Anal – we’ve been having anal sex for thousands of years. It’s not particular new, but in this decade anal sex became far less taboo than in the recent past. The porn industry, ever eager to embrace new ideas (and under pressure to provide novel content) made anal sex part of most mainstream movies. While the media eager to seem a teensy bit transgressive (and also in need of novel content) celebrated bum sex. Myths abounded that if you were a straight guy who had anal sex with women you were automatically gay, and the focus of anal sex in the mainstream media was predominantly something men did to women (or gay men did together). We’re still not quite comfortable with straight men who enjoy anal penetration by women (although we know many couples enjoy this). Sex educators were keen to promote anal sex as a form of pleasure for couples, but were also anxious about those in developing countries using it as a form of contraception or maintaining virginity, and where folk were engaging in anal sex without condoms or lubricant. It’s great we’ve celebrated anal sex, but concerns remain about us doing it safely – and having it as a pleasurable option, not a mandatory box to tick on our sexual checklist....