Conclusion
Anal sex is not a perverse, abnormal, or dirty act committed by dirty people. Between a sexually adjusted couple, anal sex can add dimension and even more pleasure to a pleasurable experience. The growth of one's sexual capacities is neither a natural nor an easy process. It is vital that one must learn, experience, and approach sex with an open mind. In an era that is generally regarded as sexually liberated, the majority of sexually active adults still look askance at anal sex, regarding it as an activity for the "kookier" elements of society.
From the case histories presented in this book, and from many other cases of a similar nature, it is clear that negative attitudes toward anal sex still prevail. And as Allan Fromme in his Ability to Love pointed out:
Attitudes are extremely hard to change. Knowledge is much more flexible; facts can be quite easily altered. If tomorrow we were told that hitherto unknown records of Columbus' voyage had been found which proved he had discovered America not in 1492 but in 1490, the change would be accepted at once. The school books would be revised, the teachers would teach the new date, and al! of us would comfortably say for the rest of our lives that Columbus discovered America in 1490. But attitudes have deep roots. They are entwined with emotions and feelings. They cling like vines to our everyday patterns of behavior. They are not arrived at by the paths of reason, and reason has little effect on them.
Sexual attitudes are especially influenced by feelings and emotions. The anus, being associated with the bowel movement, automatically conjures up, even in the minds of the most unimaginative, feelings of distaste and emotions that are the complete reverse of love and passion. These attitudes arise early in the sexual development of the individual because he is taught to regard the normal functions of his body with a certain amount of shame. Allan Fromme enlarged upon this when he wrote:
Nothing in the average boy's childhood, or the average girl's for that matter, counteracts the cultural pressures towards shame and concealment of the body. The cultural associations with naughtiness and filth, that begin at the age of two. By the time a boy is adolescent, these associations are too deeply buried for him to be aware of them. Yet they go with him into his first sexual experiences, and they color his attitudes towards the girl he goes with.
Despite the cultural attitudes which are attuned against any expression of anal sex, many couples find an outlet in this kind of sex, and for a variety of reasons; boredom, a childhood experience, fear of pregnancy, etc. They are able to achieve orgasm, and the actual act of anal coitus may be entirely pleasurable. At least for the moment. But are they fulfilled? Do they remain sexually happy?
Fromme wrote:
Who, then, is sexually happy? What is a sexually happy person or, as psychologists phrase it, a sexually well-adjusted individual?
To begin with, he or she is a person who does not feel sex is dirty, who does not have fears about it, who accepts it as part of nature and of human nature and a natural source of pleasure. It is a person who is interested in sex, appreciates it, enjoys it.
But this interest does not exclude all other interests. An exclusive interest in sex is a preoccupation with it, an obsession with it, and this, as we well know, is not happiness or good adjustment at all but something approaching sickness.
Some couples, as we noted in The Fanny Trap, are driven to anal sex because the anus is an extremely erogenous zone. Quite often, these individuals regard themselves as abnormal or sexual freaks because their most sensitive sexual area is in the anus instead of the genitals. This is a fairly frequent physical occurrence, and such cases have been noted for many centuries, la his book, Fanny Trap Self-Stimulation, R.E.L. Masters describes the use of an artificial penis to stimulate the anal region. He writes:
This practice was evidently not uncommon among the ancient Romans. And Petronius, in a usually censored passage, writes that "Enothea brought out the leather penis which she rubbed with oil and nettle seed and then gradually inserted up my anus." Roman prostitutes reportedly stimulated men in this way to help them overcome impotence. Many of these doubtless were predominantly homosexual men. But the same practice was employed with males who, whether homosexual or not, had no potency problems in relation to women.
In chapter five, case subject Martin B. had a traumatic sexual experience as a boy which affected his attitudes for many years. He was unable to change with the changing times, and regarded the younger generation with suspicion and even hostility. Eventually, he matured and used his addiction to anal sex as a means of finding a satisfactory wife. Allan Fromme discussed such attitudes and people. He wrote:
Even a damaging experience can have its positive results... We cannot plan what is best for us in every detail of our lives, and even if we knew what was best we could not always bring it to pass in the way we dream. Life gives us many chances, and sometimes those that seem most unpromising turn out best of all. No one has only good luck, and no one has only bad. Some people do seem to suffer a string of misfortunes, it is true. But the individual who complains too often about how badly the world treats him is really complaining about how badly he treats himself.
In summary, we are able to make the following conclusions:
1. Anal sex is a perfectly normal act which is triggered by perfectly normal desires.
2. Feelings of guilt and shame associated with anal sex are acquired in childhood.
3. Anal sex, when used in conjunction with other sexual acts, can embellish and enrich the sexual experience.
4. Anal sex has its origins in antiquity.
5. The anus is an erogenous zone. In some people, the most sensitive and sexually responsive area of the entire body.
6. The ability to develop one's sexual capabilities to the fullest (and this includes anal sex) reflects the mature and well-adjusted individual.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Freud, Sigmund. Basic Writings. New York: Random House, Inc., 1938.
Fromme, Alan. Ability to Love. New York: Pocket Books, Inc., 1965.
Hegeler, Inge and Sten. ABZ of Love, New York: Medical Press of New York, 1963.
"J". The Sensuous Woman. New York: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1969.
McCarey, James L. Human Sexuality. New York: Van Nostrand-Reinhold Books, 1967.
Masters, R.E.L. Sexual Self-Stimulation. Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press, Inc., 1967.
Reuben, David. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex. New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1969.