Fisting

Fisting—also known as fist fucking (FF),^[1] handballing, and brachioproctic or brachiovaginal insertion^[2]—is a sexual activity that involves inserting one or more hands into the rectum (anal fisting) or the vagina (vaginal fisting).^[1] Fisting may be performed on oneself (self-fisting)^[3] or performed on one person by another. People who engage in fisting are often called "fisters".^[1][4]

History

Fisting's emergence as a sexual practice is commonly attributed to

Fisting's visibility and popularity has grown in the twenty-first century,[20]^[21] likely due in large part to the internet^[22] and greater HIV prevention and treatment options. Fisting pornography is now widely available online^[23] and fisters can easily meet via social media platforms, some of which are tailored for fisting (e.g. Recon).^[24][25] Gay bathhouses have made a comeback, with some even advertising fisting parties and live demonstrations.^[26][15]

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.^[2][3]

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.^[27]

Taking two hands at once is referred to as "double fisting".^[4][6] 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.^[2]

Oftentimes, hands are inserted up to the wrist.^[5] Some experienced fisters enjoy deeper penetration, sometimes referred to as "depth play",^[28] in which hands may be inserted as far as the elbow.^[5][4]

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.^[29]

Lubricants

Lubricants designed specifically for fisting or with fisting as an intended use are widely available in some countries.^[30]

Sex toys

Fisters commonly use dildos to loosen the vagina or anus before or during a fisting session.^[4][31]

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."^[1]
• Fister; fist-fucker: a practitioner of fisting; or, depending on context, a penetrative partner in a fisting session involving two or more people.^[1][4]
• Fistee: a receptive partner in a session involving two or more people.^[4]

  

• Punch fisting: fisting in which the hand is partly or fully clenched into a fist before, during, and/or after insertion.^[27]
• Double fisting: fisting in which two hands are inserted into the anus or vagina.^[4][6]
• 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).^[32][33][34]
• 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.^[32]

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.^[1]

Risks

Fisting can cause

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.^[42][43][44] However, more research is required to establish a causal link.^[44]

A 2022 report published in peer-reviewed academic 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."^[15] It also found that anal and vaginal fisting present "low to no risk" of sexually transmitted infections.^[15]

Gloves, lubricant, and fingernail trimming can help reduce risk.^[45][30][31]

In popular culture

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

Art

• Erotic photography by Robert Mapplethorpe, including "Double Fist Fuck" (1977) and "Fist Fuck / Full Body" (1978)^[46][47]
• Erotica by Tom of Finland,^[48][49] Dom Orejudos,^[50] Bill Schmeling,^[51] Gengoroh Tagame,^[52] and Drubskin^[53]
• 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.^[54]
• In Being Green (2009), Jess Dobkin was fisted while dressed as the hand puppet Kermit the Frog.^[55][56]
• 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."^[57][58]

Music

• The album cover for "Slide... Easy In" by Rod McKuen (1977) depicts gay porn star Bruno's fist clenching "Disco" shortening.^[59][60] 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."^[60] (The European edition of the album featured a different cover because the original was considered "too outrageous.")^[61]
• "Krisco Kisses" (1984) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood^[62]
• "Stinkfist" (1996) by Tool
• Music video for "
  House of Air" (2017) by Brendan Maclean^[63]

Film

• Caligula (1979)^[64]
• Cruising (1980)^[65]
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)^[66][1][67]
• Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)^[68]

Pornographic Films

• Drive (1974)
• Candy Strippers (1978)
• The Other Side of Aspen (1978)
• Erotic Hands (1980)^[14]
• 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.^[69]
• 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.^[70]
• In Family Guy season 7 episode 8 ("Family Gay," March 2009),^[71] a character exclaims to a group of gay men off-screen: "use your fists... No, no, no, not like that!"^[72]
• In The Simpsons season 24 episode 15 ("Black-Eyed, Please," March 2013), Waylon Smithers asks, "What's this about a fisting?"^[73][74]
• Judges and contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race and its spin-offs are known to sometimes make fisting-related jokes.^[75][76][77]

Literature

• All trilogy (1969-1971) by Dirk Vanden^[78]
• Maitreya (1978) by Severo Sarduy^[79]
• The Divine Androgyne According To Purusha (1981) by Peter Christopher Larkin^[80]
• Trust: The Handbook: A Guide to the Sensual and Spiritual Art of Handballing (1991) by Bert Herrman^[2]
• A Hand in the Bush: The Fine Art of Vaginal Fisting (1997) by Deborah Addington^[10]

Clubs

• Crisco Disco, discotheque in New York City (1970s-1980s)^[81]
• Catacombs, sex club in San Francisco (1975-1984)^[15]
• 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)^[82][83]
• La Fistinière, fisting guesthouse in Assigny, France (2007-2018)

Other

• In the handkerchief code, the color red signifies interest in fisting.^[84]
• 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.^[23][15]
• The San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, opened in 2017, honors leather culture and community members including Steve McEachern (owner of the Catacombs) and Bert Herrman (a fisting community leader, author, and publisher).^[85][86]

  

Legal status

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, performing fisting^[87] and fisting pornography are both legal.^[88] However, until 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) considered publication of fisting material to be grounds for prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act 1959^[89] and Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, the latter of which prohibits so-called "extreme pornography."^[90] Such prosecutions were not always successful. For instance, in R v Peacock (2012), the jury found Michael Peacock not guilty of breaching the Obscene Publications Act for selling DVDs containing anal fisting.^[91] That same year, a jury took less than 90 minutes^[92] to acquit Simon Walsh for possession of images of anal fisting that CPS alleged constituted illegal, extreme pornography.^[87] In 2019, CPS declared it would no longer prosecute pornography produced by consenting adults engaging in legal acts,^[93] including fisting.^[88]

United States

Fisting is on the Cambria List, a list of sex acts that carry risk of prosecution under

• Anal sex
• Sex toy
• Sexual intercourse
• Sexual penetration

References