The Results are In! Good Vibrations & Babeland Survey Customers about Anal Sex

Customers of iconic sex retailers Good Vibrations and Babeland have once again shared intimate details about their sex lives in response to a survey, this one to tease out trends and information about anal play. August is Anal Sex Month, so these probing questions were timely! Between the two companies, 1669 adults answered questions about their anal experience.

We asked: Have you ever fantasized about anal play? Just 3.71% had not, while 77.11% answered “Totally” and 19.17% said, “Maybe just a little.” That could mean many different things, though, so we asked a clarifying question: In which ways? Respondents could select all they had fantasized about. Almost 47% of them had thought about receiving external anal play in a solo-sex context: rubbing, but not going inside. Almost 65% had fantasized about this kind of play from others (rimming, licking, rubbing, but not going inside), while receiving internal solo stimulation (penetration with toys, fingers, etc.) was of interest to over 63%. Receiving from others was fantasy fodder for almost 79%. Our stats suggest it might be better to receive than to give, but giving external anal play to others was an appealing thought to nearly 59% of respondents. Giving internal stimulation to others was of interest to about 63.5%, almost 53% had thought about watching anal play, and over three percent had other kinds of anal play in mind when they fantasized. They mentioned pegging, talking about anal, receiving anal while also being stimulated in other ways (clitoral, blow job), fisting, enema play, reading about anal play, and wearing a tail.

Now that they were thinking about thinking, we wanted to know, “Have you explored/experienced anal play?” About 65.5% said yes, over 25% said “Maybe a little bit,” almost 7% replied “Not yet!” and 2.22% were not interested. Again we asked them to get specific re: in which ways they had experienced anal. Over 59% of them had experienced external anal play in a solo-sex context: rubbing, but not going inside. Over 67% had received this kind of play from others (rimming, licking, rubbing, but not going inside). Over 72% reported exploring internal solo stimulation (penetration with toys, fingers, etc.), while receiving from others had been experienced by 71.3%. Giving external anal play to others had been experienced by nearly 63% of respondents, and giving internal stimulation to others was reported by almost 62%. Almost 2% said “other” and added detail: more of the fantasy activities, plus double penetration and prostate play.

Next we wanted to know: Did you enjoy it? Solo anal play (rubbing, but not going inside) was enjoyable to most: Almost 70% loved or found it “pretty good,” while over 8% didn’t. Receiving this kind of play from others (rimming, licking, rubbing, but not going inside) was enjoyed by about 74%, while about six and a half percent didn’t like it much or found it awful. Over 72% liked receiving internal solo stimulation (penetration with toys, fingers, etc.), and a little over 7% didn’t. Receiving internal anal play from others was enjoyable for almost 72% and not liked by about eight and a half percent of respondents. Giving external anal play to others was appealing to nearly 67.5% of respondents and not enjoyed by almost 7%. Giving internal stimulation to others was enjoyed by over 66%, and not by almost 5%. Around 20-25% of respondents said these questions did not apply to them.

Many participants wanted to add comments to flesh out their anal experience. “I would love to try with two men or with a woman who has strapped on a dildo,” said one. “Not sure which was better giving or receiving. It definitely made me more adventurous, mmmm,” said another. “Initial exploration into receiving from others was painful and traumatic,” said a third. “It got better once I took more control of the play.”

There are various reasons a person might like anal, or not—we wondered, was lubricant used? Over 84% said, “Of course!” Almost 2% said, “I don’t think so.” Over 10% said, ”Does spit, vaginal lubricant, or the lube on the condom count?” (Our answer: No, it does not!) And 3.32% said they had not used lube.

We also wondered if people had gotten themselves in the mood to try anal via fantasy or solo play. “If you’ve received anal stimulation from others,” we asked, “did you fantasize and/or self-stimulate anally before trying the first time?” Over 40% had fantasized receiving anal, while over 47% had both fantasized and self-stimulated anally first. Over 20% had not done these things. Almost 10% had not yet received anal play from others, while almost 4% were not interested in receiving anal play from anyone else.

We know sex education doesn’t elucidate the ins and outs of anal, so we asked, “Would you be open to trying (first time or again) if given helpful resources first?” Over 84% said “Sure!” and another almost 12% said “Maybe.” Almost 3% didn’t think so, while 1.15% said “Absolutely not.” (We think those were the people who hadn’t used lube!) “After a bad experience you learn a lot. Knowing what I know now, I would like to try again,” said one. Another shared, “The difference between a pleasurable anal experience and a painful one is small. Help steering me and my partners in the same direction is always welcome.” Several others referenced bad or painful experiences, health conditions, as well as fear of dirt or mess: “this is one of those areas where I know it should stay a fantasy. in my fantasy, everyone has sparkling clean colons!” “Terrified of anal. If I had more resources and how-tos I think I would be more comfortable trying.” Honestly, info and resources are practically required for good anal experiences! Our favorite respondent exclaimed, “For SCIENCE!”

And here’s our vote for the first sentence of the novel we’d like to see: “A girl with a strap and a hungry look in her eye is a dangerous thing man…”

We asked, “What is your age?” 10.37% were 18-24; 26.3% were 25-34; 26.22% reported their age as 35-44; 20.97% said they were 45-54; 10.59% were 55-64; and 5.55% were 65 and over. Interestingly, Babeland customers skewed younger, with most respondents under 35, while Good Vibrations respondents were a little older, with most between the ages of 35-54.

Finally, we asked about gender. More Babeland respondents identified as female than male; in the case of Good Vibrations it was the reverse (but by a spread of only a few percentage points). 43.59% overall identified as cis female (assigned female at birth, identifies as female), while 46.11% stated they were cis male (assigned male at birth, identifies as male). 0.94% identify as transfeminine or transwomen; 1.8% are transmasculine or transmen. 6.34% identify as nonbinary or gender non-conforming, 0.36% identify as agender, and 1.73% said “My gender is not reflected here.” Of these, reported identities included Two-spirit, Intersex, Hybrid, genderfluid femme, “sissy but not transfem,” and one said, “A mix between feminine, non-binary, and agender… Usually leaning agender feminine. Assigned female at birth. It’s hard to explain and nearly label.” Two said they had taken the survey as a couple.

In conclusion, survey results suggest that interest in anal play is strong, and a great many respondents also sent thoughts about how hot and pleasurable anal, or the thought of anal, was for them. To which we say: Information, communication, relaxation, lubrication! More helpful hints about anal sex to come, since August is Anal Sex Month!