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Relaxing the straight male anus: Decreasing homohysteria around anal eroticism

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Abstract

This study examines the practice and perception of receptive anal eroticism among 170 heterosexual undergraduate men in a US university. We analyze the social stigmas on men’s anal pleasure through the concept of homohysteria, which describes a cultural myth that the wrongdoing of gender casts homosexual suspicion onto heterosexual men. For men’s anal eroticism, this means that only gay, emasculated or gender deviant men are thought to enjoy anal pleasure. We suggest, however, that decreasing homohysteria has begun to erode this cultural ‘ban’ on anal stimulation for straight men. Our data finds self-identified straight university-aged men questioning cultural narratives that conflate anal receptivity with homosexuality and emasculation. We also show that 24 percent of our respondents have, at least once, received anal pleasure. These results suggest that cultural taboos around men’s anal pleasure may be shifting for younger men and the boundaries of straight identity expanding. We call for further research to clarify how anal erotic norms are shifting among men of different racial, geographic, socioeconomic, and age demographics, and to determine how these shifts may foster more pluralistic and inclusive views of gender and sexuality.
Relaxing the Straight-Male Anus:
Decreasing Homohysteria around Anal Eroticism
This study represents the first-ever examination of the practice and frequency of receptive
anal eroticism among 170 heterosexual undergraduate men in a U.S. university. We show
that 24% of our respondents have, at least once, received anal pleasure. Because we have
found no previous comprehensive studies on this practice, we cannot claim that young
men today are more likely to experience their own anal eroticism than men of generations
past. However, we also analyse the older literature on social stigma regarding
heterosexual men’s anal pleasuring, comparing it to this sample. Here, we highlight a
profound attitudinal change, decoupling the male anus from homosexuality. While
scientific and popular belief throughout the twentieth century cast anal pleasure as only
for gay, emasculated or gender deviant men, we show it partially normalized among
heterosexual undergraduate male culture today: Our data finds self-identified straight
university-aged men questioning cultural narratives that conflate anal receptivity with
homosexuality and emasculation. We analyse this data through the concept of
homohysteria, which describes a cultural myth that the wrongdoing of gender casts
homosexual suspicion onto heterosexual men. Further, we call for further research on the
practices of older men reflecting upon their undergraduate sexual practices so that we
may more fully understand how shifting anal erotic norms may be altering actual sexual
behaviour.
Introduction
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,
8
7%&& '=
=

/
,924% of our heterosexual participants had engaged in
receptive anal play. O
3
,(


>7,
Gender, Sexuality and Sexual Stigma
:?)
,:-0
+
@A !B'

,

)45 !',:


7,
7
/
.)%&C#5
 !C',: 7

$%&&',)4%&&!'

,
7>7%&&!'

',
#

4-0'
1 C',6
C
.)
%&C'
,

D/
E
FG#4@,
1(A! &%++',
$7

/2%&&B',
Homohysteria and the Fear of Anal Sex
%&& '
73
$1%&C',
2
,
* ',



,2A)
"
%&%'
,3

,

(,
1(
/H !!',

any /and /,%&& '

/
,
6/2 IC'
66
'%&&!'
one-time ruleof homosexuality,
(7//
,2
,)45 !%'
4
=
I

,
/
/,
4
(* ',
./
/:
((and  
,3
(3
J
)45 !',
.
/,@
7
-0/'-0
,:
#
,7

 !"#2 !#$%&&',
B
Decreasing Sexual Stigma
/
 !& &
?,),$1%&C',5
,
/
6%&&!'
 (;E7)%&%'8%&+'
H(%&&%'6@)$%&'$D%&&%'
;%&+',
/5%&%',

%&&B'
)/
;%&+',$1%&C'
?)
4,8
5%&%'

C"6! K,:
 &@
8L%&C'% K,)
CB"B"/
!

&K%&C',8
)L
7
(
,2.94%&+'/

,)
7,
Method
Participants
*/%%!

B&/,
$??)%&&&
,7
,
:

.))
(
,$
,.

