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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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Homosexualisation of the Male Anus
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