ANAL EROTISM

Psychoanalytic term for pleasurable sensations associated with the anal region.These sensations arise in infancy during the anal phase of psychosexual development when the child derives gratification from expulsion, retention, or observation of the feces. If the libido, or pleasure drive, is arrested or “fixated” at this stage, the individual will have a tendency to derive special pleasure from this region in later life. He may experience unusual gratification from elimination, manipulation of the anal region by himself or others, or may engage in anal intercourse. According to psychoanalytic theory, this drive may also be expressed in disguised or sublimated form in dreams, artistic productions, and humor. The individual who is fixated at the anal erotic stage is believed to develop anal character traits of obsessive orderliness, cleanliness, and miserliness.