==
?),
)
,
,7
:56C"(
,)(
,;(
,
:L%&
((
,)
,
2
7,
6((:56/
,7
(!%+'#
#,1
%&,",!&K#9
&
 K'
K,
Measures and Coding
H/
,1H(
,8

,9I’m ashamed of
exploring anal pleasureI’m ashamed that I enjoy being anally penetrated,
())*))
,:/H

/+'C'"/B',
74
,8
-Straight men can't enjoy anal pleasure0,
6,


-0
-0',

E/(,8

,/
,8-$
0-6M
0
-Men are afraid they’ll be perceived as gay.05

,/,,
-:0-:0-It felt good,0'

,5
,
/,,-/0-3
0-I associate it with homosexuality0',?
(-:
0-
0-Being penetrated is seen as a
homosexual act0,
Homosexualisation of the Male Anus
,$
nNI% "K'7
%
B%KnN%+',E
-:,0:KnN%&'

,
5
nN""+IK'nNB+
C!K',6nN',2
nN%CIK'
,


,
,EI
73nNB%I%K'
#BKnN!'4
7,:%&KnN%C'
,
-
,0-
0-3
,0
+
-:,:O:
',:
,0
24
,IIK
 "KnNI'

,8!&KnN+I'
-Any guy who enjoys being anally penetrated during sex is probably gay.0
E-:>7:
:,:
'P0H
-J
,0
-.Q
0,-9
37,0
=
((
3,
)4
/3"KnN!'
-Straight men can’t enjoy anal pleasure” %CKnNC'
C
-Only gay men like to be anally stimulated or penetrated during sex,0
$%+KnN+ '-In men, I think anal pleasure is
homosexual pleasure,0

,-Real men don’t like to be anally penetrated
during sex,0 KnN+%',
/
 K
,
83

,4nN" +"K'-Many straight men
like to be anally stimulated during sex.02nN%C
CK'-Many straight men like to be anally penetrated during
sex0-0,

,
Personal Practices and Experiences
E
Once in the pastAt least once a monthAt least once a week,:
Rub my own rectumUse a finger to
anally penetrate myself,
"
nNC&%CK',IKnN%!'
,2"KnN '
,
E&KnNB'
,:
-It felt good0nN"+K'-I was surprised0
nN%%"K'-I went along with it0nN&%K',E-:
,02
,8-:
,:,:O
,0
5
,,//,'
,D
,8
-H,0
E+BI!KnN%"'
"KnN%'-,0E%
-#0
:O:
,:
,:
P
I
-:,0
E/
C&KnN"',2
C!KnN!',E-:
:3:70-:
,0$-:
(,0

,
-Just not interested0DN%"% K'
-It sounds physically painful/uncomfortable0nN"BK'-I feel
uncomfortable with the idea of anal play0nN%CK',2
nN++,"K'nN'
,
)
,
E-0
-:O,:3,0
-:O,01
-:O,)O/J'
:O,::)2)F)2)G,0
(
/,B KnN+"'
B
-I'd be embarrassed to ask a female partner to anally
penetrate me (i.e. with a finger),0R
,E-$
(O,01
-,:O,0
-@
,0-:O
:
,0
Discussion
#
%&C',
5/
,,$1%&%'#
%&"',
%&&!'/
#6
5%&%'@,%&C'%&C'
/
,$1%&C'
/,

!
7
%&&#$1%&C'
///%&"',
,8
/7
,(
=
'=
7
3,

(,
7
,,'
J( !"#2
 !#$%&&'3
#
,
7
=
(,:
-0,
6%&&'

,6?,),

=7
=
-0
,
:
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E/
,:
,
,
'
The SopranosBroad City
,S
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)Bend over Boyfriend
The Daily Show.S

