7 Reasons You Should Go to Sex Therapy, According to a Sex Therapist

“A lot of times people hear ‘sex therapist’ and they think, ‘Oh, they’re teaching people sex positions,’” says Christopher Ryan Jones, Psy.D. “Honestly, that would be a relief if that’s all the job entailed—it would mean the world was a much better and kinder place!” And OK, we’ll admit it—when we thought about sex therapy we were kind of …

7 myths about queer sex you should stop believing now

By Canela López While sex in general has been misrepresented in popular media and porn, LGBTQ sex, in particular, tends to be exaggerated.  Less than 6% of teens reported that they received sex education with any mention of LGBTQ-related topics, making it easy to believe some of the most popular myths.  Here are 7 things you …

We asked a sex educator every question you probably have about spanking

By Tiffany Curtis While the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy might be the most mainstream (and, honestly, lackluster) depiction of sensual spanking we’ve seen in recent years, the act of receiving or giving some good ol’ ass slaps isn’t new. Erotic or sensual spanking is a method of impact play. If you’re unfamiliar with the …

The Modern Monogamous Marriage Is Built on Lies, Not Sex Research

By Carrie Weisman With some exceptions, gender constructs have served men well in the modern world. It’s landed them in more high-powered positions. It’s gotten them higher wages. And, yeah, it’s given them license to pursue sex in ways that would lead women to be ostracized or shamed. In her new book Untrue: Why Nearly …

5 Ridiculously Common Worries Sex Therapists Hear All the Time

For anyone asking, “Am I normal?” By Anna Borges Fun sex things to talk about: enthusiastic consent, pleasure, sex toys, kink, orgasms, positions, intimacy. Less fun sex things to talk about: insecurity, inadequacy, unwelcome pain, dysfunction, internalized stigma, embarrassment. Understandable. No one wants to sit around chatting about their deepest sexual anxieties. But when you …

5 Things Straight People Can Learn from Queer Sex

By Ariana DiValentino Being queer, in some ways, is a blessing. If there’s one thing the queer world is good at, it’s having really, really good sex. Of course, there’s no such thing as “the” queer world — it’s a multitude of communities, localities, subcultures, and identifications. Within queer spaces, there tend to be prevailing …

10 pieces of advice for helping a partner who has been sexually assaulted

By Sophia Mitrokostas According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, around one in three women and one in six men in the US will experience some form of contact sexual violence during their lifetime. People who have been sexually assaulted are more than capable of being in healthy and fulfilling relationships, but if your …

7 Books About Expanding Your Sexual Horizons

Spice up your fantasy life without having to interact with another person with these stories of sex and exploration By Frances Yackel The theme of education—spiritual journeys, individual enlightenment—pervades much of the literary canon across cultures. Reading the narrative of a protagonist’s heuristic odyssey can open the eyes of the reader as it relates to …