Anal Pleasure and Health: A Guide for Men, Women and Couples (2 page)

Symbols Of Power

Eroticizing Power

Power and Anal Intercourse
14. A LIFETIME OF ANAL PLEASURE: INTEGRATING AND SUSTAINING YOUR DISCOVERIES . . . .
. . . . . 169

Staying In Touch

Who When and How

Aging and Anal Pleasure

Honoring Erotic Preferences

APPENDIX: HEALTH PROBLEMS INVOLVING THE ANUS AND RECTUM
177

HIV and AIDS

Making Safer Sex Work: Developing a Personal Policy Other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STDs) Intestinal Infections Other Diseases of the Anus and Rectum Guidelines for Self-Healing Finding A Physician or Alternative Practitioner
REFERENCES AND RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 213

INDEX
......................................... 225

ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FIGURE I. POSITIONS FOR ANAL SELF-EXAMINATION . . . .
. . . . . 32

FIGURE 2. ANATOMY OF PELVIC ORGANS AND MUSCLES. & 38 . . 39

FIGURE 3. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ANAL SPHINCTER MUSCLES
61

FIGURE 4. ANATOMY OF THE RECTUM . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 89

FIGURE 5. EFFECTS OF ANGLE OF ENTRY ON RECTAL INSERTION.
91

FIGURE 6. BASIC DESIGN OF A BUTT PLUG . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 95

FIGURE 7. POSITIONS FOR ANAL INTERCOURSE & .142 . . . . . . . 143

It's hard to imagine a book that's not a collaborative effort, especially when you're violating a still-powerful taboo, even more so when a book has been part of your life for nearly thirty years, as this one has for me, with this fourth edition being the latest version. My collaborators have been many and varied, beginning with the hundreds of clients who, through their intimate revelations and courageous experiments, have grown personally, while enriching me at least as much. You know who you are; please accept my deepest gratitude.

Early support means an enormous amount when getting a project off the ground. Many of my oldest friends created an environment in which I could afford to be a little wacky-I prefer to think of it as inspired. Michael Graves, Liz Hudgin, Toni Ayres, and Tom Moon gave me encouragement and much-needed laughs. Phillip Mitchell was my professional mentor during the mid-seventies and helped me zero in on what I wanted to do, and how I could possibly do it. This book grew out of my doctoral research at Saybrook University where Don Polkinghorn was not only the new presidente, but was also thrust into the position of chairman of my doctoral committee; some guys have all the luck. But without a hint of discomfort-and always with genuine respect-he pushed me to make the research better.

Joani Blank, to whom this book is dedicated, made the whole thing happen. When many other publishers liked the book, but eventually decided that their readers "couldn't handle it"-whatever that meant Joani came through. Later on, Leigh Davidson, at the helm of Down There Press, initiated and nurtured the third edition to fruition. Aaron Silverman, my new publisher, saw the need for this new edition-exactly what I'd been hoping for.

Other friends and professional colleagues have buoyed my spirits and encouraged me to follow my passions. Scott Madover, Marty Klein, Janice Epp, Charles Moser, Winston Wilde, Ginny Pizzardi, George Liao, Barbara Cook, Ruth Hughes, Jan Zobel, JoAnn Loulan, Marny Hall, and Arthur Atlas have all helped me, so much more than they may realize. My heartfelt thanks goes out to them all.

TO JOANI BLANK

educator, visionary, friend Without her determination to overcome sexual ignorance and fear, this book would never have been published

All of that changed radically in the mid-seventies when a synchronous combination of events, both personal and professional, grabbed my attention and couldn't be ignored. On the personal side, I had developed an excruciating case of hemorrhoids-swollen, stretched and inflamed anal tissues which sometimes bleed and can hurt like hell. It became so bad that I could hardly sit down without a donut-shaped cushion to protect me. I'll spare you the agonizing saga of my bowel movements. Two physicians had suggested surgery and I was considering it. I figured, "What could be worse than this?" Yet a persistent inner voice whispered that surgery wasn't the way to go. Luckily, I listened.

Around the same time, I was deeply engaged in the exciting new field of sex therapy. All of us were enthusiastic and optimistic about the application of this direct approach to sex problems. Before long, I was working with a wonderfully diverse group of men and women clients, all concerned about one aspect of their sexuality or another. These were also the heady days of the burgeoning "sexual revolution," especially in San Francisco, where the atmosphere pulsated with the promise of liberation; anything seemed possible.

In the context of this experimental atmosphere, a growing number of people came to me because they wanted to enjoy anal sex but couldn't, due to discomfort or pain. Since I had learned nothing about treating such problems in my training, I conducted a literature search and talked with colleagues to see what I might uncover. To my surprise, nobody had much of anything to say about the subject, except for a few physicians and psychoanalysts, with only two points of view: anal sexuality should either be rigorously avoided, or considered a symptom of arrested development.

I was simultaneously flabbergasted and challenged by this glaring gap in our sexual knowledge. The thrill of investigating uncharted territory, a rarity for any researcher, overruled my worries about what others might think. Before I knew it, I was poring over anatomy books and, for the first time in my life, developing a fairly clear idea of how the anus and rectum are put together-muscles, nerves, blood vessels, the whole intricate system. Then, after explaining my profession's collective ignorance, I invited these new clients to collaborate with me in finding solutions; most eagerly accepted. They tried various relaxation and awareness-building experiments at home and reported their observations.