-0
,
8///

(
>
74
4,:
7
-0
,:.
'#
.
,
$3
3(,
:7
(
,E6
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7,:
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9%&&!'-6,,,0
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-0,American Journal of Sexuality
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9$1L1/@4)H$A$@41
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,AIDS Education & Prevention%&%'C!/" ,
8A%&+'*.L.),
H$@5UH*,
.19%&+'SThe Ultimate Guide to Prostate Pleasure: Erotic
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A)95%&%'.(
 &,Journal of homosexuality"  '+&B/+%I,
AL2! &'*9
,5JJ
,JJ&&
A$9@A !B'.2
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D,Ethnology/%",
HL%&&'O4 B+ !,
American Sociological ReviewBI%/B!%,
$5*%&&'SThe Technology of Orgasm:" Hysteria," the Bibrator, and Women's
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$1$%&%'The Declining Significance of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys
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... The geography of the anus makes it a highly pleasurable sex organ: it contains a dense network of sensory nerves that participate with the genitals in the engorgement, muscular tension and contractions of sexual arousal and orgasm [2,3]. Despite this anatomic pleasure potential [4], much of the existing published scientific research on anal sexuality narrowly focuses on what body part-typically a penis, and less often a mouth/tongue or finger-is stimulating or penetrating the anus, rather than thinking more broadly about how women and their partners may individuate stimulation and penetration techniques. For example, existing studies most commonly operationalize "anal sex" for women in terms of penetration of their anus with a male partner's penis. ...
... Despite the anatomic pleasure potential [4] of the anus to promote to maximize women's sexual enjoyment [2,3], the specific ways in which women might engage the anus-by themselves or with partners-as a part of their sexual repertoire has remained largely unexamined in the current sexuality literature. To address this gap, we used data from the second OMGYES Pleasure Report to providing the first detailed, population level description of the of the distinct anal stimulation and penetration techniques women engage to enhance their sexual pleasure during both solo and partnered sex. ...
Article
Full-text available
The study purpose was to assess, in a U.S. probability sample of women, the specific ways women have discovered to experience pleasure from anal touch. Through qualitative pilot research with women that informed the development of the survey instrument used in this study, we identified three previously unnamed, but distinct, anal touch techniques that many women find pleasurable and that expand the anal sexual repertoire beyond the more commonly studied anal intercourse behaviors: Anal Surfacing, Anal Shallowing, and Anal Pairing. This study defines each technique and describes its prevalence among U.S. adult women. Weighted frequencies were drawn from the Second OMGYES Pleasure Report-a cross-sectional, online, national probability survey of 3017 American women's (age 18-93) sexual experiences and discoveries. Participants were recruited via the Ipsos KnowledgePanel®. Data suggest that 40% of women find 'Anal Surfacing' pleasurable: sexual touch by a finger, penis, or sex toy on and around the anus. Approximately 35% of women have experienced pleasure using 'Anal Shallowing': penetrative touch by a finger, penis, or sex toy just inside the anal opening, no deeper than a fingertip/knuckle. Finally, 40% of women make other forms of sexual touch more pleasurable using 'Anal Pairing': touch on or inside the anus that happens at the same time as other kinds of sexual touch such as vaginal penetration or clitoral touching. These data provide techniques that women can and do use to explore the anus as a pleasurable region for touch-which can enable women to better identify their own preferences, communicate about them and advocate for their sexual pleasure.
... However, negative stigmatization by society and health care professionals leads to persistent underreporting of RAI. In a nationally representative survey in 2015, 9.8% of all US men and 37.3% of all US women reported experiencing RAI within their lifetime regardless of sexual orientation. 2 In a multi-institutional behavioral survey of 4901 European men who have sex with men (MSM), 89% reported experiencing insertive or receptive anal sex within the past 6 months. ...
Article
Full-text available
