While anal sex may seem like the erotic secret to mind-blowing pleasure that no one likes to talk about out loud, a team of researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Chicago, and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, found that there are women who are willing to try it at least once.

What's even more fascinating is that there seem to be specific types of women who are more willing to open the back door than others.

Do women like anal sex?

While all women are different and so answers will of course vary by individual, research indicates that many women do enjoy anal sex.

In a study that analyzed data from the National Survey of Family Growth, 10,463 straight, sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 44 were asked if they'd ever tried anal sex.

Researchers found that 36.3% of the women polled said they've tried anal sex a least once in their lives.

However, it didn't seem like their go-to sexual activity, as only 13.2% said they had anal sex within the last 12 months.

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But there was a trend in the types of women who were most likely to be interesred in trying anal sex.

"Women in their twenties who had no religious affiliation, and higher levels of income and education were the most likely to try anal," the study found.

Married women or women living with their significant others were more likely to try it than single women.

Why might this be so? Most indicated they were trying to spice things up in the bedroom.

Being in a long-term relationship wasn't the only lifestyle pattern that researchers saw in women who were into anal sex.

Women were more likely to have anal sex if they've "had sex with women, had an unintentional pregnancy, lost her virginity before the age of 16, and had been treated for a sexually transmitted infection in the past year."

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Women who were "wifed up" and unreligious did prove to be more likely to try anal then women in any other circumstance.

The study also showed that "women were significantly less likely to use condoms for anal sex than vaginal sex, putting them at a greater risk for contracting an STI."

Yes, anal sex will decrease your chances of getting pregnant.

Yes, it's great to keep trying new tricks in the bedroom.

However, there's always the risk of contracting an STI whether you're having intercourse anally and vaginally, so be prepared and do some research before giving anal sex a go.

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Stacy Narine is a regular contributor to YourTango.