The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex (59 page)

But her efforts paid off—Vixen dildos are hands down the cream of the silicone crop, combining unbeatable aesthetic appeal and endurance. They have a silky-smooth finish, come in richly hued colors, and are just about indestructible. Although production has moved out of Marilyn’s kitchen, her dildos are still made with pride in the USA—if you always look for the union label, look for the Vixen logo as well. Marilyn’s motto is “happy employees make good dildos,” so she offers her staff good wages, liberal benefits, and free lunch every day. In return, they devote care and creativity to the time-consuming process of hand molding each and every toy.

Marilyn and her staff put a premium on customer satisfaction. Vixen offers a lifetime guarantee on all its toys, and many of its most innovative products have been designed in response to customer feedback. Bestsellers include the Nexus double dildo; the Mistress, a slender, gracefully curved realistic style; and the Gee Whiz, the first insertable silicone attachment designed to fit onto wand vibrators.

To learn for yourself why Vixen products are “worth every inch,” look for them in sex boutiques and online at
www.vixencreations.com
.

CHAPTER 13

Anal Toys

Like dildos, which have been in existence since time immemorial, anal toys have a long and distinguished history. One European doctor of the Victorian age instructed his male clients to insert wooden eggs rectally—his theory was that the pressure against the prostate gland would help route semen back to the bladder, preventing wasteful ejaculation of precious sperm. We have to assume that those gentlemen who went about their daily duties with a wooden egg up their rectum were enjoying themselves as much as our survey respondent who remarked:

Butt plugs under clothing can put a different twist on your day.

The anus is an erogenous zone for men and women alike, and as children nearly all of us engage in some sort of anal exploration.

From a very early age (6 or 8), I enjoyed inserting objects into my anus but did not actually masturbate until I was 12 or so.

As we grow into adolescence and adulthood, we encounter numerous societal taboos around anal play, ranging from the extreme (indulging in anal pleasure is dirty and perverted) to the subtle (indulging in anal pleasure is immature and potentially risky). Yet the truth is that anal play need be no more dirty or risky than kissing. If you follow a few commonsense precautions, playing with anal toys is completely safe as well as fun. Based on enthusiastic feedback from our survey respondents, we’re confident that anal play is sweeping the nation.

Once as my wife reached orgasm, she wound up shooting her butt plug into the nightstand lampshade. The shade suffered a small dent, which my wife thought was humongous. She insisted upon rotating the shade so no one would see the dent—as if they would have known where it came from!

Once More with Feeling

To recap what you’ve read in previous chapters: Please do take the time to relax your sphincter muscles before inserting anything into your anus, as relaxation is a prerequisite to enjoyable anal play. Do use plenty of lubricant. Make sure that any toy you insert anally is completely smooth and nonabrasive, has a flared base so that it won’t slip out of reach into your rectum, and (if longer than four inches) is flexible enough to align with the curves in your rectum. Finally, don’t transfer your toy from anus to vagina without either washing the toy or covering it with a new condom. The simplest, most convenient approach is to wear a condom on your anal toy every time you play.

Butt Plugs

Essentially, butt plugs are dildos designed especially for anal use. They are flared at the base so that they won’t wiggle out of reach, and many have a diamond shape that tapers to a narrow neck. This diamond shape allows you to “wear” a plug inside your rectum. Once you sneak the widest point of the plug past your sphincter muscles, your anal sphincter will clasp around the narrow neck, holding the body of the plug snugly inside you.

Variations on the diamond plug are generally rippled—some are pyramid-shaped like Christmas trees, with three increasingly larger ripples ranging from the tip to the base of the plug: As you get progressively more aroused and receptive, you can make your way from one ripple to the next. Some have corkscrew-like ridges down the length of the shaft; others have an undulating shape resembling beads strung close together. The rationale for these rippled shapes is that many people enjoy the sensation of the anus repeatedly contracting and releasing around each bump and ridge. Other people find this much anal activity more distracting than pleasurable, and prefer to slip a plug in place and leave it there.

I have a vibrating anal plug of which I am quite fond. I don’t much care for a penis in my ass, as they tend to want to stroke in and out, and I prefer just to be filled.

Some plugs are set on a handle, which provides a convenient way to approach what one adult mail-order catalog has coyly termed “the backdoor of Eros’ temple.” These nightstick-styled plugs have a rippling shaft, a diamond-shaped shaft, or a slim shaft ending in a fat round tip.

Plugs are available in the same range of materials as dildos (see the Dildos chapter for details). Vinyl is inexpensive and easy to clean, but not as flexible as other materials. Jelly rubber, rubber, and cyberskin are quite flexible but hard to keep clean. Silicone combines the best of both worlds—it’s flexible and completely nonporous.

Some leather specialty stores or fetish boutiques stock metal plugs and eggs. Metal plugs are cool and heavy, providing a unique sensation. But they’re not for novices. Since they’re exceptionally weighty and hard, you have to be careful how you move when they’re inside you to avoid banging them against your spine or tailbone. These metal toys are completely solid except for a narrow hole running down their center—within the S/M community, folks sometimes attach electrodes to these plugs to transmit electricity. Unless you’re very experienced with anal play, you shouldn’t insert any toy that doesn’t have a base or isn’t on a string, so we don’t recommend your playing with egg-shaped toys.

