I’ll be honest: When I first saw that the food delivery app Postmates had added a “Bottom-Friendly Menu” to celebrate Pride month, I gasped. Most corporate pandering during June is pretty cringey, and it’s difficult to market to us without stereotyping. But after learning more about the menu, I decided it’s actually pretty genius — especially because Postmates did their research.
In case you don’t know, bottoming, or taking it up the butt, can be tedious as fuck. You not only have to make sure that everything down there is clean, but you also have to ensure that you don’t have any gastrological catastrophes while you’re doing it (yes, I’m talking about poop). That’s why most people have to plan bottoming hours in advance and essentially starve themselves beforehand.
To address this centuries-old problem, Postmates partnered with anal surgeon Evan Goldstein, D.O. of Bespoke Surgical, as well as restaurants across L.A. and New York, to create the type of meals that will reduce your chances of taking an unsolicited dump. I asked Goldstein what he considered when he curated the menu. “We looked for [food] that featured low fat proteins, like fish, red meat, and tofu; and foods that are high in soluble fibers, like fresh fruits, veggies, and leafy greens,” he tells me. “There are a lot of people out there who say to stay away from red meat, but I actually recommend lean red meat because it can help slow things down.”
Per Goldstein and Postmates, the menu avoids insoluble fibers such as whole grains and potatoes because they don’t dissolve in water and can back up your digestive tract. Instead, soluble fibers like citrus and protein (such as fish) are your best bets, which explains why the company is partnering with sushi restaurants for the Pride menu.
Recently, there’s been much discussion on social platforms about the myth that bottoms should not eat before having sex. Notably, Alex Hall, a TikToker and influencer whose accounts are largely dedicated to addressing bottoms’s concerns, has pointed out that cutting out dairy and eating high fiber foods — much like people with IBS are advised to do — goes a long way in preventing accidents while bottoming.
For some people, there tends to be a lot of shame around bottoming, and no one ever really talks about the preparation that’s needed — you’re kind of just expected to figure it out on your own. Even though it’s still corporate marketing, the “Bottom-Friendly Menu” is one of the best instances of Pride advertising I’ve seen.
Despite some people online saying that this kind of marketing oversexualizes the LGBTQ+ community, it’s actually useful to many queer and trans people — and it helps take the stigma out of something many of us struggle to talk about. Our lives aren’t only about sex, but some of us didn’t have any queer-inclusive sex ed, so I’ll take any help I can get. “My best advice is first to listen to your body,” Goldstein says. “You probably know which foods leave you feeling happy and ready to go on with your day (or night) and which ones might send you running to the bathroom or just wanting to veg out and watch a movie.”