Background Receptive anal intercourse (RAI) is commonly practiced among individuals of all sexual orientations. However, negative stigmatization by society and health care professionals leads to the underreporting or this practice. Aim We sought to assess and describe the subjective role of the prostate as a pleasure center in participants with diverse RAI experiences. The secondary aim was to describe nonprostatic areas within the anorectal region that produce erotic sensation and/or pain. Methods The exploratory sequential multimethod study design included focus groups and semistructured interviews with 30 individuals with prostates who had engaged in RAI. We used graphic elicitation of natal male anatomy to enhance visualization and assess participant perspectives. Outcomes The main outcome of interest was the identification of anatomic locations of erogenous sensation and pain during RAI. Results Among the participants (median age 38, range 24–77 years), most participants (90%) identified as cisgender male. Three major themes emerged within the motivations for RAI, including (1) deriving intrinsic pleasure, (2) providing both pleasure for a partner and a way to improve intimacy/connection, and (3) an inability to be the insertive partner due to physical or mental challenges. The data suggest that the anorectal region produces a variety of erogenous sensations which participants find pleasurable. Overall, 2 major areas of erogenous sensation occur along the anterior rectal wall and within the anus. Within the context of RAI, 2 distinct categories of pain emerged, including pain with insertion and pain at other times. Clinical Implications Understanding where erogenous sensation originates for each individual may predict sexual functioning after various surgical interventions. Timing and location of pain may aid in further characterizing anodyspareunia. Strengths and Limitations Our study utilized a sequential design (from focus groups to interviews) with diverse RAI experiences, especially regarding age, geographic location, and prostate pathology. We included individuals of diverse gender identities, but too few to evaluate these groups independently from cisgender men. Conclusion People with prostates experience pleasure in multiple areas during RAI. Contrary to some lay literature, the prostate region is not the subjective pleasure center for all individuals. Timing and location of pain during RAI may inform areas for intervention. Providing a language for pleasure and pain during RAI may improve communication between not only sexual partners but also clinicians and patients.
... In this instance, Scoats et al. attribute the expanded boundaries of heterosexuality as a collapse in the one-time rule of homosexuality, which sees a disconnection of masculinity from homophobia (Anderson 2008). A similar claim is made by Branfman et al. (2018) who also claim that anal eroticism within heterosexual encounters has become more acceptable due to the decreasing homohysteria, which corresponds with Aguilar's (2017, p. 288) suggestion that men '…are carefully and deliberately manoeuvring the definition of heterosexuality to include them, using normative gender ideologies to justify their case'. The implication here is that men's heterosexual identities have expanded beyond traditional gendered normative parameters. ...
Chapter
This chapter explores how transgressions take place within the sex club. First, using a group sex encounter, it highlights the ways in which different forms of heteroeroticism can be understood as contesting the everyday routines of the club and broader notions of heteronormativity. Embedded within this section of the chapter is the notion of gaze and how this is a reversible process of looking and being looked at. The second part of this chapter focuses on sex between women. Whilst initially framing this as taking place within a heteropatriarchal gaze driven by forms of neo-liberal sexual entrepreneurialism, the chapter reflects on this approach by suggesting that it is within the limits of neo-liberalism where transgressive sexual practices might emerge. Finally, the chapter tentatively explores transgender experiences. In particular, it argues that transgression is not always a positive experience but can also result in sexual violence. The chapter concludes by arguing that where sexual practice exceeds economies of desire, it can be the source of intense sexual pleasure. At the same time, such transgressions can be physically and emotionally dangerous.
... In this instance, Scoats et al. attribute the expanded boundaries of heterosexuality as a collapse in the one-time rule of homosexuality, which sees a disconnection of masculinity from homophobia (Anderson 2008). A similar claim is made by Branfman et al. (2018) who also claim that anal eroticism within heterosexual encounters has become more acceptable due to the decreasing homohysteria, which corresponds with Aguilar's (2017, p. 288) suggestion that men '…are carefully and deliberately manoeuvring the definition of heterosexuality to include them, using normative gender ideologies to justify their case'. The implication here is that men's heterosexual identities have expanded beyond traditional gendered normative parameters. ...
Chapter