Anal Beads

These consist of a series of plastic, rubber, or silicone beads strung on a nylon cord. The beads range anywhere from marble-sized to softball-sized (needless to say, the latter are only for those with considerable experience in anal play). Anal beads are popular with folks who like to feel the anus opening and closing around each new bead. You may be surprised how visually entertaining it is to feed the beads into your partner’s anus and pop them back out again. Some people like to pull the beads swiftly out of the rectum while they’re coming, as a way of intensifying the orgasmic contractions. Others find this sensation too intense at the moment of orgasm and prefer to remove the beads before or after orgasm.

I’ve been anally penetrated with fingers, dildo, vibrating plug, and beads, all with enjoyment, but not at the moment of orgasm! A finger in my butt when I orgasm is okay, but the others draw my focus too much and I don’t seem to be able to have as exquisite a sensation. But they all get me very excited!

Various styles of anal toys

Because adult novelties are cheaply made, it’s a good idea to do a little safety overhauling on your anal beads before playing with them. Plastic beads frequently have nasty, sharp seams, which might scratch your rectal tissue. But this is nothing that a once-over with a nail file won’t solve. Softer rubber or jelly rubber beads can be porous, so if you want to use them more than once, put a condom over them. You can knot the open end of the condom around the last bead.

Vibrators

Vibration provides a fabulous way to enhance anal stimulation and penetration. After all, vibration can titillate the myriad nerve endings of your anus just as it does those of your clitoris or penis. A vibrating butt plug can relax your anal sphincter, distracting you from any involuntary tension or resistance you might otherwise feel. Or you can use a vibrator externally in conjunction with anal penetration.

My favorite method of masturbating is sitting on a silicone dildo, with a vibrator over my cock. I’m filled and exploding all at the same time! It leaves me with a pleasant, dirty, spent glow. The anal sensations the next day or two cause erotic daydreaming.

Battery Vibrators

Many of the plugs described above are available with battery packs, so that you can insert your plug and set it abuzz. Some anal toys feature a flexible plastic spine inside a long, slim tail—you can bend the spine to the angle that best suits your own tail. A variation on this theme is a slim probe that simultaneously vibrates and rotates. And some silicone plugs have hollowed-out shafts that accommodate a battery vibe.

People often use cylindrical battery vibrators for anal play. Some men find that G-spot vibrators, which are curved at their tip, make good prostate stimulators (one more way in which the prostate and G-spot are analogous). Feel free to use battery vibrators for anal play, provided your vibrator is at least seven inches long and you can always keep hold of it—don’t use a toy that lacks a flared base if you think you might lose your grip on it in the heat of the moment. If the vibrator itself seems too large to insert, you can adapt it for anal use with any one of a number of flexible vinyl sleeves. These sleeves fit over the top of a cylindrical battery vibrator and feature the nubs, fronds, and fringes so beloved by adult novelty manufacturers. The most practical styles are the simplest. By the time vibrations get down to the tip of a sleeve, they’re considerably diluted.

We don’t recommend using egg-shaped battery vibrators for anal play. Granted, the egg is attached to a cord, but if you start yanking on the cord to dislodge the egg from your rectum, it could come loose. Play it safe, and stick with toys that either have a flared base or are long enough to hold onto.

My lover and I were having sex while “wearing” twin egg vibrators. When we were spent, he removed his but I couldn’t let go of mine…after a bit of tugging it popped out of my anus with a very clear “pop” sound. We still laugh about it.

Electric Vibrators

For a powerful and penetrating massage, electric vibrators can’t be beat. If you’re holding an electric vibrator against your clitoris or penis, the vibrations will probably be diffused throughout your genital region and indirectly stimulate your anus.

The insertable attachments sold for use with wand vibrators work well for anal insertion. The curved G-Spotter attachment may be the best shape for anal use. Some men find this attachment just the ticket for tickling the prostate, while others find it a bit too short to hit the spot. The only coil vibrator attachment that should be used anally is the Twig, as even if this should slip off the vibrator shaft, it won’t slip into your rectum.

Of course, these vibrator attachments come in a fairly limited range of sizes and shapes. Overall, your best bet for combining anal penetration and vibration is to select a butt plug that pleases you and simply hold your vibrator against the base of the plug. As with the vagina, the nerve endings that are responsive to vibration cluster at the opening and outer third of the rectum, so using a vibrator externally should give you all the stimulation you desire. The funnel-shaped attachment packaged with most coil vibrators is ideal to press against the round base of dildos or plugs—it creates a suction that transforms the two toys into one.

Plug Shopping Checklist

Some things to consider before buying your plug:

•
Expense:
If you’re experimenting to determine your preferences, you may gravitate toward an inexpensive vinyl or jelly rubber model. If you know what you like and you’re making a long-term investment, treat yourself to a silicone model.

•
Material:
We recommend using condoms regardless of the style of plug you select, but be aware that jelly rubber or rubber models are porous and will be harder to keep clean than plastic, vinyl, or silicone.

•
Size:
Confirm the diameter that’s right for you before you buy—using finger-width measurements is probably the easiest way to gauge your preference.

•
Length:
If you plan to insert your plug and leave it in place, select one that’s no more than four inches long. If you want to stroke in and out of your rectum, select a longer probe or slim dildo.

•
Shape:
If you enjoy the sensation of your anus expanding and contracting, you might want to buy anal beads or a rippled plug. If you prefer penetration without movement, you might want to buy a diamond-shaped model that you can wear in place. If you or your partner want to stroke in and out of your rectum with the plug, select a slim, curved dildo, rather than a diamond-shaped plug.