Fisting

History

Fisting is widely linked to gay male culture, though no one agrees on when it started. Some trace it to the 1900s, others to the 1700s or earlier; sex educator Robert Morgan Lawrence claimed it goes back thousands of years. The practice became more visible during the gay liberation movement. Before the 1960s, it mostly happened in private, but by 1969 men were doing it openly at places like St. Mark's Baths in New York.

The hanky code and personal ads helped people signal interest discreetly. By 1973, venues such as the Red Star Saloon in San Francisco's South of Market were advertising fisting. Dedicated clubs like the Catacombs, Handball Express, and Red Hanky Express soon followed.

Fisting parties became a regular social event for enthusiasts, with some attending up to three a month. In 1975, around 300 men went to a two-day fisting convention and contest run by FFA in Ossining, New York. Crisco was a popular lubricant because it was cheap and easy to find, as shown in the 1974 film Erotic Hands. The term "Crisco" became gay slang for fisting.

Terminology

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. Common terms include 'fist fuck' (abbreviated FF or FFun), 'handball' as a synonym, 'fister' or 'fist-fucker' for a practitioner (or a top), and 'fistee' for a receptive partner. 'Punch' or 'punch fist' refers to fisting with the hand partly or fully clenched. 'Double' or 'double fist' involves inserting two hands simultaneously. 'Rosebud' or 'prolapse' describes when rectal walls protrude out of the anus, which can be induced by fisting; 'bloom' is the act of inducing this. In medical contexts, fisting is sometimes called brachioproctic eroticism or brachioproctic/brachiovaginal insertion. Though 'fisting' and 'handballing' are often used interchangeably, some consider the former crude and the latter more associated with intimate love-making and spiritual communion.

In popular culture

References to fisting appear in art, music, cinema, and other forms of popular culture. The San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, opened in 2017, honors Steve McEachern (owner of the Catacombs) and Bert Herrman (a fisting community leader). Erotic photography by Robert Mapplethorpe includes works such as 'Double Fist Fuck' (1977) and 'Helmut and Brooks, N.Y.C.' (1978).

Erotica by Tom of Finland, Dom Orejudos, Bill Schmeling, Chuck Arnett, Gengoroh Tagame, John Klamik, and Drubskin also features fisting. In the painting 'Hanky Panky' (2020) by Kent Monkman, and in Ron Athey's 'Solar Anus' (1999), which involved self-fisting. Jess Dobkin's 'Being Green' (2009) included being fisted while dressed as Kermit the Frog. In 2013, artist Jerry Vile placed a 4-ft. tall can of Crisco in front of the fist-shaped Monument to Joe Louis.

The album cover for Rod McKuen's 'Slide... Easy In' (1977) depicts a fist clenching 'Disco' shortening. Songs include 'Krisco Kisses' (1984) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and 'Stinkfist' (1996) by Tool. Films featuring fisting include 'Caligula' (1979), 'Cruising' (1980), 'South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut' (1999), 'Fifty Shades of Grey' (2015), 'L.A. Plays Itself' (1972), 'Drive' (1974), 'Candy Strippers' (1978), 'The Other Side of Aspen' (1978), 'Erotic Hands' (1980), and 'Tampa Tushy Fest, Part 1' (1999).

Legal status

In some countries, fisting, especially anal fisting, has faced censorship and criminalization because of its link to gay sex and its depiction as obscene. In the United Kingdom, both the act of fisting and related pornography are legal. But until 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service viewed publishing fisting material as a potential crime under the Obscene Publications Act from 1959 and Section 63 of the 2008 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act. In 1998, police took a Robert Mapplethorpe book from a student at the University of Central England, saying two photos, including one showing anal fisting, had to be cut out for the book to be returned.

The university refused, and after about six months, no charges were filed. In the 2012 case R v Peacock, a jury found Michael Peacock not guilty of selling DVDs that featured anal fisting. That same year, a jury acquitted Simon Walsh in under 90 minutes for possessing images of anal fisting that prosecutors called extreme pornography. In 2019, the CPS announced it would stop prosecuting pornography made by consenting adults doing legal acts, including fisting.

Did You Know?

• A common beginner technique for fisting is the 'silent duck' hand position, with four fingers straight and thumb tucked beneath.
• In rare cases, experienced fisters are capable of taking three hands.
• 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.