63.3% Of Women Like Anal Sex [1,260-Woman Study]

We recently polled 1,260 women to settle the question:

Do women like anal sex?

To give a full picture, we also broke down what factors separate a great anal sex experience for women from a disappointing one.

Specifically, we looked at preferred anal sex positions, how often women orgasm during anal intercourse, the ideal length of a session, and what the giving partner can do to boost pleasure for the receiver.

Here's what we found.

Summary Of Key Findings

1. 63.3% of women like receiving anal sex.

2. However, 77.6% of women have had at least one negative anal sex experience.

3. “It was painful” was selected by 66.7% of women as the leading factor leading to unenjoyable anal sex.

4. Despite this, 15.8% of women actually enjoyed the pain they experienced when receiving anal sex.

5. 51.9% of women have orgasmed when receiving anal sex. 39.0% orgasmed during their most recent experience receiving anal sex.

6. Doggy style is women’s favorite anal sex position with 42.9% of women choosing this position.

7. 21.4% of women selected cowgirl as their most disliked anal sex position.

8. 28.6% of women find receiving anal sex and vaginal sex to be equally enjoyable.

9. 13 minutes and 35 seconds is the average ideal duration that women would like an anal sex session to last for.

10. Women who’ve had anal sex also enjoy a range of other anal play, including being fingered anally by their partner (57.4%), using anal sex toys (38%), and receiving anilingus (37.7%).

11. 81.7% of women found their first time receiving anal sex to be painful.

Note: You'll find our methodology section at the bottom of this study.

63.3% Of Women Like Receiving Anal Sex

We set out to settle, once and for all, whether women genuinely enjoy anal sex. So we put a straightforward question to women who've experienced it:

Do you like receiving anal sex?

The numbers speak clearly.

63.3%, or nearly two out of three women who've had anal sex, said they enjoy it.

That's a strong majority, but a meaningful share of women (36.7%) still don't.

It's also worth noting that liking anal sex in general doesn't guarantee every single encounter feels good. In fact…

77.6% Of Women Have Had At Least One Unenjoyable Anal Sex Experience

When we asked respondents whether they'd ever had a bad experience receiving anal sex, more than three-quarters (77.6%) said yes, at least once.

That number points to a core issue with anal sex:

Even though most women do enjoy it, skipping proper prep and communication with a partner can quickly turn it into a negative, unsatisfying encounter.

Pain Is The Most Common Reason For Unenjoyable Anal Sex

Building on that previous finding, we dug into the specific factors behind bad anal sex experiences.

Pain – As the chart above shows, pain tops the list as the leading cause of unenjoyable anal sex, chosen by 66.7% of women.

Close behind is "Started too fast/Not enough time to relax" (43.5%). This ties back to the receiving partner's internal anal sphincter, an involuntary smooth muscle [1]. This muscle needs time to relax fully as it's stretched, and rushing that process can cause real pain for the receiver.

Right after that comes "Not enough lubricant/No lubricant," picked by 41.2% of women. Skimping on lube creates excess friction, which translates directly into pain.

Looking at the data, all three leading causes of unenjoyable anal sex circle back to some form of physical pain.

No orgasm – 22.6% of women pointed to a lack of orgasm as the reason their experience fell flat.

It was forced – Possibly the most troubling figure in this entire study: 20.5% of women cited "It was forced" as a reason they disliked anal sex. No sexual act should ever happen without consent.

Big penis issues – 16.6% found their partner's penis too large for anal sex to feel good. An overly large penis for the receiver is another common source of pain.

Small penis issues – Just 1.8% of women said their partner's penis being too small contributed to an unenjoyable anal sex experience.

Several respondents also shared other reasons behind disappointing anal sex:

• I was not prepared for ‘poop dick’ and it was embarrassing.
• When we were doing a lot of MMF threesomes, I used to almost automatically allow the new guy to try anal after the first date. But I became much more selective about who gets the brownie after a few guys got abusive or simply didn’t know how to approach anal.
• He did anal then vagina[l] which give me infection after.

