google.com/books?id=NqLrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|url-status=live}} Same-sex male practitioners of anal sex are called luti or lutiyin in plural and are seen as criminals in the same way that a thief is a criminal.{{cite book|author=Yahaya Yunusa Bambale|title=Crimes and Punishments Under Islamic Law|publisher=Malthouse Press Limited|orig-date=2003|year=2008|page=40|isbn=978-9780231590|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVGPAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310000311/https://books.google.com/books?id=PVGPAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Randy P. Conner|author2=David Hatfield Sparks|author3=Mariya Sparks|title=Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol, and Spirit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Lore|publisher=Cassell|orig-date=1997|year=2006|pages=20; 216|isbn=0304337609|access-date=September 15, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGoYAAAAIAAJ|quote=Indeed, homoeroticism in general and anal intercourse in particular are referred to as liwat, while those (primarily men) engaging in these behaviors are referred to as qaum Lut or Luti, 'the people of Lot.'|archive-date=September 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926183704/https://books.google.com/books?id=yGoYAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}

As a form of non-reproductive sexual behavior in animals, anal sex has been observed in a few other primates, both in captivity and in the wild.{{cite journal|title=Ambisexual behavior with male-male anal insertion in male rhesus monkeys|year=1976|author1=Erwin J.|author2-link=Terry Maple|author2=Maple T|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume=5|issue=1|pages=9–14|doi=10.1007/bf01542236|pmid=816329|s2cid=46074855}}{{cite journal |last1=Busia |first1=L |last2=Denice |first2=AR |last3=Aureli |first3=F |last4=Schaffner |first4=CM |title=Homosexual behavior between male spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |date=May 2018 |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=857–861 |doi=10.1007/s10508-018-1177-8 |pmid=29536259 |s2cid=3855790 |url=http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8340/3/Homosexual%20Behavior%20Between%20Male%20Spider%20Monkeys%20%28Ateles%20geoffroyi%29..pdf |access-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011075625/http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8340/3/Homosexual%20Behavior%20Between%20Male%20Spider%20Monkeys%20%28Ateles%20geoffroyi%29..pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |title=Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Free-Ranging Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) |date=April 2018 |publisher=Karger Publishers |doi=10.1159/000487004 |access-date=December 3, 2021 |url=https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/487004 |last1=Fang |first1=Gu |last2=Dixson |first2=Alan F. |last3=Qi |first3=Xiao-Guang |last4=Li |first4=Bao-Guo |journal=Folia Primatologica |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=150–156 |pmid=29621754 |s2cid=4597770 |archive-date=December 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203183124/https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/487004 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

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{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite journal|title=Is the Female G-Spot Truly a Distinct Anatomic Entity?|journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine|volume= 9|date=January 2012 |pmid=22240236|doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02623.x |vauthors=Kilchevsky A, Vardi Y, Lowenstein L, Gruenwald I |issue=3|pages=719–26}}

• {{cite news |date=January 19, 2012 |title=G-Spot Does Not Exist, 'Without A Doubt,' Say Researchers |work=The Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/g-spot-does-not-exist_n_1215822.html |access-date=November 21, 2012 |archive-date=December 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203053641/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/g-spot-does-not-exist_n_1215822.html |url-status=live }}

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• Brent, Bill Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Men, Cleis Press, 2002.
• DeCitore, David Arouse Her Anal Ecstasy (2008) {{ISBN|978-0-615-39914-0}}
• Houser, Ward Anal Sex, Encyclopedia of Homosexuality Dynes, Wayne R. (ed.), Garland Publishing, 1990. pp. 48–50.
• Morin, Jack Anal Pleasure & Health: A Guide for Men and Women, Down There Press, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-940208-20-9}}
• Sanderson, Terry The Gay Man's Kama Sutra, Thomas Dunne Books, 2004.
• Tristan Taormino The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women, Cleis Press, 1997, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57344-028-8}}
• Underwood, Steven G. Gay Men and Anal Eroticism: Tops, Bottoms, and Versatiles, Harrington Park Press, 2003

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