Study Reveals Disturbing Narratives of Anal Sex, Women and Men Feel It Damages Reputation

A study was done on anal sex on British teenagers which revealed aspects that were surprising. There were 130 teenagers between the age of 16 and 18 who were interviewed about their views on different sexual practices and experiences of their own.

Most of the sexual experiences took place while in a relationship. The first experiences of anal sex were not under circumstances of mutual exploration, but it was men who wanted to try it with the women unsure as they felt they'd feel pain or gain a damaged reputation.

The findings of the study, published on Aug 13 in the journal BMJ, showed that women felt pain during anal sex and that most teenagers saw the pain as a woman being "naive or flawed." The findings cannot be generalised to all population as it involved a small group of heterosexual teenagers.

Not all the young men who took part in the study wanted to have anal sex but said that men usually encourage others to try the practice. The men, during a group discussion, admitted that they'd have it if it was part of a competition.

Though keen about the idea of anal sex, a lot of them were unenthusiastic about the idea, and one of the participants of the study said that he thought it was going to better than what he had experienced.

Amongst all the women in the study, only one woman had positive feelings about it and was persuaded by her partner and enjoyed the experience as well.

The study revealed that women would engage in anal sex only if persuaded into it; otherwise, they'd be reluctant because of the thought that the act would hurt them. Most women felt their role was limited to just accepting or declining requests for anal sex by their partner and didn't consider it an as a decision that can be taken equally by both partners. Some men avoided anal sex as they felt that it would their partners.

The study also found that the teenagers were unaware of the possibility of getting sexually transmitted diseases through unprotected anal sex. They assumed that it was impossible for it to happen or was less likely to acquire STDs than in the case of vaginal intercourse. Most men used condoms for hygiene and not STD prevention during anal sex, researchers said.

The participants of the study felt that young teenagers wanted to engage in anal sex after watching pornography and wanted to copy it. The researchers explained that porn is just one of the factors and that there are other explanations and factors involved as well.

Participants often mentioned that young men want to have anal sex with women because they want to copy what they saw in pornography. But the researchers said pornography appears to be only one factor in why teens may have anal sex, and the new findings suggest there are also other explanations and motivations involved.