In Today's Things We Didn't Ask for, Gwyneth Paltrow Shares Her Guide to Anal Sex

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published 24 March 2017

Gwyneth Paltrow has imparted her unsolicited advice on many things—from vagina steaming to bra burning—and now she's decided to tell us what she's learned about anal sex. So that's nice.

In the Sex Issue of Goop (opens in new tab), readers are told that if "anal turns you on, you are definitely not alone."

"First it was shocking, then it was having a cultural moment, now it's practically standard in the modern bedroom repertoire—or so a quick scan of any media, from porn to HBO, will tell you,' says Goop. "But the reality about anal is not, actually, that everyone's doing it."

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The piece points out that while "somewhere near half" of homosexual men practice anal sex, the number of heterosexual men and women who've tried it "vacillates between 30 and 40 percent."

The piece then offers Q&A-based advice from research psychoanalyst and author Paul Joannides (opens in new tab), who has published a book on sexuality called The Guide To Getting It On!

He goes on to explain the health risks of anal sex, how to modify the anal sex seen in porn, how to make sure your anal experience is a positive one, and what should we be telling our children about anal intercourse.

So there we have the completely unprompted Gwyneth Paltrow guide to anal sex. You're welcome.

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Ella Alexander is Harper’s Bazaar's Deputy Digital Editor. She writes across all sections, covering fashion, arts and feminism – from fashion features and shopping galleries to celebrity interviews and long-form opinion pieces. She lives in South London and has an ardent love for Keith Richards, Gary Barlow, AA Gill, George Orwell and Patti Smith (not in order). Her favourite film is The Labyrinth, mostly because of David Bowie, and she is distinguishable through her self-titled ‘Jeremy Corbyn baker boy hat’. She recently achieved relative fame after the Clooneys named their twins, Ella and Alexander, after her.