Sexual Health for Singles: Helpful Hints for Having the Sexual History Conversation

By Charles Burton Unless two people are absolute virgins when they meet, they should sit still for a few minutes and have “the conversation” prior to hopping into bed together. It’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but facts are facts, and STDs are commoner than you might think. If you’re going to engage …

These 3 Sex Ed Videos Aim To Take The Awkward Out Of Sex Education

By Ed Cara   Few moments in life are weirder than when an adult finally decides it’s time to impart the birds-and-bees speech. Or less pointless it seems. Plenty of research has found that kids rarely get the answers to important questions they have about sex and puberty. And the sex ed they do get from their …

Expert Shares Tips for Talking Sexual Health With Cancer Survivors

by KATIE KOSKO Sexual health can be an uncomfortable or embarrassing topic to discuss for many people, and for patients with cancer and survivors it can feel even more awkward. Nevertheless, sex ranks among the top 5 unmet needs of survivors, and the good news is, proactive oncology practitioners can help fill that void. Sixty …

13 Ways Non-Monogamy Has Made Me a Better Partner (and Person)

By Maya M [I]n our culture and many others, the typical relationship narrative goes like this: You date around a little, eventually finding one true soulmate—the one person you’ll grow old with, raise children with, and the one and only person you’ll have sex with. But there are a lot of people who don’t subscribe …

American Men Are Pretty Happy With Their Penises

By Jesse Singal For understandable reasons, society’s conversation about body satisfaction tends to focus on women. Women, it can safely be argued, face a lot more social pressure to look good all the time, to feel ashamed of their bodies, and to harp on minor imperfections. Men aren’t immune from all that, though. And one …

This Long-Lost Study On Victorian Sex Teaches A Very Modern Lesson

By Sara Coughlin What comes to mind when you picture Victorian-era sex? Corsets? Marriages of convenience and social bartering? Repression? Maybe, like, a lot of repression? Turns out, how we view that time in sexual history might be more than a little warped. We can start to get a better idea of what women of …

What Does Transgender Mean? Your Guide to Understanding Trans Terminology.

By Elle Stanger For this edition of Elle Oh Elle, I’ve enlisted the voice of Monika MHz, a Portland DJ and columnist. Monika is a trans woman, and she’s here to explain how you can make the world a better place by removing transphobia from your life. Although ultimately impossible to measure precisely, a new …

We’re Not Quite ‘Born This Way’

By Jesse Singal Back in 2014, a bigoted African leader put J. Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern, in a strange position. Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, had been issuing a series of anti-gay tirades, and — partially fueled by anti-gay religious figures from the U.S. — was considering toughening Uganda’s anti-gay laws. The …

Doctors urged to advise patients about risks of abstinence-centric sex education

American Academy of Pediatricians’ new report is the clearest denouncement of the failures of not talking about STIs and pregnancy prevention By Molly Redden The country’s largest organization of pediatricians entered fraught political territory on Monday, with a call for doctors to use their time with patients to combat the potential health consequences of abstinence-centric …