How to close the female orgasm gap

Studies show sexual pleasure, self-esteem and satisfaction profoundly impacts our wellbeing. That’s why increasing our ‘sexual IQ’ matters By Shannon Bledsoe [I]n this moment of brave truth telling and female empowerment, it’s time to address one topic that’s been missing far too long from our conversations around sex: female pleasure. Study after study show that …

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 …

Puberty is starting earlier for many children

– sex education must catch up with this new reality By Celia Roberts The British government is consulting on a new curriculum for sex and relationship education in English schools. This change provides a timely opportunity to update how, when and what children are taught about puberty. Astonishingly, the Department for Education (DfE) guidance on …

9 Sex Resolutions Every Woman Should Make for the New Year

By Danielle Friedman For those of us who make New Year’s resolutions, we too often focus on doing less—eating less sugar, drinking less booze, spending less time in pajamas binge-watching The Crown. And while those goals may be worthy (though, really, The Crown is pretty great), this year, we’d also like to encourage women to …

Why do half of women have fantasies about being raped?

By Ellen Scott [T]here’s a wide range of sexual fantasies people have, ranging from entirely unrealistic to applicable to real life, sex with Superman through to banging on a plane. But the fantasy of being raped, also known as nonconsent and forced sex fantasies, is common. Sexual fantasies let you explore your sexuality, they’re what …

Hear him moan

The 5 steamiest sites for audio porn Not all porn has to be visual. [W]ho says you have to watch porn, anyway? Audio porn has been booming for years on the internet, boasting faster download speeds, better cost efficiency, and more discreet options than “watching” video pornography. Audio porn even predates PornHub, with everything from …

More Men Than You Think Identify As ‘Mostly Straight’

By Ritch Savin-Williams [I]n 2013, Hunger Games actor Josh Hutcherson told an interviewer for Out magazine that he was, in his own words, “mostly straight.” “Maybe I could say right now I’m 100 percent straight. But who knows? In a fucking year, I could meet a guy and be like, ‘Whoa, I’m attracted to this …

The Shaming of Sexuality: America’s Real Sex Scandal

By Michael O’Neill In early September, the Twitter account of Texas Senator and former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz “liked” a post containing explicit pornographic video content. Once noticed by other Twitter users, the news shot around social media; many were both shocked and amused by the public slip-up by the typically straight-laced Senator. For …

How to Rethink Intimacy When ‘Regular’ Sex Hurts

There’s no rule that says sex has to be penetrative. By Breena Kerr [W]hen sex hurts, women often feel alone—but they’re not. About 30 percent of women report pain during vaginal intercourse, according to a 2015 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine which surveyed a subsample of 1,738 women and men ages 18 and older …

LGBTQ kids are missing out on sex education—and it’s up to schools to change that

by Ana Valens [L]ast year, California officially mandated LGBTQ history lessons in public schools, vowing to teach “the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” and their impact on both the state’s and the country’s history. This was a victory for LGBTQ rights, because it’s a rarity; in most states—in all but nine to …