Vaginismus: the common condition leading to painful sex

By Anita M Elias The social and cultural messages we receive around sex give the impression everyone’s “doing it” and it’s always fun and enjoyable. But for many people, having sexual intercourse is extremely painful or impossible. One of the leading causes of painful sex is vaginismus. Vaginismus is an extremely common condition, that can …

How to Maximize the Mental Health Benefits of Masturbation

Experts weigh in on the art of mindful masturbation at a time when we can all use it By Kayla Kibbe You’ve gotta hand it to masturbation’s PR team. Since 1894, when one William Kellogg intentionally engineered a cereal so bland as to quell sexual excitement and curb masturbatory habits then deemed not only shameful, …

Exactly what happens to your body when you don’t have sex for a long time

– or at all by Paisley Gilmour We often hear terms like ‘blue balls’ and ‘sexual frustration’ – but what are the real physical and mental effects of a dry spell? In our sex-obsessed society, people who don’t have sex ever or for a very long time are often seen as abnormal or unusual. For …

Want better sex?

Audio erotica and mindfulness could be the answer By Alex Peters Sexual wellness app Ferly is promoting female pleasure through mindfulness For Dr Anna Hushlak it’s not about getting off, it’s about how you get there. That’s why she, along with co-founder Billie Quinlan, created Ferly, a safe space for women to help us get …

What the Falwell saga tells us about evangelicals and gender roles

BY Leslie Dorrough Smith Jerry Falwell Jr. may well be wishing that a photo with his underwear showing and his arm around the waist of a woman not his wife was the worst of his problems. That snapshot kick-started a round of speculation into the prominent evangelical leader’s personal life that has cost him his …

5 Things Getting In The Way Of Black Women’s Sex Lives

By Ashley Townes, Ph.D., MPH Like many other aspects of our society, sexuality education in the United States often reflects majority populations—i.e., white experiences. While there’s been some research dedicated to understanding the sexual lives of Black women, much of it focuses on identifying what types of sexual behaviors they’re engaging in, messages of risk …

7 LGBTQ sex facts you probably didn’t learn in high school sex ed class

By Canela López  Comprehensive sex education in the US has been a point of contention for decades, with former Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders even being asked to resign from her post in 1991 for endorsing sex education and masturbation. While some states have moved away from an abstinence-only curriculum, only 29 states mandate some …

17 Totally Normal Things to Experience in Your Relationship Right Now

The good, the bad, and the irritating. By Anna Borges It doesn’t take a scientist to know that the coronavirus crisis is rife with stressors and challenges that would shake up even the healthiest of relationships. Maybe the pandemic is acting as a pressure cooker for relationship problems you already had or maybe it’s serving …

Sexual healing

– using lockdown to ignite desire This could be the perfect time for couples to boost their sex life By Karen Gurney For many of us right now, sex couldn’t be further from our minds. Our usual routines have been turned upside down and the way we are living can be challenging for even the …