Pegging is a

sexual practice Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

in which someone (usually with a vagina) performs

anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. ...

on someone else by penetrating their

anus The anus (Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, the residual semi-solid waste that remains after food digestion, which, ...

with a strap-on

dildo A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Dildos can be made from a number of materials and shaped like an erect human penis ...

Naming

The

neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...

"pegging" was popularized due to the sex education movie ''

Bend Over Boyfriend ''Bend Over Boyfriend'' (''BOB'') is a series of sex education videos covering the practice of a woman penetrating a man's anus with a strap-on dildo (known as pegging). The first of the two videos, which was released in 1998, became the best-se ...

'' released in 1998. After it became the winning entry in a contest for the "

Savage Love Savage Love is a syndicated sex-advice column by Dan Savage. The column appears weekly in several dozen newspapers, mainly free newspapers in the US and Canada, but also newspapers in Europe and Asia. It started in 1991 with the first issue of ...

" sex advice column, held by

Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes ''Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husba ...

in 2001 upon observing that except for the phrase "Strap On Sex" used by Queen and her partner Robert in their national lecture series (Robert was the original Bend Over Boyfriend at the Good Vibrations lectures). The concept lacked a common name and there was no dictionary entry for the act.These three links chronicle how the term ''pegging'' came into usage.
Let's Vote
, May 24, 2001
Count Every Vote
, June 7, 2001
We Have a Winner!
, June 21, 2001 Other words include "buggery" or "

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''s ...

", but these refer to anal sex in general. "Strap-on sex" can be used for vaginal or anal intercourse between people of any gender using a strap-on, and is thus less precise than pegging. Some

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the l ...

people prefer "strap-on sex" instead of "pegging" because they feel the latter is too hetero and cis centric. Beckett and Miller use "pegger" and "peggee" to refer to the person penetrating and the person being penetrated; "top" and "bottom" are also used.

Method

Pegging is penetrative sex with a

strap-on dildo A strap-on dildo (also strap-on) is a dildo designed to be worn, usually with a harness, during sexual activity. Harnesses and dildos are made in a wide variety of styles, with variations in how the harness fits the wearer, how the dildo attac ...

, usually anal penetration. It is usually defined as a heterosexual practice in which a woman penetrates the anus of a man. This definition of pegging is very centered around

cisgender Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of '' transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is L ...

and heterocentric identities. However, anyone can be penetrated anally regardless of their genitals or gender. The person penetrating their partner uses a strap-on dildo, often a

silicone A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cookin ...

phallus, attached with a harness or strapless (a dildo that also penetrates the pegger).

Lubricant A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...

is also used. According to Tristan Taormino, gender and gender roles play an important part in pegging. Pegging reverses traditional

heterosexual

gender roles A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cen ...

in sexual practices: the man is penetrated by the woman, becoming passive rather than active.

In popular culture

According to Beckett and Miller (2022), most popular representations of pegging are derogatory, negative or even amounting to

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

. Long before the term was coined as such, the 1970 film ''

Myra Breckinridge ''Myra Breckinridge'' is a 1968 satirical novel by Gore Vidal written in the form of a diary. Described by the critic Dennis Altman as "part of a major cultural assault on the assumed norms of gender and sexuality which swept the western worl ...

'', based on the novel by ''

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

'', depicted the first known pegging scene on screen. The first explicit pegging scene is believed to be the 1976 pornographic film '' The Opening of Misty Beethoven''.

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusati ...

describes a pegging act in his 1795 book ''

Philosophy in the Bedroom ''Philosophy in the Bedroom'' (french: La philosophie dans le boudoir, link=no) is a 1795 book by the Marquis de Sade written in the form of a dramatic dialogue. Though initially considered a work of pornography, the book has come to be consider ...

''. There is a depiction of pegging in the William S. Burroughs 1959 novel ''

Naked Lunch ''Naked Lunch'' (sometimes ''The Naked Lunch'') is a 1959 novel by American writer William S. Burroughs. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes, intended by Burroughs to be read in any order. The reader follows the na ...

''. The dildo used in the scene is called a Steely Dan III, and is the source from which the musical group

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from liv ...

takes its name. ''

'' (1998) is based on a series of lectures and workshops by Robert Lawrence and

Carol Queen Carol Queen (born 1957) is an American author, editor, sociologist, and sexologist active in the sex-positive feminism movement. Queen is a two time Grand Marshal of San Francisco LGBTQ Pride. Queen has written on human sexuality in books such a ...

. ''Bend Over Boyfriend'' originally inspired

to call the act "BOBing" but his readers subsequently voted on the winning term, "pegging". Since the coinage of "pegging", it was featured in the TV show '' Weeds'', on the episode " Crush Girl Love Panic" (2006). Here, pegging appears to be non consensual and is played as a joke towards the male character being forced into anal sex. In the episode "Knockoffs" of the TV series '' Broad City'', Abbi Abrams pegs Jeremy Santos on his request. In the 2016 film ''

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadpo ...

'', Wade Wilson is pegged by his girlfriend Vanessa Carlysle on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wo ...

. In the episode "To Peg Or Not To Peg" of the TV Series '' The Bold Type'', Kat pegs Cody.

Naming

Method

In popular culture

References

Bibliography

Further reading