Sex myths create danger and confusion

By Elizabeth Thiel [S]tigmas around discussing sexual behavior often prevent vital information from being shared accurately, if at all. With all of the rumors and myths floating around about sexual health, trusting these myths can be misleading at best, and dangerous at worst. Terms like “always” and “normal” can be particularly misleading when discussing sexual …

The Sex Toy Shops That Switched On a Feminist Revolution

By PEGGY ORENSTEIN BUZZ The Stimulating History of the Sex Toy By Hallie Lieberman Illustrated. 359 pp. Pegasus Books. $26.95. VIBRATOR NATION How Feminist Sex-Toy Stores Changed the Business of Pleasure By Lynn Comella 278 pp. Duke University Press. $25.95. [T]hink back, for a moment, to the year 1968. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby …

Same-sex couples experience unique stressors

Study by SF State professor finds that institutionalized discrimination has lasting effects By Lisa Owens Viani [S]tressors faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals have been well studied, but San Francisco State University Professor of Sociology Allen LeBlanc and his colleagues are among the first to examine the stressors that operate at the same-sex …

Japanese macaques grinding on deer can teach us to be more open-minded about sex

by Lux Alptraum [I]f you grew up in America, there’s a good chance that you learned that sex is, first and foremost, a reproductive act. Sure, it feels good, but that’s just a way for our bodies to trick us into breeding. Many church doctrines will inform you that any sexual experience that doesn’t stand …

Our shame over sexual health makes us avoid the doctor. These apps might help.

By Stephanie Auteri [W]e’re taught to feel shame around our sexuality from a young age, as our bodies develop and start to function in ways we’re unfamiliar with, as we begin to realize our body’s potential for pleasure. Later on, women especially are taught to feel ashamed if we want “too much” sex, or if we want it …

Why LGBT-inclusive relationships and sex education matters

By Hannah Kibirige​ [T]oday the Government launched a public consultation on what relationships and sex education should look like in England’s schools. While that might not be the first thing on your Christmas list, it’s been hanging around at the top of ours for a while, and is a vitally important step forward for all …

What is tantric sex, and how can it help heal sexual trauma?

By Brook Bolen [C]onversations about sexual violence and trauma have long been overdue but are finally happening. Conversations about how survivors of sexual violence endure and overcome their trauma is of equal importance — and with symptoms ranging from emotional to physical to psychological, physiological, and sexual, there are a host of repercussions. Experts estimate …

New treatments restoring sexual pleasure for older women

By Tara Bahrampour [W]hen the FDA approved Viagra in 1998 to treat erectile dysfunction, it changed the sexual landscape for older men, adding decades to their vitality. Meanwhile, older women with sexual problems brought on by aging were left out in the cold with few places to turn besides hormone therapy, which isn’t suitable for …

Sex and relationship education should be about rights and equity not just biology

By Emma Renold [F]or decades, researchers, young people, and activists have campaigned for better sex and relationships education. Yet still today children and young people rarely have the high quality lessons they need in schools around the world. International research has found that for it to be effective, sex and relationships education needs to start …