This chapter explores how dark rooms within sex clubs shape and configure men and masculinities. Using interviews with men who have used and visited dark rooms, this chapter explores the erotic subjectivity of men. The starting point for this chapter is that the norms and values of the club that are embedded in the erotic hierarchies that circulate in the rest of the club help to define what happens in the dark room. The chapter by examining respectable masculinities then explores the same-sex practices between men and consent. The chapter then argues that by leaving behind a sexual performance based on masculinity, men in the dark room demonstrate an alternative way of configuring masculinity and sexuality. It is suggested as the chapter progresses that new forms of erotic configurations are assembled in the dark room that point to the possibilities of a post-masculinity. The chapter concludes by highlighting that sex clubs do have the possibility to produce a radical subjectivity that may signal an epistemological break with existing approaches to men and masculinity.
... In this instance, Scoats et al. attribute the expanded boundaries of heterosexuality as a collapse in the one-time rule of homosexuality, which sees a disconnection of masculinity from homophobia (Anderson 2008). A similar claim is made by Branfman et al. (2018) who also claim that anal eroticism within heterosexual encounters has become more acceptable due to the decreasing homohysteria, which corresponds with Aguilar's (2017, p. 288) suggestion that men '…are carefully and deliberately manoeuvring the definition of heterosexuality to include them, using normative gender ideologies to justify their case'. The implication here is that men's heterosexual identities have expanded beyond traditional gendered normative parameters. ...
Chapter
This introductory chapter welcomes readers to the sex club. This chapter explains what the book is about and what readers should expect. The book then highlights the ethnographical research method that is used predominantly throughout the book. In so doing, it critically reflects on the limits of using ethnography to describe sexual encounters. The chapter then provides a synopsis of the chapters that are furnished with ethnographic encounters. Overall, this chapter provides an introductory insight into the sex clubs in the UK. The chapter concludes by describing the experience of the end of the night at a sex club and highlighting what we are yet to know about sex clubs.
... In this instance, Scoats et al. attribute the expanded boundaries of heterosexuality as a collapse in the one-time rule of homosexuality, which sees a disconnection of masculinity from homophobia (Anderson 2008). A similar claim is made by Branfman et al. (2018) who also claim that anal eroticism within heterosexual encounters has become more acceptable due to the decreasing homohysteria, which corresponds with Aguilar's (2017, p. 288) suggestion that men '…are carefully and deliberately manoeuvring the definition of heterosexuality to include them, using normative gender ideologies to justify their case'. The implication here is that men's heterosexual identities have expanded beyond traditional gendered normative parameters. ...
Chapter
This chapter begins by framing sex clubs as a place of secrecy and discretion. It then begins to define what a sex club is, a potted history of sex clubs and their position within the law and planning permissions. The chapter then provides a short discussion of methodology, before moving on to provide information on who visits sex clubs, what their sexual preferences are and how we might think about sex clubs geographically. A number of key findings emerge from this chapter that include sex clubs are not simply places for swingers but are part of a more diverse range of erotic practices; it highlights how the majority of women visiting the club are likely to identify as bisexual or bi-curious; clubs are geographically located and clustered; it provides an understanding of the racial dynamics of those who attend clubs and begins to map out sexual practices with geographical locations. In summary, this chapter provides important background information behind sex clubs.
... In this instance, Scoats et al. attribute the expanded boundaries of heterosexuality as a collapse in the one-time rule of homosexuality, which sees a disconnection of masculinity from homophobia (Anderson 2008). A similar claim is made by Branfman et al. (2018) who also claim that anal eroticism within heterosexual encounters has become more acceptable due to the decreasing homohysteria, which corresponds with Aguilar's (2017, p. 288) suggestion that men '…are carefully and deliberately manoeuvring the definition of heterosexuality to include them, using normative gender ideologies to justify their case'. The implication here is that men's heterosexual identities have expanded beyond traditional gendered normative parameters. ...
Chapter
The chapter focuses on the racialization of black men within sex clubs. It begins by recognizing the ways that clubs promote thematized events. Such events create a way of promoting fantasies that may lead to the satiating of desires. The chapter moves from discussing the commodification and fetishization of the body to considering how it is practiced within clubs. It discusses the notion of the ‘Black Bull’ and how black bodies become naturalized as through an appeal to animality. It is argued that this animality is historically located in the notions of black slavery. The chapter then explores how white women utilize this racialized desirability as a form of erotic consumption. The chapter argues that the role of women in black men’s slavery provides the contours for how they consume and commodify black bodies within the club. The chapter then moves on to discuss cuckolding and hotwifing and the implications this has for white masculinity. The chapter concludes by highlighting the role of racialized sex nights in clubs as a source of pleasure and agency for the men involved.
