Q: What Really Counts as SEX? Does Anal count?
A: Well…
What is classified as sex? Does anal actually constitute as sex? There is no established or consistent definition of what sex is, and while the vast majority of people consider penile-vaginal intercourse to be sex, there are plenty of other sexual activities that frisky folks call sex.
In the late 1990s, researchers realized people may be defining sex differently from each other. Around this time, researchers out of the Kinsey Institute conducted a study that found about 81 per cent of participants stated that they considered penile-anal intercourse sex and 40 per cent of people considered oral stimulation sex, showing a discrepancy between what we actually call sex.
So what is sex? Well, it depends on who you ask. More recent studies continue to find that people all define sex differently and that various factors influence whether an act is considered sex. Researcher Stephanie Sanders and colleagues found that 95 per cent of people considered penile-vaginal intercourse sex, 81 per cent considered anal intercourse sex, 71–73 percent considered oral stimulation sex, and 45–48 per cent considered manual stimulation sex. Researchers Zoe Peterson and Charlene Muehlenhard asked undergraduate participants about what activities constitute, “not quite sex” and why. Reasons a sexual activity may not be considered sex included lack of penetration, orgasm, genital contact, sexual arousal, and fluid exchange. Furthering this, researchers from the University of Utah asked what acts people definitely define as sex and probably define as sex. They found that whether or not an orgasm is achieved has an impact on statistics as does whether the person defining sex is the giver or the receiver. Penile-vaginal intercourse was — unsurprisingly — definitely considered sex for 90–99 percent of participants, and anal intercourse was definitely considered sex for 70–75 per cent of participants, which increased to 92–93 percent when adding probably sex. These researchers also asked about self-stimulation while on the phone with a partner and found that for both definitely and probably, only 14 per cent of people considered this act sex.
And all this hasn’t even touched on the shifting definitions of sex in feminist discourse and as they relate to LGBTQ2+ people.
So again, what is sex??? It’s a big question and ultimately it is up to you to determine what sexual activities constitute sex for you. That being said, various sexual activities can be pleasurable whether they are defined as sex or not, and whether they result in orgasm or not.
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