Above the rim

When I was first
tasked with writing this article, I found myself doing a rather convincing
beetroot impression.  Something had
punctured my desensitized armour and actually caused me to blush!   I had stumbled upon one of societies last
“taboos”, yet one that seems to be gaining in popularity (or at least in
awareness in social media and popular culture) .    Google and the internet will provide you
with a diaspora of information chunks about the pastime of “eating ass”.  It is a provocative topic because the anus
has had some bad press in the past.  For
decades society has told us that the anus is a filthy and shameful aspect of
our being that we must do our best to conceal from others. Animals think
nothing of sniffing around one another’s “backdoors”, but we have been taught
that it is a “no-go-zone” unless absolutely necessary and purely for the
purposes of purging the body of abhorrent waste matter and we should only
venture there during hygiene maintenance.  
The anus is associated with faeces, germs, foul odours and perhaps we
connect it to that “dirty”, secret part of us that we try to hide in the
shadows.  Yet the anus is a hotbed of
highly sensitive nerve-ending and many testify to it being a gateway to
indescribable pleasures.  In this way,
the anus may be considered “the last frontier”. 

To some, rimming is
not even a fetish; rather it is a regular part of their sexual practise.  But if this occurs as commonly as social
media and popular porn-sites would have us believe, then what are the risks of
being a “rimmer” or a “rim-ee”?

Rimming can expose
you to harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli (“E. coli”) if you are not
careful.  The presence of human faeces in
and around the anus (even in small amounts) can cause these bacteria to make
you very ill and can result in dysentery and other gastrointestinal infections
and parasites.  It can also result in
urinary tract infection for women, especially if the vagina is orally
stimulated after the mouth of the “rimmer” has been in contact with “rim-ee’s”
anus.  There is no danger of this if the
vagina is first on the menu, however.

There is very
little chance of contracting HIV through rimming but it can expose you to other
infections that your partner may have such as: 
hepatitis A, B and C; herpes simplex virus, conjunctivitis, gonorrhoea,
chlamydia, human papillomavirus (warts) and other sexually transmitted
infections.  So how do you kiss someone’s
ass safely then?

 Good personal hygiene and cleanliness can do a
lot to help the cause (showering, bathing and/or douching before rimming) but
it is no guarantee that you will not be at risk.  Promiscuity is potentially dangerous when
coupled with rimming and unsafe sex. 
Being selective of who you “rim” is a good start but there are other
ways to diminish your risks.  Using a
latex dental dam as a barrier between the mouth and the anus can prevent
infection.  Condoms that have been cut
down the side can be used in a similar fashion as can latex and non-latex
gloves cut to provide a protective surface between the mouth and the anus.  New barriers should be created for each new
interaction and should not be reused. 
Love it or hate it rimming is trending and no one can really be sure
when it started, but when it comes to sexual expression and safety, ignorance
may not result in bliss.  Being informed
helps if you decide one day to boldly go where you have never dared go before.

Perhaps there is a
world of newfound pleasures waiting for you, where “the sun doesn’t shine”? If
this is the case, then it need not impact your health.

 Bruce J. Little is a media
consultant for Health4Men, a project of the Anova Health Institute NPC, funded
by USAID through PEPFAR. This article represents Bruce’s personal views.