The PLAY sex column may be a guilty pleasure for some of you, because it is a place where things we don’t normally talk about in everyday life are discussed and examined. This is definitely going to be one of those kinds of columns.

Strangely enough, I got the idea to become a columnist from reading an article about anal sex that I thought provided poor advice. I was immediately concerned that columns like this are published all the time and incorrect information wantonly floats about to the detriment of people and their sex lives. I wanted to rectify that in any way I could. And I wanted to be able to write dirty words and not get in trouble.

But back to anal. Anal play has a stigma attached to it for many reasons, but I do know that a lot more people than you might think are curious, if not very, interested in it. There are three things that are crucial to have before engaging in anal play. The first and most important is desire. If you don’t want to have anal sex, don’t. Don’t do it as a special treat for a partner – it’s not like baking a cake. The only way anal will be enjoyable is if both parties are really in to it.