Undoing the STIgma: Normalizing the discourse surrounding STIs

April is STD/STI Awareness Month. By Ericka Shin [L]et’s talk about sex. It’s fun, it’s natural. Now, considering that April is STD/STI Awareness Month, let’s take it one step further and talk about sexually transmitted diseases and infections, or STDs/STIs. They’re not so fun and not “natural,” per se, but they can and do happen …

Before European Christians Forced Gender Roles, Native Americans Acknowledged 5 Genders

By Pearson McKinney [I]t wasn’t until Europeans took over North America that natives adopted the ideas of gender roles. For Native Americans, there was no set of rules that men and women had to abide by in order to be considered a “normal” member of their tribe. In fact, people who had both female and male …

Why men and women lie about sex, and how this complicates STD control

By Shervin Assari [W]hen it comes to reporting the number of sex partners or how often they have sexual intercourse, men and women both lie. While men tend to overreport it, women have a tendency to underreport it. Although the story is not that simple and clear-cut, I have discovered some interesting reasons why this …

Untying that knotty BDSM

Not abusive or deviant, this sexual kink is based on communication, consent and trust, says a ‘professional’ Sub(missive) Asmi Uniqus. Here’s a quick myth buster By Barry Rodgers “While it’s great that people are exploring their sexuality,” says Asmi Uniqus, an active BDSM practitioner and lifestyle coach, “it’s frustrating that there are so many misconceptions.” …

Patriarchy 101

Consent can’t be implied, Michael Valpy writes. Why is that so hard for men to understand? By Michael Valpy [I] begin each university course I teach by stating that my course syllabus includes a website link to the campus sexual-assault centre and by explaining to my students what sexual consent means in Canadian law. I find …

Researchers Reveal an Evolutionary Basis for the Female Orgasm

by Philip Perry [F]ew things are as magical as the female orgasm, whether you are experiencing it, inducing it, or just a casual observer. It is essentially pure art in motion. Yet, there are many things we don’t know about the phenomenon, scientifically speaking, such as, why it exists. Scientists have been pondering this for …

How a Cervical Cancer Scare Made Me Take My Sexual Health More Seriously Than Ever

My doctor’s advice on how to not get HPV again threw me for a loop. By Rachel Bowyer [B]efore I had an abnormal Pap smear five years ago, I didn’t even really know what that meant. I’d been going to the gyno since I was a teenager, but I never once really thought about what …

5 Health Reasons To Make Love, Even When You’re Not In The Mood

  By Lizette Borreli [A]t the start of every relationship, everything is brand new, and we just can’t get enough of our partner. During the honeymoon phase, we engage in extra PDA, barely keeping our hands off each other, especially sexually. However, there comes a point where one of us wants sex, and the other …

Caught in the modesty bind: Why women feel shy to consult doctors for their sexual well-being

By Aditi Mallick “I was 17, when I first got sexually intimate with my boyfriend,” says Kriya (name changed), a 23-year-old IT professional from Hyderabad, while speaking to The News Minute. “Later we were very scared, as it was the first time for both of us,” she recalls. She missed her periods that month. The …