Pain clearly leads the pack as the top reason for unenjoyable anal sex, but we also wanted to dig into why women enjoy it…

15.8% Of Women Enjoyed The Pain Of Their Last Anal Sex Experience

Curious about what drives enjoyment, we asked respondents to break down what made their most recent satisfying anal sex experience click.

One standout finding: 15.8% of women said they genuinely enjoyed the pain involved.

We suspect this "enjoyable" pain isn't tied to anything forced or non-consensual, but rather a consensual form of pain delivered by a caring, respectful partner.

Physical pleasure – 70% of women who enjoyed their last anal sex session credited it to "physical pleasure experienced," making this the top reason cited for enjoyable anal sex.

Attraction & Respect – "Attraction to partner" (57.8%) and "partner respect/communication during the act" (57.4%) landed in second and third place among women who enjoyed their last anal encounter.

Other major contributors included "It pleased my partner and that pleases me" (53.9%), "Used enough lube" (42.5%), and "Position made it enjoyable" (41.4%).

Respondents also shared additional reasons for their enjoyment:

• It was with a stranger and my husband did not know.
• Vaginal sex is too painful.
• I was in control. He did everything I asked of him.
• Good foreplay. I was hella turned on.
• I trained my butt with smaller objects first.
• I used a toy at the same time to stimulate my clit. The combo made anal much more enjoyable for me.

These results show there's no single reason women enjoy anal sex — most respondents actually cited multiple overlapping factors rather than just one.

51.9% Of Women Have Had An Orgasm During Anal Sex

Orgasm during an act is a strong signal that it's actually enjoyable, so naturally we looked into this too.

51.9% of women have orgasmed at least once during past anal sex, and 39.0% orgasmed the most recent time they had it.

These numbers confirm anal sex can absolutely be a path to orgasm for many women, though it appears less common than orgasm during vaginal-penile sex [2].

Of course, aggregate survey data doesn't map perfectly onto any one person, so clear communication remains essential for anyone hoping anal sex will lead to orgasm.

We also asked about female ejaculation specifically.

16.9% of women have experienced ejaculation/squirting at least once during anal sex, and 12.3% experienced it during their most recent encounter.

Doggy Style Is Women’s Favorite Anal Sex Position

Earlier in our survey, we found that 41.4% of women said the position used during anal sex played a role in making it enjoyable.

Anticipating this, we built sex positions questions right into our survey design.

The clear winner: Doggy Style, chosen by 42.9% of women as their top pick for anal sex — three times more popular than the runner-up, "lying down on my stomach," picked by 14% of women. See more anal sex position options here.

Respondents also shared their own go-to positions:

• Being bent over [a] bench or counter.
• Over the arm of the couch.
• Doggy style on the sofa with my knees on the floor and upper body on the sofa.
• It depends [on] who he is, his cadence and his size.
• Doggy style with me on floor and partner sat on edge of [the] bed as it’s easier to control depth of penetration

Interestingly, the most popular anal sex positions among women all involve facing away from their partner. That could be about the angle or depth these positions allow, or it could simply come down to not being face-to-face.

Cowgirl Is Women’s Most Disliked Anal Sex Position

We also looked into which positions women like least for anal sex.

Cowgirl ranked as the least favorite, picked by 21.4% of women, with "lying on my back" close behind at 20.2%. That "lying on my back" category covers any position with the woman on her back, including coital alignment technique and missionary.

Notably, both riding your man in cowgirl and lying on your back involve facing your partner — the opposite of our earlier findings, where the two most-liked positions, Doggy Style and "lying down on my stomach," both involve facing away.

1 In 4 Women Find Vaginal & Anal Sex Equally Enjoyable

Our very first finding showed that nearly two-thirds of women like anal sex. From there, we wanted to see how it stacks up against penile-vaginal sex in terms of enjoyment.

As the graph above shows:

• 68.4% of all women who've had anal sex still prefer vaginal sex.
• 28.6% find anal and vaginal sex equally enjoyable.
• 3% prefer anal sex over vaginal — a small 1 in 33 women.

Narrowing the data to only women who actually like anal sex shifts things a bit:

• 51.5% of women who like anal sex still prefer vaginal sex.
• 44.4% find anal and vaginal sex equally enjoyable.
• Only 4.1% of women who like anal sex prefer it to vaginal sex — just 1 in 24.

