What is Double Penetration?

The Cowgirl Blog - What is Double Penetration

Written by sex journalist and expert, Gabrielle Kassel, for The Cowgirl.

If you’re reading this article it’s because the hint of double-trouble pumping in the title piqued your interest. So let’s cut right to the good stuff—read on for the 411 on double penetration.

What Is Double Penetration?

Popular belief (well, porn) says double penetration is a sex act that involves a vagina-haver taking one penis in the rear and another in the front. But body-positive pleasure expert Carly S., founder of Dildo or Dildon’t says the true definition is more expansive than that.

“Double penetration is any sex act that involves two objects or going in one or more bodily holes,” she says. “Those objects can be hands, fingers, penises, dildos, vibrators, plugs, packers, or ball-gags, and those bodily holes can include the mouth, anus, or vagina.”

That means a penis going in the mouth while a vibrating butt plug going in the anus counts as double penetration, and a penis and dildo going into one vagina at the same time does, too.

For the record: You don’t even need one partner to explore double penetration. “You can absolutely explore double penetration during solo sex by filling both of your bottom holes with toys, for example, or by sucking on a packer or dildo while being filled by a dildo or butt plug,” she says.

Why Can Double Penetration Feel Good?

So (!) many (!) reasons (!).

For starters, double penetration allows you to combine multiple feel-good sex acts into one seriously salacious sex event. The pleasure of wearing a butt plug with the pleasure of strap-on play, for example? Ooo baby!

This ~two is better than one~ play often lends itself to blended orgasms, according to Sarah Sloane, a sex educator who's been coaching classes about strap-on sex at Good Vibrations and Pleasure Chest since 2001. “Blended orgasms are orgasms that occur from two simultaneous sources of the stimulation,” she says. DP gives you that dual stimulation, therefore heightening the chances of having one. Often reported as being more pleasurable than other kinds of orgasms, “blended orgasms are intense, offering both localized and full-bodied pleasure,” she says.

Double-penetration is also paramount for pleasure-seekers who enjoy a sustained feeling of fullness. “There is a very real sensation of being stuffed to the brim and filled to max capacity that can accompany certain variations of DP,” says Carly S. Makes sense!

For vagina-havers, being penetrated by one object in the bum and one in the anus can help encourage a G-zone orgasm. “The duel penetration puts pressure on the internal hot-spot from both sides, which can enhance how pleasurable the act is.” Some vagina-havers may even be able to experience a G-spot orgasm!

Similarly, if a penis-owner is penetrated by an object anally during DP play, the odds of prostate stimulation are high. “The prostate is the anatomically analogous version of G-zone in most people with penises that is a fucking amazing pleasure-center,” explains Sloane. “People who have prostates say prostate stimulation can deliver a full-body orgasm.” The best part: prostate orgasms don’t even require an erection!

Double penetration can feel good for penis-owners who are playing the role of the penetrator, too. Being inside a mouth, vagina, or anus offers a hot, wet, tightness that can create pleasurable friction against a penis. “If the penis is going inside a body that’s also being filled by another object, the pressure against the penis increases which can make sex feel even better,” says Sloane.

This sex act can also be the perfect complement to other sexual scenes and fantasies like gang bang fantasies, rape fantasies, certain D/s scenes, and more.

Like we said: So many reasons!

How To Prepare for Double Penetration

Reading this article is a good first step (kudos!), but double penetration requires more prep than that.

Defined double penetration for yourselves

Whether you’re exploring DP during solo, partnered, or multi-partnered sex, the fact that double penetration can qualify as many things means that before you head to the bedroom you should have a super-solid understanding of which definition you’re trying.

After all, it’d be pretty darn awkward—not to mention downright—painful if your two partners think they’re going to be simultaneously penetrating your vagina with their strap-on dildos, while you’re envisioning being anally penetrated by one dildo and orally penetrated by another.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

Beyond just chatting out what orifices and objects are going to be used if one or more partners is participating it’s important to talk about desires and boundaries in advance.

“You want to talk about your verbal slow down and stop words,” she says. “And if your mouth is going to be one of the holes being penetrated, you’re also going to want to come up with a non-verbal safe word.” For instance: Three taps on the thigh mean stop, and a hand squeeze means to slow down.

This is also a good time to talk about sexual health status as well as what barriers and birth control methods you want to use, on whom/what, and for which sex acts.

