Aftercare Conversations Might Be the BDSM Practice You Need to Try

It’s a game changer (even if you’re vanilla). By Patia Braithwaite If you’re familiar with BDSM, you probably know that communication is a major through line. There’s a reason for this. As SELF previously reported, BDSM, which stands for bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism, is a term that describes a wide swath of sexual behaviors that …

12 new sex slang terms you need to know

Working ‘doppelbanger’ into conversation immediately.  By Sophie Goulopoulos They say the English language is continuously evolving. And much of that has to do with slang and colloquialisms. Behold, here are 12 new sexy words for your vocabulary. The word of 2020 might be ‘pandemic’ (which is mighty depressing), but we’ve stumbled upon some spicy new …

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 …

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 …

A very, very beginner’s guide to understanding BDSM

By Mary Grace Garis Even as BDSM comes to popular light via media portrayals and increased openness about intimate habits and preferences, much about the sexual practice remains misunderstood and incorrectly presumed to be negative and abusive—especially in those media portrayals. This is perhaps most recently depicted in that degrading scene in Hulu’s Normal People, …

Spicing things up in the bedroom during social distancing

By Almara Abgarian It’s going to be a quiet Friday night. The coronavirus lockdown has officially begun, pubs, restaurants, gyms and other public spaces have to close up shop for the forseeable future. So, what can you spend the rest of the weekend doing? You already know what we’re going to say, but let’s say …