Perhaps the most striking takeaway is how few women prefer anal to vaginal sex, even once we isolate the group who genuinely enjoys anal.

13 Minutes And 35 Seconds Is The Ideal Anal Sex Duration (On Average)

We wanted to know if there's a "perfect" length for an anal sex session. Based on responses, the mean came out to 13 minutes and 35 seconds, with a median of 10 minutes.

Keep in mind the graph above includes every respondent who's received anal sex — both those who enjoy it and those who don't.

Given the wide spread in responses, these overall figures are less useful for any individual couple.

To get a more actionable read, we split respondents into those who like anal sex and those who don't.

• Women who like anal sex prefer an average of 17 minutes and 52 seconds, with a median of 15 minutes.
• Women who don't like anal sex prefer an average of just 6 minutes and 12 seconds, with a median of 4 minutes.

These numbers confirm what we suspected: women who enjoy anal sex tend to want it to last much longer than those who don't. Still, preferences vary widely, reinforcing just how important open communication is between partners.

37.7% Of Women Like Receiving Anilingus

Anal sex isn't limited to penetration alone — plenty of other kinky sex ideas involve anal stimulation that women enjoy. We wanted to gauge interest in anilingus, anal toys, fisting, anal fingering, and other anal play.

1. More than half (57.4%) of women who've had anal sex also enjoy anal fingering from their partner, making it the most popular anal activity outside of penetrative anal sex.
2. Anal sex toys came in second, enjoyed by 38% of women who've had anal sex.
3. Anilingus followed closely in third, enjoyed by 37.7% of women who've had anal sex.

More than a quarter (26.9%) of women who've had anal sex don't enjoy any of these additional activities.

3.2% chose "Other," with responses including:

• 2 cocks in my ass at [the] same time.
• Having my bum smelt by my partner.
• [I] love getting my anal area rubbed in [a] circular motion during 4play. It helps relax from [the] get go.
• Vaginal fisting is much often more enjoyable but I have taken small hands up my butt and enjoyed it a lot.
• I wish he would just let me peg him.

This data offers a useful window into women's preferences beyond penetrative anal sex, though it should still be applied cautiously to any specific relationship.

As with any sex act — whether it's giving a blow job or being dominant in bed — talking with your partner beforehand is the best way to learn their individual preferences.

81.7% Of Women Found Their First Time Receiving Anal Sex Painful

More than four out of five women (81.7%) said their very first time receiving anal sex hurt.

This is likely tied to the anal sphincter being stretched too quickly, before it has a chance to relax, or being stretched further than it's ready for.

Despite that high figure, 41% of women still described their first anal sex experience as pleasurable.

With 81.7% reporting pain and only 41% reporting pleasure during that first encounter, this points to a possible gap in the giving partner's knowledge, or a breakdown in communication between partners.

Sex shouldn't hurt unless that's specifically what you and your partner want.

Conclusion

We set out to answer, "Do women like anal sex?" — and now we have a clear answer.

63.3% of women who've tried anal sex enjoy it.

That said, a large share of women (77.6%) have also had at least one negative experience with it.

Curious how we gathered and crunched this data? Check out the Methodology section below.

Otherwise, feel free to leave a comment sharing your own thoughts on anal sex.

Methodology

We opened the survey by gathering basic demographic details. Anyone who'd never received penile-anal sex, along with non-female respondents, was excluded. All respondents were 18 or older, with a mean age of 41. After filtering, we were left with 1,260 total respondents:

• 1,021 women identifying as heterosexual
• 182 women identifying as bisexual
• 6 women identifying as homosexual
• 17 women who specified alternative sexuality to heterosexual/homosexual/bisexual
• 34 women who declined to provide their sexuality

These respondents answered a range of questions covering their feelings and preferences around receiving penile-anal sex and other anal activities.

This survey depended on participants' own memories and self-reported preferences. While we encouraged honesty and accuracy, the data is inherently self-reported, so some margin of inaccuracy is possible.

December 23, 2021