Purchase prerequisite pleasure products

It’s very possible that you’re going to need to buy a butt plug, dildo, harness, internal vibrator, string of anal beads, prostate massager, ball-gag, sex machine, and sex machine attachment to have the double penetrative sex you’re lusting after!

Sloane recommends that the person who is going to be receiving the toy, be the one to pick it out. “You’re less likely to buy something that’s too big if you know you’re going to be the one putting it inside you,” she says.

Regardless, it’s best to start small. As Carly S. puts it, “Your body is not a never-ending cavern of pleasure, so if you have a huge object in one hole you likely will not be able to fit another big object in that or another hole.”

Some sex toys we recommend for DP play include:

Load up on lube!

While you’re adding things to your shopping cart, add some lube! As Carly S. puts it, “You can never have too much lube when it comes to DP play.”

Be honest about your experience level

...with both yourself and any partners you’ll be playing with.

Double penetration is a pretty advanced sex act that involves knowing your own bodily limits, as well as knowing how to communicate those limits before and during play with your partner(s), says Sloane.

“The most common mistake people make when having DP is expecting it to be as easy and seamless as it looks in porn,” she says. “I like to remind everyone who is going to have DP to remember that porn performers are performers who have trained again and again to make it look as easy as it looks on camera.”

How To Have Double Penetration Sex

Now that you’ve got your goods and had a few heart-to-hearts, it’s time to get (errr) body-to-body.

Start really slow

Babes, penetration should N-O-T be the first thing that happens while you’re getting it on!

“The receiver should be totally warmed up and their bits should be swollen and juicy before any single or double penetration takes place,” says Sloane.

Pre-penetrative play you might explore:

Clitoral stimulation with a vibrator, like the Le Wand Point
External stimulation with The Cowgirl and the Rawhide Attachment
Outercourse sex
Nipple stimulation
Cunnilingus
Analingus
External hand-sex

Lather on lube

“Even if you are being penetrated in a hole that naturally produces lubrication, you still need to use lube during double penetration because it’s a sex act with SO MUCH FRICTION,” says Carly S. (Emphasis hers).

Avoid swip-swapping holes

“You never want something to go right from the ass hole to the front hole because the vagina is delicate, and introducing bacteria from the bum to it can throw off the pH” and increase the risk of infections like bacterial vaginosis and yeast infection, says Carly S. For obvious reasons you also never want to go from the butt right into someone’s mouth.

Before hole-swapping, she recommends switching condoms or heading to the sink for a quick wash.

Practice aftercare

“Aftercare is the practice of giving yourself and your partners whatever you and they need to feel safe and secure after sex,” says Carly S. “This is a good practice for all types of play, but it’s especially important after this really intimate sex act.”

She notes that it’s important to remember that what aftercare looks like can vary person-to-person. “For some people that means being held after sex, for others that means showering, and for a few that may mean re-hydrating or eating,” she says.

Talking about what your aftercare needs are ahead of time can help all parties ensure that their post-nookie needs are being met—and that nobody's feelings are hurt if someone beelines it from the bedroom to the fridge or shower.

Give it a try again

“Unless you have a really really awful experience, I recommend giving everything three tries because it takes time to learn the mechanics of the double penetration,” says Sloane.

If it didn’t work, she recommends asking yourself: What was the hold up here? Was it the size of the objects? Was it the position? Was it that a person with a penis didn’t have an erection? Was it that one of the toys wasn’t charged?

“Once you know the answers to these questions you can creatively troubleshoot them for a more pleasurable second or third experience,” she says.

How To Explore Double Penetration With The Cowgirl

Want to explore DP on your own? Want to explore with your boo *without* inviting a third into bed with you? Try The Cowgirl. An award-ridden mountable vibrator, The Cowgirl is designed to be ridden. (Think: mechanical bull meets palm vibe).

With the option to be outfitted with a variety of penetrative and non-penetrative attachments, this sex machine can come in handy for pleasure-seekers looking for a unique way to incorporate vibration or hands-free play into DP.

Couples might, for example, secure The Bronco, a silicone attachment modeled after a circumcised biological penis, to the machine. Then, have one partner ride it anally or vaginally while simultaneously performing oral on their partner.

While a single pleasure-seeker may opt to ride that same Bronco attachment vaginally while wearing a butt plug. Or, they might fit the toy with the attachment specifically made for exploring simultaneous vaginal and anal penetration: The Buckwild, which features two penetrating limbs. Yee-haw!