Sexual Health

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What a Fashion Publicist Can Teach You About Sex

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In an effort to not forget some of the wise advice I’ve read over the past year, I’ve recently been rereading certain chapters of books I’ve flagged on my bookshelf. (Side note: Never borrow a book from me; they’re all marked up with pen and flagged with neon Post-it notes.)

Getting to the point: I was rereading Kelly Cutrone’s book, Normal Gets You Nowhere, and forgot how completely fantastic (not to mention hysterical!) her second chapter is. The title? “THE KELLA-SUTRA: If You’re Not Getting Fucked by Midnight, Go Home.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Book Reviews, Communication, Love & Relationships, Reviews, Sexual Health

Condoms As Crime

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I made a post in 2011 condemning laws in New York City and Washington D.C. that allow police to confiscate condoms as “proof” that a person plans to sell sex. According to Tracy Clark-Flory at Salon, this trend is continuing in New York City, with a negative impact not only on sex workers, but also on outreach workers and businesses that would like to freely distribute condoms (in order to encourage safe sex to prevent STI and HIV transmission), yet are also impacted by this policy. The toll on the LGBT community, with transgender respondents who are not sex workers yet get in trouble with the police for loitering, is also problematic. Along similar lines, this Canadian writer’s story about being detained at the U.S. border and having condoms used as “proof” of criminal behavior is harrowing. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Birth Control, Condoms

Would You Try Vaginal Steaming?

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A friend of mine recently asked me my opinion on vaginal steaming. At first I assumed that I mis-heard her. I mean, I’ve heard of facial steaming or steaming vegetables, but vaginal? Turns out, it’s a thing that has been around for some time, especially in Korea. The article explains that vaginal steaming isn’t purely cosmetic and some claim that it can “reduce stress, fight infections, clear hemorrhoids, regulate menstrual cycles and aid infertility, among many other health benefits.” My friend’s gynecologist mentioned it to her while she is undergoing fertility treatments (please note that I’m not suggesting this may or may not work, and this isn’t medical advice; if you are debating giving vaginal steaming a shot, run it past your own doctor). Continue Reading →

Filed under: Women's Sexual Health

Are You Aware Of The Clitoris?

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Welcome to International Clitoris Awareness Week! This is the first year that the clitoris has its own week, and is celebrated May 6-12, according to the Huffington Post. While I agree that the clitoris is an amazing body part and deserves more than a little celebration, I had no idea that it had its own week. Clitoraid, an organization that aids survivors of female genital mutilation, came up with the idea and is sponsoring the week. Clitoraid’s spokeswoman Nadine Gary noticed that often talking about clitoris makes people uncomfortable and “whenever something has an ‘awareness day’ it makes it more comfortable to talk about” and I absolutely agree. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Women's Sexual Health

Hymen Handling Tips

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In the mood for a cute, upbeat video that discusses how to better understand and care for your (or your intimate partner’s) hymen? Then watch this, and take note of the speaker’s tips on how to ease into sexual activity while taking into account the porous membrane that partially covers the vagina. You can also read Dr. Debby’s advice on how to deal with a hymen that covers more of the vagina and can thus lead to painful sex. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Women's Sexual Health, hymen

Is Sex-Based Medicine Helpful or Harmful?

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Our society needs categories in able to function (or so it seems). These categories come in handy when we’re collecting data for the Census, but the rest of the time, they tend to do more harm than good. In the United States, many pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals use these categories to study human health. It seems like this would make sense, right? Some groups of people are prone to some diseases more than others, so stratifying the data could help to create cures or treatment specific to this group. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Bodies, Gender Issues, GLBT, Men's Sexual Health, The Science of Sex

Daily Sexual Violence, In India And America

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The rape and murder of Jyothi Singh Pandey in New Delhi brought the world’s attention to the problem of sexual violence in India, with many calling for police reforms as well as culture-wide changes. And it is a culture-wide problem: as this article in The Atlantic demonstrates, there are a host of subtle cultural oppressions, which add up to “ongoing attacks on women, be they decisions to feed them last, marry them as teenagers, skimp on their medical care, or gang rape them on a bus.” But then read this piece, which focuses on the sexual violence American women face. With our rape rates -  there is a reported rape every 6.2 minutes, and one in five women will be raped in her lifetime – we also have an epidemic of ongoing attacks on women. Sexual violence is not an isolated phenomenon, and it’s not something our modernized culture has stamped out: it is systemic oppression. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, Sexual Assault & Rape, Women's Sexual Health, america, india

Lubricant vs. Vaginal Moisturizer: What’s the Difference?

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Because someone asked me yesterday (and I often forget that many people don’t receive this kind of information from doctors, nurses, family, or friends):

Lubricants are typically for use during various types of sex (e.g., masturbation alone, partnered masturbation, hand jobs, sex toy play, vaginal intercourse, and most definitely anal intercourse). Women and men of diverse ages use lubricant during sexual activities. Think of lube as something one uses “in the moment” (e.g., during sexual activities). Lube is widely available in drug stores, retail chains, adult bookstores, and online. Vaginal moisturizers are more about keeping the vagina moist and pliable even when not “in use” for sex. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Sexual Health

How I Became a Sex Educator: Lessons from My Mom

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Most sex educators I know are constantly being asked why they go into the work they do. Fair enough, I think, since it’s a bit surprising when people learn that someone’s chosen to spend their days talking about a subject that most people find uncomfortable. I think it’s exactly that discomfort that inspires many sex educators to pursue their field. Sex is a near-universal human experience, yet it’s clouded by cultural shame, embarrassment, and mis-information. The light bulb moments that can occur as the result of actually talking about sex are powerful (and sometimes even healing). Continue Reading →

Filed under: Communication, Sexual Health

Would You Say You Had Sex If… He Came In Your Thigh Crease?

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The phrase “having sex” means different things to different people. Most people agree that penile-vaginal intercourse counts as sex and that if you’ve had penile-vaginal intercourse with a person then you’ve “had sex” with them and that the person counts as a sexual partner. However, what counts as sex isn’t always so cut and dry (and can vary by age, gender, and self-identified sexual orientation among other factors). When I first began working at The Kinsey Institute in 1999, a study that one of my mentors – Dr. Stephanie Sanders – conducted with her colleague, Dr. June Reinisch, that had examined college students’ meanings of having “had sex” was newly published. The study made waves in large part because it came at a time when Americans and politicians in particular were debating whether oral sex was sex, and thus whether President Bill Clinton was being truthful when he said he had not “had sex with that woman”. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Sexual Health