Article
While most research on digital sex toys to date has focussed on their affordances and marketing, or issues of data governance and privacy, research on user experience is limited. This article centres the accounts of 11 interviewees who used digital sex devices within mostly heterosexual relations, and often for remote partnered sex. We demonstrate how digital sex toys offer creative potential and possibilities for sexual pleasure and connection, and explore to what extent this challenges normative gendered dynamics and expectations of heterosex. We conclude that digital sex devices operate as allies with which users navigate and continually re-make heterosexual sex.
Chapter
This chapter elucidates and complicates where these men’s physical same-sex boundaries lay. In this bromantic culture, games related to kissing each other, seeing who can achieve an erection first, and smacking their erect penises together in a game to see who goes limp first, blurs traditional boundaries between sexual desires and sexual acts. Nowhere is this more true than with the copious amounts of group sex that is found to occur with these men; including two men and a woman threesomes. The chapter highlights that threesomes are hard to clarify in terms of sexual desire, because sexual and social desire are not separate with these men. They are in a sense, homosocial. Further evidence of their homosociality comes from their comfort in being nude around each other, showing each other their erections, and even licking or placing their friends’ penises into their mouths.
Book
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From tribal religious rituals to the Playboy mansion, and from ancient Rome to Burning Man, Plays Well in Groups explores the phenomenon of group sex. Author Katherine Frank draws on surveys, ethnographic research, participant interviews, and more to provide explanations for both, participation in group sex and our complex reactions to it, from fascination to fear. This book looks at group sex across cultures—who has it, and why.
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This article examines bisexual men’s experiences of coming out across three age cohorts, and documents generational differences in the reception from friends and family regarding this disclosure. Drawing on in-depth interviews with an ethnically diverse sample of 60 openly bisexual men from the United States, we find that the oldest cohort encountered the most stereotypical views and prejudiced behaviour, while those of the youngest cohort expressed predominantly positive coming out stories. We attribute the cohort differences in these experiences to a decrease in cultural homophobia, alongside changes in the social organisation of masculinities.
Book
Drawing on hundreds of interviews with 15-22 year old straight and gay male athletes in both the United States and the United Kingdom, this book explores how jocks have redefined heterosexuality, and no longer fear being thought gay for behaviors that constrained men of the previous generation.
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The World We Have Won is a major study of transformations in erotic and intimate life since 1945. We are living in a world of transition, in the midst of a long, unfinished but profound revolution that has transformed the possibilities of living out our sexual diversities. This book provides a balance sheet of the changes that have transformed our ways of being, from welfarism to the pill, women's and gay liberation, from globalization, consumerism and individualization to new forms of intimacy, from friends as family to same sex marriage. Some respond to these challenges with a deep cultural pessimism or moral conservatism. It rejects such views and argues that this is a world we are increasingly making for ourselves, part of the long process of democratization of everyday life. Unless we grasp this we cannot understand, not only the problems and anxieties, but the opportunities and hopes in this world we have won.
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To help students critique sex/gender norms, sexuality educators should address men's anal pleasure. Men's anal receptivity blurs accepted binaries like male/female, masculine/feminine, and straight/queer. By suppressing men's receptivity, the taboo against men's anal pleasure helps legitimize hegemonic sex/gender beliefs-and the sexism, homophobia, and male dominance they encourage. Conversely, by deconstructing men's anal taboo and creating a new language of anal pleasure-"prostage" (pro-STAHJ)-educators can help students challenge restrictive gender norms. We base this argument on an anonymous, online, mixed methods survey we conducted with 228 undergraduate men, as well as existing literature on men's anal sexuality.