Pegging is an anal sex act in which a woman penetrates a man's anus with a strap-on dildo. The neologism "pegging" was popularized by being the winning entry in a contest for the " Savage Love " sex advice column, held by Dan Savage in This was due to Savage observing that, after the act was popularized by the sex education movie Bend Over Boyfriend released in , the concept lacked a common name, 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 , and there was no dictionary entry for the act.
Beckett and Miller use "pegger" and "peggee" to refer to the person penetrating and the person being penetrated; "top" and "bottom" are also used. Pegging is penetrative sex with a strap-on dildo , usually anal penetration. It is usually defined as a practice in which a woman penetrates the anus of a man. According to Tristan Taormino , gender and gender roles can play an important part in pegging. Williams states that, for many, pegging reflects BDSM themes of dominance and submission. Evaluating queer opinions on "queering straightness", feminist author Jane Ward notes that "some have hypothesized that gender-subversive sex acts themselves, like pegging, could be a backdoor route to undermining men's patriarchal authority by redefining hetero-masculinity as receptive and vulnerable".
There are varying views among feminists on the use of strap-ons in sex. Some feminists argue that strap-on sex imitates patriarchal structures and undermines feminist ideals, asserting that fantasies should align with ethical principles. They criticize feminists who engage in strap-on sex as hypocritical. However, others share these concerns but question whether politics should be brought into the bedroom, while some oppose the notion that strap-on sex is inherently tied to patriarchy.
One friend described the experience as "fun and powerful", ironically calling it " Freudian bullshit ". Another sees it as a "therapeutic tool" for empowerment. Though Sciortino holds opposing views, she concludes that if the aim of sex is intimacy and pleasure, perhaps politics should be set aside. According to Beckett and Miller , most popular representations of pegging are derogatory, negative or even amounting to sexual assault.
Long before the term was coined as such, there is a depiction of pegging in the William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch. Bend Over Boyfriend originally inspired Dan Savage to call the act "BOBing" but his readers subsequently voted on the winning term, "pegging". Ozon stated that this scene, where the woman penetrates the man, "aligns with the feminist film that I advocate for".
