I love anal play, at least to the extent I've experienced it. I'm not an advanced player by any means, and I've been working mainly with toys on the smaller side of the anal spectrum. When I saw the Tickle My Tush book on Goodvibes, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to expand my horizons, and learn even more about anal play. I've read a couple of books by Dr. Sadie Allison in the past, and for the most part found them enjoyable, but I think Tickle My Tush will be my last one. For the right person, this book would be amazing. For me? Not so much.
Something that I've come to accept with Dr. Sadie's books (this one being my third) is that they are most likely all going to have a hetero slant. This one, as well as the other two books I read by her did. While I am in a hetero relationship at the moment, I am pansexual, and thus I sometimes date different genders. To me, that was a little bit off-putting. Not only that, but I do find that Dr. Sadie has a tendency to talk down to her male readers, while praising her female readers for the same things she tells the male readers not to do. Some people may be able to overlook this, but I couldn't. I just kept shaking my head when I saw another male trampling.
Not necessarily a bad thing, the book caters mainly to those who are a bit nervous about anal play or who have never tried it before. This isn't really useful to me, as I have an active interest in anal play, but I can definitely see how this would make a reasonably good introduction to anal play and anal sex for an anal "newb". If you aren't 100% sure if anal is right for you, this is a good level zero.
- Tickle My Tush
To get you started off, Dr. Sadie tells you about both male and female anatomy. She explains in friendly and not scary terms about how to go about initiating anal sex, she tells you things you absolutely cannot skip, as well as things you may have heard you must do (enemas, etc) which really are not prerequisites.
Her language may be a turn off for some. Personally, I find her tone to be overall fine with me, but some of her terminology (He-spot, instead of P-spot, O-rings instead of sphincter) to be a bit much for me. To me, O-rings are those little rubber rings that you put on a strap-on to keep your dildo in place, but to each their own. If you want a non-threatening intro, this could be it.
One thing that really bugged me reading the book was the section on anal hair. Dr. Sadie points out:
"Fur- It's cute on small animals, maybe not so much on your butt."
Hey, Dr. Sadie? Everyone has butt hair, some more than others. While it's true that many don't want or like to have hair there, everyone has it and it's nothing to be ashamed about. If you want to shave, wax, get laser removal, those are all fine - but insinuating that we aren't cute for something that is 100% natural, and common was a little annoying to me.
The parts of the book I did like? I really enjoyed the section on butt massage. Dr. Sadie adds in a lot of interesting things you can do with the butt that I hadn't thought about before. I'm a certified Massage Therapist, but I personally have a hang up about using massage in the bedroom. I'm too used to it being a clinical thing, and sometimes I don't connect two and two together. The clear illustrations gave me ideas for how to give my partner a relaxing butt massage, though admittedly I'll probably use better body mechanics than she showed. It's a Massage Therapist thing.
I enjoyed how she talked about strap-on play. I have yet to be in the position to use a strap on with someone for anal play, but it's something I look forward to one day. It's nice to have a head's up before I get there.
I also really enjoyed the section on the prostate. Master isn't into penetration, so again, I haven't been able to play with a prostate and had no idea how you go about things. With this book under my belt, I have some ideas that I hope to try out some day, and, with Master, I have info on how to stimulate his prostate without penetrating him (which is something he isn't interested in).
There is a lot to gain from reading this book if you can get past some of the terminology and condescending attitude Dr. Sadie presents. If you're new to butt play, are in a heterosexual relationship, and want to know more, this might be the right book for you. For me? I learned a couple of new things, but I think that Dr. Sadie caters to a different type of reader than myself. I'm giving the book three paws.Thank you so much, Goodvibes, for sending me this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.
