# Why is anal stimulation pleasurable **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835 "2013-01-20T21:32:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/21 "2014-10-07T21:31:04Z")
This side conversation should be moved to IMHO at minimum, or more appropriately 4chan. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/22 "2014-10-08T00:06:52Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > … > Where on the body do we NOT feel any pleasure when touched? I think your eye is going to be the only universal, followed by anywhere someone is overly ticklish. > > … I’m thinking that you’re going to be reamed by all the “eye fetishists” out there. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/23 "2014-10-08T00:32:35Z")
The whole premise of the original post is astoundingly ignorant. Sexual pleasure does not originate in, nor is it limited to, the anus, the mouth of the vagina, or the soft warm velvety tip of the penis. My ex wife was watching me ream out my ear with a qtip one day and remarked that that sensation was the closest she could come by way of analogy to vaginal penetration (what are you saying about my mighty pork sword! I protested). And it does feel good that guilty pleasure of running a qtip in and out the ear canal. There is great pleasure in penetration, and great pleasure in laying back and just letting go. It’s mind body and everything and really the asshole is just something you have to get past, it’s not the seat of gay sexual revelation… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/24 "2014-10-08T01:39:11Z")
> [@CC](#): > > I, too, question Colibri’s assertion (and that’s a rare and sometimes dangerous thing to do.) What assertion, exactly? I said defecation was pleasurable because it gives a sense of relief. Do you disagree with that? (More than a year and a half ago **Leo Bloom** mischaracterized my answer as referring to the passage of feces through the anus. Although he referred to me, **Leo Bloom’s** post doesn’t have much to do with what I actually said.) > [@CC](#): > > Defecation is as normal as breathing, and there’s nothing inherent in the act of exhaling, for example, that gives us pleasure, even if we’ve been holding our breath. I don’t think that’s a particularly appropriate analogy. Do you defecate thousands of times a day?:dubious: If each breath felt as good as a healthy dump it would be pretty exhausting. > [@](#): > > If anything, it’s analogous to urinating, which, I believe, brings real pleasure, i.e. relief, when the displeasure of fullness grows, not in the “pleasure” of sending urine down the urethra. In other words, pretty much what I said in my post. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/25 "2014-10-08T19:11:44Z")
> [@newage2014](#): > > …The process of eliminating wastes from the body is essential for it’s work and can deteriorate our health if ignored. Is it any wonder why nature designed it with “Reward” for us with a feeling of happiness after a good bowel movement? > > In order to encourage us to eliminate regularly, our bodies appear to have evolved to experience this reward. Sexual intercourse is necessary for reproduction. Sex does not have to be pleasurable, but it is. > > Evolution ensures that you carry out the essential bodily functions by rewarding you with a feel good factor… Good point. Another innate reward pathway that “overreaches” its apparent goal is the parental instinct. Why do so many people love cats? The answer, of course, is that people instinctually want to protect and nurture children. The part of the brain that is responsible for administering the reward chemicals to the brain has a difficult time telling the difference between a kitty and a small child. So next time you invite a cat onto your lap, know that you’re trying to act out on your fatherhood or motherhood instinct. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/26 "2014-10-08T19:28:39Z")
It is so that we can tolerate having our temperature taken (oddly, one of my earliest childhood memories). ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/27 "2014-10-08T20:47:00Z")
I’m glad we got to the bottom of this. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/28 "2014-10-08T21:06:39Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I’m glad we got to the bottom of this. 😉 Now you have the hole truth. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/29 "2014-10-10T03:03:23Z")
… darn near killed 'im. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/30 "2014-10-10T04:36:20Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I’m glad we got to the bottom of this. 😉 I’m off to do more research. . . . ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/31 "2014-10-10T05:34:25Z")
This thread is very moving. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/32 "2014-10-11T16:25:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This thread is very moving. I am going to take some time and analyze it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835/33 "2014-10-11T21:13:23Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Good point. Another innate reward pathway that “overreaches” its apparent goal is the parental instinct. Why do so many people love cats? The answer, of course, is that people instinctually want to protect and nurture children. The part of the brain that is responsible for administering the reward chemicals to the brain has a difficult time telling the difference between a kitty and a small child. So next time you invite a cat onto your lap, know that you’re trying to act out on your fatherhood or motherhood instinct. I suspect that animal husbandry is its own reward pathway, even without the parental instinct. Virtually all of us keep something, even if it’s not cute and cuddly - even us city-folk are likely to have fish, rodents and birds as pets. Of course, cats and dogs do seem to hit several needs all at once. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-anal-stimulation-pleasurable/647835.md?page=1)