Facts about the butthole: Everything you need to know to cure your curiosity
This explainer will take you through the place of the butthole in history and culture, explain why we have one, what it does and how to use it and love it better.
First off, let’s talk about its name. There are over 50 slang words for anus. Back door, areshole, asshole, shitter, starfish, ham flower, and ringpiece are just a few.
Butthole is most popular because it is neutral and inoffensive – depending on the context some other slang terms can be positive, negative or really quite nasty.
Right, let’s get down to it: reading this guide is about to make your life a hole lot better.
Buttholes throughout history
Often the butt of everyone’s jokes, the anus has been deemed a good target and is the base of many insults. But it has a fascinating history.
Starting off in Roman times, we first hear “anus,” the Latin word we still use today. It means ‘ring’ or ‘circle.’ Makes sense eh?
One of the most famous examples of the butthole in history is the ancient ritual of women putting their asses out of windows for potential lovers to kiss (from Chaucer’s ‘The Miller’s Tale’).
King Edward II’s death by red hot poker up the anus is famous for its brutality, but it may just be propaganda. Let’s hope so.
But why do we have them?
According to Bret Contreras, “The Glute Guy,” one of the main reasons humans (and our primate cousins) evolved butts is so they could sit down.
So a big thanks to the monkey who started that off. If you’d like to find out how to sit down on cock more effectively, read our guide to the best gay sex positions, including, ‘riding.’
The science
The anus (we’re back to medical terms) is the opening where your gastrointestinal tract ends.
The anus starts at the bottom of your rectum, which is the last part of your large intestine.
Your butthole is part of the body’s most powerful group of muscles, made up of your ass cheeks (gluteus maximus) and two other muscles, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus.
Contrary to popular belief, the butthole does not get ‘bigger’ if you have anal sex. It’s a muscle, and through muscle memory it gets used to being penetrated.
The more you exercise a muscle, the stronger it becomes. Just ask any ‘power bottom.’ If you’re interested in finding out how to get fucked more, here’s a guide to being penetrated by your partner.
There’s another group of muscles too called the kegels which can improve your sex life.
They’re also known as the pelvic floor muscles, and you can find them by trying to stop when you’re peeing (mid-flow).
Pilates is great for these – if you strengthen them you’ll be able to shoot your cum further, and quite possibly shoot more spunk in general.
As well as being strong, your butthole is delicate and sensitive: the perfect combination for a 21st century boyfriend.
THE BUTTHOLE IN POPULAR CULTURE
If you want to convey a butt when you’re texting, you can use the peach emoji. For a butthole, we’d suggest a rosebud. How romantic.
In the world of music, there have been plenty of songs about butts and booty.
Songs about the actual butthole are less common, however there is this delightful offering from the Vengaboys.
The Dutch band paired with Perez Hilton in 2010 for a tongue-in-cheek song called Rocket To Uranus. The video (below), has got lots of sexual imagery and innuendo.
In wider terms, the butt has obviously been highly sexualised throughout time.
In private, that is obviously fine – but in the media the butt is still problematically exploited, and – along with other parts of the body – used to sell tickets to things, like films.
