What is figging?

Urban Dictionary defines it thusly: "A peeled ginger root, shaped like a slender butt plug, inserted into the anus without lubrication of any kind. The ginger juices cause pain and extreme horniness."


While the definition is succinct and straightforward, I would take issue with its accuracy. Figging does not always cause horniness, not in all women and not all the time. And it does not always cause pain, either, at least not in all women and not all the time. 


Some women ask to be figged on a regular basis. They love the naughtiness of begging for it; the anticipation they feel as their partner shaves and prepares the root; the heightened senses of getting into position for the ginger to be inserted; the feel of the root being pressed against them; the slick cool feeling of the ginger filling them up; the crystal focus of the burning discomfort that quickly takes over all thought. 


Sometimes the sensations the ginger brings never goes beyond an irritating, burning itch. Sometimes it brings the woman to a screaming, writhing mess, burning in white-hot agony. Anything between these two extremes is normal, too. It really varies from woman to woman, and depends on her control and tolerance for pain.


But I also think a huge factor (and this is something not many people who talk about figging really touch on) is the woman's psychological mindset toward having anything in her ass. A woman who is open to anal play, or has even engaged in anal sex, will be much more willing to try figging in one form or another (as play, as punishment, a little of both, etc). A woman who recoils from the idea of anything touching her asshole will obviously be very against being figged, and even if she's willing to try some roleplay or bondage, will protest most loudly if pushed into taking a root up the ass, even before the juices actually get to work.


Trust is very important when using ginger during sex, especially if there is bondage involved. The "figger" had better be damn sure he knows when his partner has "taken" as much of the root as she can, and not overdo it, or she will be spending quite some time in pain, and will probably have no interest in sex until the pain goes away. I suppose in some cases, this will not matter; in the master/slave dynamic, for instance, a woman does not necessarily need to be agreeable to be open to her owner. And if the ginger is being used as punishment, how the woman feels afterwards is usually irrelevant; the point is penance and deterrence, nothing else. But usually, the man will want the woman to be more horny and aroused after the figging, not less.