Fisting

Fisting-also known as fist fucking (FF), handballing, and brachioproctic or brachiovaginal insertion-is a sexual activity that involves inserting one or more hands into the rectum (anal fisting) or the vagina (vaginal fisting). Fisting may be performed on oneself (self-fisting) or performed on one person by another. People who engage in fisting are often called “fisters”.

History

Fisting’s emergence as a sexual practice is commonly attributed to gay male culture. However, its precise origin is disputed. Some claim fisting began in the twentieth century, whereas others assert the practice dates back to the eighteenth century or earlier. Sex educator Robert Morgan Lawrence, for example, claimed the practice dates back thousands of years.

Fisting became more visible and popular around the time of the gay liberation movement, during which sex clubs partly or entirely dedicated to the practice emerged. The hanky code allowed fisters to surreptitiously solicit partners in public by wearing red handkerchiefs. By 1973, gay bars, bathhouses and clubs such as the Red Star Saloon in South of Market, San Francisco were openly advertising fisting. The most famous fisting club was the Catacombs, a gay and lesbian S/M leather fisting club in San Francisco that operated from 1975 to 1984. Other popular fisting clubs include the Handball Express and Red Hanky Express. Crisco was commonly used as a lubricant-prominently featured in pornographic films like Erotic Hands (1980)-before specialized products became available.

During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, cities such as San Francisco and New York forcibly closed gay establishments that, accurately or not, were believed to permit unsafe sex, including fisting. Consequently, most venues that permitted fisting, namely gay bathhouses and sex clubs, permanently closed. While the closures were supported by some in the gay community (such as Randy Shilts), others-including the gay press, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and San Francisco Human Rights Commission-criticized the decision as counterproductive and a violation of civil liberties. Many regarded the closures as a product of anti-gay hysteria as well as anti-sex attitudes and disapproval of gay sexual activity in particular. Meanwhile, safe sex advocates launched a public health campaign to promote the use of gloves.

Fisting’s visibility and popularity has grown in the twenty-first century, likely due in large part to the internet and greater HIV prevention and treatment options. Fisting pornography is now widely available online and fisters can easily meet via social media platforms, some of which are tailored for fisting (e.g. Recon). Gay bathhouses have made a comeback, with some even advertising fisting parties and live demonstrations.

Techniques

Hands

A common technique, particularly for beginners, is to extend four fingers straight with thumb tucked beneath. Some refer to this technique as the “silent duck” or “duck-billing”, because the hand position resembles a duck beak.

In more vigorous forms of fisting, often referred to as “punching” or “punchfisting”, the hand is partly or fully clenched into a fist before, during, and/or after insertion.

Taking two hands at once is referred to as “double fisting”. In the case of double fisting, pleasure may be derived more from the stretching of the anus or vagina than from the in-and-out movement of hands.

Oftentimes, hands are inserted up to the wrist. Some experienced fisters enjoy deeper penetration, sometimes referred to as “depth play”, in which hands may be inserted as far as the elbow.

Sometimes a penetrative partner may insert their penis or a sex toy at the same time as their hand(s), to masturbate inside the receptive partner’s rectum or vagina.

While rare, some experienced fisters are capable of taking three hands.

Lubricants

Lubricants designed specifically for fisting or with fisting as an intended use are widely available in some countries.

Sex toys

Fisters commonly use dildos to loosen the vagina or anus before or during a fisting session.

Terminology

Common fisting-related terms include:

Fist; fist fuck: “the practice of inserting the hand (and part of the arm) into a partner’s anus (or vagina) for the sexual pleasure of all involved.”

Fister; fist-fucker: a practitioner of fisting; or, depending on context, a penetrative partner in a fisting session involving two or more people.

Fistee: a receptive partner in a session involving two or more people.

Punch fisting: fisting in which the hand is partly or fully clenched into a fist before, during, and/or after insertion.

Double fisting: fisting in which two hands are inserted into the anus or vagina.

Rosebud or rectal prolapse: when walls of the rectum have prolapsed to such a degree that they protrude out of the anus. Can be induced by fisting or other ass play (named due to the prolapse’s resemblance to a rose flower).

Bloom: “bloom” is used as a verb (e.g. “blooming”) to describe the act of inducing a rosebud or prolapse, or the moment when a rosebud or prolapse becomes visible.

According to The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English, “fisting” and “fist fuck” entered the American slang lexicon no later than 1969.

Risks

Fisting can cause laceration or perforation of the vagina, perineum, rectum, or colon, resulting in serious injury and even death. As anal fisting may cause damage to the rectal mucosa, it may increase the likelihood of transmission of sexually transmitted infections. In addition, sexual activities that force air into the vagina can lead to a fatal air embolism, predominantly during pregnancy.

A 2021 study found that men who practiced anal fisting were more likely to experience fecal incontinence than men who engaged in other forms of anal sex. 18.1% of men who engaged in fisting experienced some form of fecal incontinence in the last month, compared to 7.2% of men who did not engage in fisting. However, more research is required to establish a causal link, and whether or not this is temporary or has a long-term impact.

A 2022 report published in the journal Sex Education found that “clinical and forensic research has over-inflated the ‘dangers’ of fisting without an understanding of contexts in which fisting takes place.” It also found that anal and vaginal fisting present “low to no risk” of sexually transmitted infections.

