The BDSM Test Is the Get-To-Know-Your-Kink Diagnostic

By Kells McPhillips BDSM is a tidy acronym for a broad range of sexual preferences that relate to physical control, usually broken into six components, “bondage and discipline, domination and submission, and sadism and masochism,” according to Ali Hebert and Angela Weaver, professors in the department of psychology at St. Francis Xavier University, writing in …

Queer lessons for straight couples

Book shows how heterosexuals can learn from LGBT people to have better relationships By Holly Ober The tragedy of heterosexuality isn’t that men are heterosexual. It’s that they’re not heterosexual enough. That’s according to UC Riverside professor of gender and sexuality studies Jane Ward, whose new book, “The Tragedy of Heterosexuality,” examines marriage manuals, self-help …

Sex Flush

— How to Embrace Your Body’s Natural Arousal Glow by Gabrielle Smith Remember mood rings? Sex flush is kind of like that. Except it’s your body changing color because of a very specific mood: Arousal. Sex flush is a normal part of the arousal cycle. It can happen during solo or partnered sexy times to …

What You Need to Know About Being a BDSM Switch

It’s like a lil bit of dominant + a lil bit of submissive. By Rachel Varina BDSM stands for bondage and discipline, domination and submission, and sadism and masochism. This is where the whole dominant (sometimes called a “top”) and submissive (a “bottom”) dynamic comes into play. “A top is simply someone who leads/guides the …

6 Kinky Dating Apps to Download If BDSM Is Your Thing

Because being sexually adventurous = totally healthy and normal. By Anni Irish A kink is broadly defined as an act or desire that falls outside of the widely accepted normative ideas of vanilla sexual practices—everything from choking, to BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominate/submissive, sadomasochism/masochism), to cuckolding, foot fetishes, water sports, bondage, and more. And as you can …

4 Tips For Proudly Introducing Kink Into Your Relationship

By Mary Grace Garis If during this time in quarantine, you’ve done some sexual exploring about what gets you going—great. Maybe you’ve dedicated some self-care sessions to self-pleasure, had some mind-blowing staycation sex, or taken the BDSM test to explore your NSFW interests. And just maybe, all the sexploration has you wanting to learn how …

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, …

34 erogenous zones and how to stimulate them

We get you acquainted with these subtle and not-so-suble pleasure points. by Rosie Saunders Put simply, erogenous zones are extra-sensitive areas of the human body that generate a sexual response when stimulated. They’re located all over, from your eyelids to your ankles. Though sexual in nature, your body’s response might not necessarily be an out-and-out …