This study used qualitative methods to assess why women engage in heterosexual anal receptive intercourse AI with a male partner. Four focus groups which comprised women from diverse ethnicities were conducted. All groups were digitally recorded for transcription; transcripts were analyzed using the methods of grounded theory to determine themes. The riskiness of AI was assessed within relationship contexts. Past experience with AI including emotional and physical reactions was identified. Among the negative physical experiences of AI were pain and disliking the sensation, and uncomfortable side effects, such as bleeding of the rectum.

Yeah, they can! In cisgender men and people assigned male at birth, anal sex can stimulate the prostate and lead to an orgasm. Prostate orgasms are intense enough to send waves of orgasmic pleasure from head to toe. For cisgender women and people assigned female at birth, anal sex can hit two hot spots: the G-spot and A-spot. Both are located along the vaginal wall but can be indirectly stimulated during anal.

What a journey our attitudes towards anal sex have taken over the last few years. From Drake and the butt-eating conundrum, to scientific celebrations of big booties , to pegging on Broad City , to twerking , to Kim Kardashian's epic shiny rump on the cover of Paper Magazine , it's no question that all things ass-related have taken on a mainstream edge. Pop-culture acolytes proclaimed the "Year of the Booty," which heralded a deluge of think pieces about the portrayal of butt sex on mainstream television shows like The Mindy Project and articles assessing the erotic potential of the anus. It's now ascended to a cushy place in pop culture where it's become much less shocking to talk about and engage in the act of anal sex.