Gloves, lubricant, and fingernail trimming can help reduce risk.

In popular culture

Fisting has been depicted or referenced in art, music, cinema and other forms of popular culture. Examples include:

Art

The San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, opened in 2017, is art that honors leather culture and community members including Steve McEachern (owner of the Catacombs, a now defunct gay and lesbian S/M leather fisting club in the South of Market area of San Francisco) and Bert Herrman (a fisting community leader, author, and publisher).

Erotic photography by Robert Mapplethorpe, including “Double Fist Fuck” (1977) and “Fist Fuck / Full Body” (1978) and “Helmut and Brooks, NYC, 1978”.

Erotica by Tom of Finland, Dom Orejudos, Bill Schmeling, Chuck Arnett, Gengoroh Tagame, and Drubskin

Hanky Panky (2020) by Kent Monkman

Performance art

In Solar Anus (1999), Ron Athey challenged the feminization and sexual roles associated with male penetration by both giving and receiving penetration through self-fisting.

In Being Green (2009), Jess Dobkin was fisted while dressed as the hand puppet Kermit the Frog.

In 2013, Detroit-based artist Jerry Vile placed a 4-ft. tall can of Crisco in front of the fist-shaped Monument to Joe Louis for “helping to ease the pain of Detroit’s bankruptcy.”

Music

The album cover for Slide… Easy In by Rod McKuen (1977) depicts gay porn star Bruno’s fist clenching “Disco” shortening. The inscription states “this was a project everyone had to get into; not just on the surface, but deeply-and together. If you don’t feel “easy in” then perhaps your threshold of pain or pleasure needs looking into.” (The European edition of the album featured a different cover because the original was considered “too outrageous.”)

“Krisco Kisses” (1984) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood

“Stinkfist” (1996) by Tool

Music video for “House of Air” (2017) by Brendan Maclean

Film

Caligula (1979)

Cruising (1980)

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Pornographic films

Drive (1974)

Candy Strippers (1978)

The Other Side of Aspen (1978)

Erotic Hands (1980)

Tampa Tushy Fest, Part 1 (1999)

Television

In 1993, Julian Clary joked “I’ve just been fisting Norman Lamont ’round the corner” during a live broadcast of the British Comedy Awards viewed by 13 million people.

In South Park season 5 episode 14 (“Butters’ Very Own Episode,” December 2001), Butters’ father watches the film “Fisting Firemen 9” at a gay adult theater.

Judges and contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race and its spin-offs are known to sometimes make fisting-related jokes.

Literature

All trilogy (1969-1971) by Dirk Vanden

Maitreya (1978) by Severo Sarduy

The Divine Androgyne According To Purusha (1981) by Peter Christopher Larkin

Trust: The Handbook: A Guide to the Sensual and Spiritual Art of Handballing (1991) by Bert Herrman

A Hand in the Bush: The Fine Art of Vaginal Fisting (1997) by Deborah Addington

Clubs

Crisco Disco, discotheque in New York City (1970s-1980s)

Catacombs, sex club in San Francisco (1975 to 1981, reopened at another location from 1982 to 1984)

Mineshaft, bar and sex club in New York City (1976-1985)

Caldron, sex club in San Francisco (1980-1984)

Crisco Club, gay bar and sex club in Florence, Italy (est. 1981)

La Fistinière, fisting guesthouse in Assigny, France (2007-2018)

Le One Way, gay bar and sex club in Paris, France

Other

In 2011, adult performers Jiz Lee and Courtney Trouble proclaimed October 21 as “International Fisting Day,” which Lee described as “a day of international celebration and education” intended in part to combat censorship.

In the handkerchief code, the color red signifies interest in fisting.

Legal status

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, performing fisting and fisting pornography are both legal. However, until 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) considered publication of fisting material to be grounds for prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, the latter of which prohibits so-called “extreme pornography.” In 1998, the University of Central England was involved in a controversy when a library book by Robert Mapplethorpe was confiscated from a student by the police, who informed the university that two photographs in the book (including one involving fisting) would have to be removed. If the university agreed to the removal (which it did not) the book would be returned. The two photographs, which were deemed possibly prosecutable as obscenity, included “Helmut and Brooks, NYC, 1978”, which shows anal fisting. However, after a delay of about six months, the affair came to an end when Peter Knight, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, was informed that no legal action would be taken. The book was returned to the university library without removal of the photos. In R v Peacock (2012), the jury found Michael Peacock not guilty of breaching the Obscene Publications Act for selling DVDs containing anal fisting. That same year, a jury took less than 90 minutes to acquit Simon Walsh for possession of images of anal fisting that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) alleged constituted illegal, extreme pornography. In 2019, the CPS declared it would no longer prosecute pornography produced by consenting adults engaging in legal acts, including fisting.

United States

Fisting is on the Cambria List, meant to be a list of sex acts that carry risk of prosecution under U.S. obscenity law, created by Paul Cambria in 2001 to help producers avoid obscenity lawsuits. However, as of 2019, the Cambria List is generally regarded as obsolete within the American pornography industry.

See also

Anal sex

Sex toy

Sexual intercourse

Sexual penetration

References

External links

Media related to Fisting at Wikimedia Commons