Emphasis mine:
Anal sex is painful, unsanitary, unsatisfying for women and creates unique risks for serious physical diseases (if you doubt me, go read the Wikipedia entry on the subject) because the anus is not designed for sexual intercourse, increasing the risk of torn flesh and the intermingling of bodily fluids—blood, semen, fecal matter—that can spread an astonishing variety of diseases. The female partner is far more at risk than the man in these encounters. This should be a feminist issue.
–Maggie Gallagher (read the rest here with blood pressure medicine close at hand)
I couldn’t agree with you more, Ms. Gallagher. Anal sex should be a feminist issue, and here’s how it would go: My feminine body is my own, and I will do to my anus whatever I choose with no supremely ignorant judgment from you on how painful, unsanitary or unsatisfying you might guess it to be.
Gotta love anti-feminists telling us what should be a feminist issue.
It’s just a ridiculous strawman.
OF COURSE feminists don’t want any person — male, female, trans, young, old, ANYONE — to have anal sex unless they’re into it.
Of course it is. It’s just that I’ve seen that tactic a lot, hanging around on feminist blogs like Pandagon and Shakesville: “How can you possible be worried about (topic of the blog post) when (threadjacker’s idea of what feminists should really be worried about)?”
It was particularly popular during the Bush years, when it went something like: “Feminists should support the war in Iraq! Don’t you know how women are treated Over There?”
Even if it weren’t for the fallacy and the belabored anti-feminist tactics, this would be a truly shite column. It’s a totally incoherent mashup of everything she thinks is bad about sex in the modern world, and it somehow manages to ramble despite being so short.
I know, I’m just all pissy about this, to the point that I think the only thing that’ll make me feel better is…
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some rockin’ anal sex.
A-men to that, AAG
I just left comments. Grrr. Stupidity. I hope they go up.
I must say, you are amazing. Thank you for this!! :)
More *people* need to know it’s okay to explore their bodies (safely of course) without the fear of judgment from close minded people like Ms.Gallagher who think they know everything, simply because they read Wikipedia.
Preach on sister!!
First – I have just discovered your site. You are truly fabulous and amazing. I read everything including the comments. Look, I’m a bit older then you and have been a bit around, but if there are ladies like you and your readers here then thank god for that. I am so sick and tired of being accused of everything when all I really want is a super great orgasm. Damm our puritan ethos. Well, actually, I think some of the gals hanging around my health club are like you so I do have faith in humanity.
Second – What’s that crap about disease??!! Can’t you take a shower afterwards? Is that just too hard to do. I’ve been doing anal for years because it can drive me and the man nutty. When we calm down I just take his hand and wander in to the shower.
Third – Feminist – A woman who has never discovered the simple fact that for really fancy fucking you need a man or two or more.
Keep up the good, no, great, work!!
Disease: Unprotected anal sex is risky. A shower won’t wash off viruses.
Feminists: I am one. And I love men. Your statement is … problematic.
carla, i was with you until: “Third – Feminist – A woman who has never discovered the simple fact that for really fancy fucking you need a man or two or more.”
i disagree.
my personal definition of a feminist is a PERSON (ergo, man, woman, genderqueer, whoever) who believes that women are people. the extensions of this definition include people who reject racism, ableism, classism, ageism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, fatphobia, etc etc etc. but of course that is my personal definition, so ymmv.
second, it is beyond possible to have all sorts of superfancy and delicious sex without a man present. or another person for that matter.
Amen. Feminism has nothing to do with what sort of people you want or don’t want to have sex with.
I met a lovely young lady last year who told me she had a fetish for musicians, but could not square that with being a feminist. And her friends would give her shit about it too: “Feminists can’t be groupies”. Uh, what? I said, I thought a feminist was someone who has the freedom to fuck whomever she wants, whenever she wants, for whatever reason she wants, or none at all, regardless of what men or society or her parents or her church or her friends had to say about it.
It’s Maggie Gallagher of NOM, they aren’t allowed to be ‘for’ anything fun, which is fine IMHO. More buttsex-loving-people left for the rest of us =D
In addition to the general incoherency and leaping from subject to subject for no clear reason, I notice that you linked to this column as it was published in the Manila Times (as in, the Philippines). While I have no problem with lambasting it there, I really think it is better placed to read (and read the comments) on Real Clear Politics (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/01/28/is_abortion_good_for_girls_108693.html) or Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucmg/isabortiongoodforgirls).
Anyway, I’m glad to be one of the 15%. (And whenever anyone asks me about it, I always say it takes practice and a conscientious partner who is willing to take his time and learn to do it well… plus something better than KY. I wonder how many of those 85% didn’t know the first thing about it before they tried?)
s
Hm, good point. It was pointed out to me with the Manila Times link, so I wasn’t aware that it was elsewhere, actually.
*ponders*…Its always seems like a feminist issue when they hitch up the strap-on harness and tell you to bend over
Isn’t Gallagher (and her ilk, Armstrong Williams, and hosts of other establishment talking heads) the one who took money from Dubya’s Administration to write up some defense of marriage paper, etc., and then while pontificating about it, didn’t disclose it?
She and her fellow fascist pundits don’t deserve even the smallest cardiac flutter. (Fascism being loosely defined as a commingling of public/private enterprises for state ends.)
AAG, I spent most of last night flirting outrageously while getting very tipsy so I’m still trying to wrap my head around the sheer WTF that is the linked article. I don’t get how someone can grow up female and not realize that many (especially younger) women try to use relationships as an emotional band-aid when they don’t love themselves. It has nothing to do with abortion or anal sex. It’s the fact that they are self-harming by involving themselves in unhealthy relationships that brings about the depression. It’s the fact that they are feeling pressured by their crappy partners into doing anal that will account for the lack of enjoyment. I wonder if they bothered to ask these women how much they enjoyed sex on the whole. I suspect that many of them would have responded that they didn’t enjoy sex very much at all.
The authors bias shines through this entire article. Correlation does not imply causation. Her research on anal sex was obviously limited to the freaking Wiki article For Gods Sake. I think we can safely assume that her ass is so full (and not in a good way) from the stick already rammed up there that she can’t possibly contemplate the fact that ass play is incredibly pleasurable for many many women.
So men having anal sex themselves are not at risk? Whatta load of shit.
Um, “designed”? By whom? When?
Seriously, when was the anus “designed”? Do you have copies of the “design” plans? Can you point me to the relevant patents? Who “designed” it? How do you know what was it “designed” for?
What an ignorant dumbfuck. Ignorant religious fundamentalist dumbfuck, specifically, and “designed” gives it away right off.
Read up on evolution, and biology, you’ll see that body parts have many functions and uses, and those change over time, and are rather flexible and adaptible. And if you didn’t “design” them yourself, then you have no right telling anyone what they are and are not to be used for. Full stop.
You know, I read the title first and thought “Absolutely!” Especially with discussion/communication seeming to be so necessary (from what I’ve read at least).
And then I actually read the rest of the post. Sigh.
Oh, gee…I don’t know what’s whackier:
An antifeminist trying to lecture feminists on what their issues should be…
.
OR…a person who’s probably never even ventured near her…ummm…anal cavity…telling others how supposedly disgusting “butt secks” is
My response to Mrs Maggie: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, dear. Or…just ask some of your colleagues like Ted Haggard or George Rekers how “unsanitary” anal sex is.
Otherwise, back the hell off and leave those of us who play butt secks safely the hell alone.
Anthony