What a leather convention can teach everyone about sex and consent

By Garrett Schlichte “Hotel is closed for private event” read the signs affixed to the front of the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill last weekend. A steady stream of people, mostly men, many in leather harnesses, some in collars and on leashes, and some simply in jeans and sweaters, walked in and out in an …

Nienke Helder designs therapy tools for women recovering from sexual trauma

By Angel Trinidad Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Nienke Helder has created a set of sensory objects that can be used to rehabilitate women affected by sexual abuse. Presented at this year’s Dutch Design Week, Sexual Healing is designed to help women who are suffering from trauma-induced sexual problems, such as pelvic muscle blockage. According to the …

The Weird Link Between Your Parents & Your Partner

There’s A Weird Connection Between Your Parents & Your Sex Life, According To Science By Kasandra Brabaw [E]very once in a while research pops up that claims people often end up with sexual and/or romantic partners who look like one of their parents. Usually this research is pretty heteronormative and focuses on the idea that …

Inside the Koreatown Dojo Dedicated to the Art of Japanese Rope Bondage

Mention anything bondage-related and Zetsu Nawa reflexively geeks out. By Lila Seidman [A] casual reference to a dotted gag in one of his thousands of drawings and photos of bound women launches him into a mini-lecture about its “humiliation factor” in modern Japan. It’s just a dishtowel, he explains. “It’s like he grabbed the thing …

How the Nazis destroyed the first gay rights movement

By John Broich [V]ery recently, Germany’s Cabinet approved a bill that will expunge the convictions of tens of thousands of German men for “homosexual acts” under that country’s anti-gay law known as “Paragraph 175.” That law dates back to 1871, when modern Germany’s first legal code was created. It was repealed in 1994. But there …

Senior citizens are having more sex and enjoying it more than younger people

Those age 70 and up are having more sex and enjoying it more than younger people. But they don’t kiss and tell. By Kevyn Burger [G]ray-haired customers sometimes sidle up to Smitten Kitten owner Jennifer Pritchett and say with a smile, “Bet you don’t get someone my age in here often.” The owner of the …