I Went To Butt-Con & This Is What I Learned

When I was invited to something called Butt-Con, I decided to go, purely out of curiosity. And it turns out that Butt-Con is exactly what it sounds like: a convention devoted to butts.

Presented by bidet company Tushy, the first annual Butt-Con was held in New York on August 21. Promotional materials explained, “Think Comic-Con… but with way more butts!” and promised attendees would find “a holey experience for the like-behinded.” Weeks before Butt-Con actually happened, the event gained a bit of notoriety thanks to all the journalists tweeting about the peach-emoji-laden invitations. Along with wanting to see what silliness the invitations promised, I was curious to see how Tushy markets itself — the company was founded by Miki Agrawal, who left her position as CEO of period underwear company Thinx following sexual harassment allegations.

The promotional materials were right: as soon as I walked into Butt-Con, held in a small event space in Chelsea, I saw butts of many kinds. A model in a nude bodysuit wearing a giant butt-shaped mask on her head knelt at an “Ass-Kissing Booth” — her head was supposed to be the asshole. Next to her, another model knelt on a raised platform, having her back and butt painted with the Butt-Con logo. And that was just the beginning.

Inside the event space, a giant inflatable butt labeled “Tushy” dominated one side of the room. On the main stage, named “The Guest Bathroom,” three toilets served as chairs. Small corner rooms hosted a display on “The Brief History Of Butt-Cleaning," and a belfie (butt selfie) station. A DJ played a series of ass-themed songs; I heard “Fat-Bottomed Girls" at least three times that night. The result was overwhelming — especially considering the space was packed with people and the air conditioning was not working well, if at all.

After getting the lay of the land, I headed to the second stage, named “Cheeks Dive Bar,” to catch a talk called “Anal Like A Porn Star,” hosted by Asa Akira. I couldn’t actually see Akira — a fake bathroom wall covered in sex toy displays, anal sex facts, and pooping memes blocked my view, but I could hear her. And as I listened to her matter-of-factly share her expert anal sex tips — including taking D-Mannose before filming to reduce the risk of a UTI — I began to see the merits of Butt-Con. After you got past all the over-the-top decor and ass puns (I used my drink ticket on a cocktail called the “Vlad Pootin”), there were informed sex experts talking openly about anal sex, sharing information that you might not otherwise come across.

Here are the most interesting things I learned at Butt-Con:   

While Akira stressed that the extreme anal sex and double penetration scenes she's known for are the result of “years and years of practice,” she shared plenty of tips that even anal sex beginners can try. Along with her D-Mannose hack, she shared how she selects lubes for anal sex (she recommends silicone-based lube over water-based), treats minor anal tearing at-home (calendula ointment), and avoids accidental pooping after anal (that fart is probably not a fart, so head to a bathroom, stat).

I’d heard of Akira before attending her talk, but I didn’t know much about her besides the fact that she’s a porn performer. Now, I’m a fan. Her anal sex talk was very informative, and she’s also funny (her Instagram handle is “@asahole”). She was also thoughtful and candid in a post-workshop Q&A, including talking about how her race is marketed in the porn industry, and sharing how her approach to introducing a partner to anal has changed over the years (she no longer sticks a finger in a partner's asshole without asking first). Akira was the MVP of Butt-Con, appearing on two panels in addition to giving an anal sex workshop. While most of the people I chatted with were fellow curious journalists, others were Akira fans who’d bought a $12 Butt-Con ticket so they could see her. 

Among the many anal sex toy facts I learned from Babeland sex educator Lisa Finn’s “Butt Plug Playground” workshop is that you don’t need penetration to give someone a prostate orgasm: you can use a strong wand vibrator on their perineum instead. Other anal sex toy tips: wearing a butt plug during vaginal sex can help put pressure on the G-spot, anal play can help with incontinence, and when trying to find the G-spot or the prostate, “Think of the belly button as the North Star.”

I’d heard of the cake-sitting — a fetish in which people are turned on by watching someone sit on a cake — but I'd never seen it. So I didn’t know that “cake-sitting” is kind of a misnomer. It's not just sitting, like you'd do in a chair. It's really more of a sexy dance. For the Butt-Con finale, cake sitting pro Lindsay Dye twerked and gyrated into a butt-shaped cake, slowly destroying it as music played and the audience cheered her on.

In the past few years, there's been a lot of attention on the rise of ass play: anal sex, eating ass, anal toys, and all things "butt stuff." Butt-Con is proof of this: I was there for over three hours, and despite the heat, it was packed the whole time. Attendees were eager to learn everything they could about anal play, from asking Akira about her double-penetration scenes to learning about the merits of glass vs. silicone anal toys. It’s true what they say: millennials really, really love butts.