For some men, the appeal of anal penetration is less

the novelty and more the psychology. "There's an erotic

undercurrent about being in control of a situation,"

says Edward Ratush, a psychiatrist and sex therapist

"It's a very ego-focused thing for the guy"

Anal Sex: Are Straight Men Really Gay? [Source]

The anal sex fad, fed largely by pornography, continues. Here's an interesting article on the fad as it plays out amongst upper middle class and upper class White yuppies, the only people most magazine journalists ever interview for any story, because these are the only people they ever know.

Ever noticed how every Time or Newsweek Magazine article interviewing "ordinary Americans" always interviews doctors and lawyers? Same with most other magazines.

Same with way too many movies. Highly-paid journalists don't know any working class people, so the vast majority of our media tells the tales of the upper middle class and upper class.

Anyway, back to the article. The comments at the end are great, especially those of the women.

I was actually cheering these women on when they were laying it into these guys. I don't like feminazis, but I like a woman who stands up for herself and her gender. It's complicated.

They described the men in this article with the following words:

Boys; horrible; asshats; mindless brutal and unfeeling animals; immature; sociopathic; rapists; pigs; closet cases; disgusting; assholes; frat boy mentality; awful; misogynists; objectifiers of women; sadists; disrespectful; dickblisters; rape apologists; horrific; pro-rape; low-lifes; disgusting excuses for human beings; loathsome, tools.

For some men, the appeal of anal penetration is less the novelty—and the fact that it gives them a good story to tell over beers—and more the psychology. "For most of my friends, it's sort of a domination thing," says John (not his real name), 30, a writer in New York.

"[It's] basically getting someone in a position where they're most vulnerable. My friends enjoy that and they tell their friends they did it. But it's not like girls are ready for it—it's something they do when they're really drunk."

"There's an erotic undercurrent about being in control of a situation," says Edward Ratush, a psychiatrist and sex therapist in New York. "It's a very ego-focused thing for the guy."

There's evidence that some women do like anal sex, and that they're as into having it as some men. The dating website Lavalife recently polled 20,083 members in its "Intimates" section.

Thirty-five percent of female respondents claimed to enjoy anal sex. "It's a myth that every straight man wants it and the women who give it up do just that," says Tristan Taormino, author of The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women.

But a number of the women said basically, hey, if you guys like it so much, let us to it you, and see how you like it! Some samples that I thought were humorous:

If men are so enamoured with anal sex I say buy your female partner a strap-on and experience it for yourselves.

I tell my husband if he is willing to let me do him with a dildo, then I will let him try anal sex. Same with a blow job, no big thrill for me there either, and it is a little demeaning.

I tell my husband, when he shows me he can ram a banana down his throat 10 or 20 times without throwing up, then I can too! So, you big strong men, put up or shut up!

The only man who has the right to "demand" anal sex is the one who just took a large dildo up the anus by the woman whose anus he is "demanding" to screw.

I asked Sexmaniacman about the article and this is what he said:

Thanks, mate, for letting me comment on this subject.

To tell the embarrassing truth, I've jerked to countless fantasies and porn videos featuring anal sex (that's men doing it to women, thank you very much). On the other hand, I've hardly done it much in my life.

I did it to one woman once. With the same woman, I also used to stick my finger up her ass while we fucked. She used to do the same to me while I fucked her and I really did not mind it.

I never even asked, I just started sticking my finger up her ass, and she started doing it to me during our 2-hour sessions.

One time I was with this beautiful Korean woman I picked up in Koreatown. We went back to my place and she was giving me a great blowjob.

Just as I was about to cum, she stuck her finger up my ass, fingernail and all, and massaged my prostate gland! That was one great orgasm, I tell ya.

I later told some guys about it at work and they acted like it was sort of gay of me to do that or something. My attitude was fuck you guys. I'm screwing a beautiful woman, and there's something gay about that?

At one point, when I was feeling really sick and perverted, I bought a dildo and used to stick it up my ass.

It's a weird feeling and it causes some bleeding. I still like to stick my finger up my ass from time to time, and I have a girlfriend now who makes me do it so she can watch. She really gets off on it!

I haven't tried anal with her yet though. I have my doubts about it, and I'm worried it loosens the sphincter muscle so you can anal leakage.

I don't want that for myself, and I'm worried about causing it in women. I think there are a lot of medical issues with this kind of sex that are pretty dubious. Straight sex and oral are a million times safer.