Brian Moylan 

Study: Anal Sex Has Never Been More Popular

A new study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine provides some intriguing figures when it comes to anal sex. Not only are more women than ever on the receiving end of it, so are guys. Straight guys.

It's like everyone's porn fantasies are coming true. A breakdown of the data shows that 20 percent of 18- and 19 year-old women have tried anal sex at least once, and 40 percent of women ages 20 to 24 have been successfully persuaded by their boyfriend to give it a whirl at some point in their lives. Not only are ladies trying it, but they're sticking with it, it seems. In 1992, only 10 percent of ladies had gotten it in the backdoor in the past year. Now 20 percent of women report they've done it in the past 12 months.

What about the guys? Eleven percent of men ages 20-24 report they've been on the receiving end of anal intercourse at some point in their lives. The percentage of men in their 30s who report having taken it in the bum is a bit lower, but the percentage of men in subsequent age brackets who have bottomed at least once is about 9 percent. Yet, only 4 percent of all men say they've been the receptive anal partner in the past year. That's a little surprising for two reasons. In 1992, only 2 percent of men reported being the catcher in the past year, which means the number of bottoms in the world has doubled in the past two decades. Also, if between 9 and 11 percent of men have been the receiver in anal sex at some point, but only 4 percent received it regularly, that means either people are turning into tops (and anecdotal evidence suggests that is not the case) or straight guys are wondering what it's like to take it up the butt. Wow, maybe some of those guys posting in the m4m section of Craigslist really are straight.