There are only five items required fisting:

• Desire | The yearnings for extreme anal stimulation.
• Consent | Two or more parties willing to participate in extreme anal stimulation.
• Hole | An orifice that can accept an insertive participant that is into extreme anal stimulation.
• Fist | An object of flesh and blood that will penetrate a hole needing extreme anal stimulation.
• Lube | A substance that will facilitate extreme anal penetration without injury.

Since these items have been available from the dawn of recorded history, even across socio-economic classes, it is safe to assume that fisting occurred throughout the ages.

VOCABULARY

Interfemoral Sex

1. Noun noun fucking between the upper thighs, without any penetration of the anus or vagina

It is noteworthy that the general practice of fisting has always had a limiting factor: shit. Fecal material is so limiting that interfemoral sex was a common homosexual practice prior to the sexual revolution. Without a way to overcome this barrier, anal sex and fisting remained uncommon activities in the realm of human sexuality. They were generally practiced in secrecy or extreme privacy.

Documented use of enema technology (anal douching) appears as early as ancient Egypt; however, the equipment to perform an effective clean-out didn't become ubiquitous until the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries . After the equipment became available and was perfected, fisting increased to level practiced today.

Queer theorists have argued that the Summoner's Tale from the work Canterbury Tales (~1386 - 1400 A.D.) contains a 'scene of eroticized male-male groping, of a male hand entering a male anus:' .

Middle English

"Now wel," quod he, "and somwhat shall I yive
Unto youre hooly covent while I lyve;
And in thyn hand thou shalt have it anon,
On this condicion, and oother noon,
That thou departe it so, my deere brother,
That every frere have also muche as oother.
This shaltou swere on thy professioun,
Withouten fraude or cavillacioun."

"I swere it," quod this frere, "by my feith"
And therewithal his hand in his he leith,
"lo, heer my feith; in me shal be no lak."

"Now thane, put in thyn hand doun by my bak,"
Seyde this man, "and grope wel bihynde.
Bynethe my buttok there shaltow fynde
A thyng that I have hyd in pryvetee."

"A!" thoghte this frere, "That shal go with me!"
And doun his hand he launcheth to the clifte
In hope for to fynde there a yifte.
And whan this sike man felt this frere
Aboute his tuwel grope there and here,
Amydde his hand he leet the frere a fart."

Modern English

"Very well," he said, "This reward shall I give
to your holy monastary while I still live;
In your hand, you will have it,
but upon this condition and no other,
That you share it, dear brother,
equally amongst your fellow friars.
Swear to me this upon your profession,
being truthful and without objection.

"I swear to God to share it!" replied the friar,
And made this oath with his hand upraised,
"I swear without deception, God be praised."

"Good, now slide your hand down my back,"
said the man, "and feel me from behind.
Just below my butt you will find
the reward that I have hid."

"Ah ha!" thought the friar "It will be mine!"
And he slid his hand down through the crack
in hope to find the reward.
And when the man felt the friar's hand
feeling around his asshole,
He let one go and farted into the friar's hand.

The lower right-hand quadrant of Michelangelo's The Last Judgement inside the Sistine Chapel supposedly portrays a sodomite being fisted. At least that is what some individuals have anachronized.

Rictor Norton proclaimed in his essay, History of Homoerotica, the following:

Some marked changes in gay sexuality have occurred especially since the 1950s and 1960s. Fisting, for example, has no historical precedent—although impalement features in some early gay fantasies. ... Surveys of diaries, news reports, and the gay media have established that fisting was invented in the summer of 1971, in the 'backroom' of a gay bar in New York City. The practice quickly spread to the backroom bars of San Francisco, and was exported thence to Japan and Europe .

Many reviewers of his essay rebutted this claim, noting that documentation may first appear on the record during the sexual revolution, but suggesting that fisting didn't occur until then is like saying:

...that everyone in the world was too stupid to make nachos until 1943.

The presumption is that two things have spurred growth in anal fisting as sexual activity: ubiquity of enemas/douches and fisting porn (both professional and amateur). Amatuer fisting historian and diarist, Finn Vortex, notes that his first post-elbow experience in 2015 was with a top who had been fisting for almost fifty years, since 1967. That top recounts that he was introduced to the practice by individuals who had been fisting for decades (early mid-century). A significant amount of history and experience was lost during the AIDS crisis.

Several members of academia have attempted to dissect and define fisting from a psychological or anthropological viewpoint.

• Gayle Rubin — Cultural Anthropologist. In literature, she is often attributed to the fallacy that fisting was invented in the 20th century. Other than that incorrect assumption, which probably occurred early in her career, her material is thoughtful and positive.
• Michel Foucault — Philosopher and Historian. Michel focuses highly on power relationships and BDSM. He participated heavily in the emergent BDSM culture and his perception of fisting is seen strictly through that window.

Television and Film

With the advent of smart phones and the internet, fisting has become more commonplace as a general sex activity. Amateur pornography has increased the acceptance within the gay community and has infiltrated discussions or references outside of gay culture.

Internet