Contraception influences sexual desire in committed relationships

By Liv Ragnhild Sjursen [H]ow often women in heterosexual couples desire sex depends on how committed the relationship is and what type of birth control the woman uses. Sex is quite wonderful when the goal is to have children. But sex can also serve as a “glue” in a committed relationship. Most animals have periods …

Should Shame Be Used to Treat Sexual Compulsions?

By Jesse Singal The concept of “sex addiction” has become deeply embedded in our culture — people toss the term around pretty easily, and it’s the subject of TV shows, documentaries, and a profitable cottage industry of treatment centers. The problem is, as Science of Us has noted before, the scientific evidence for sex addiction …

Worried your partner might have a bisexual history? Why?

Myths about LGBTQ sexual health need debunking – and healthcare professionals are part of the problem By Phoebe-Jane Boyd “Use a condom, the pill, or get an IUD – avoid pregnancy” was the drill from sexual health practitioners who came to speak at my comprehensive school in Kent. There wasn’t much detail or thought beyond, …

How friends with benefits can actually make a friendship stronger

By Jack Rushall [W]hen I was an insecure 16-year-old, I came out to my female best friend. What followed was just as bold, but it involved both of us: We hooked up. Our sexual escapade developed into casual encounters that spanned a year-and-a-half. Of course, our friendship inevitably veered into unsettling romantic terrain, like a …

Nearly Half of U.S. Men Infected With HPV, Study Finds

Although a vaccine is available, too few are getting it when young   [M]any American men are infected with the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV), but unlike women, men are more likely to stay infected throughout their lives, a new study finds. About 45 percent of U.S. men are infected with the sexually transmitted disease, as …

Why Sex Is Beneficial To Social And Mental Health; Research Shows

By Dante Noe Raquel II [T]he act of intimate sex has been evolving over millions of years as an apparatus to deliver sperm to eggs and initiate pregnancy. Currently, we look at the social and mental aspects of health benefits that are a importance of consenting sexual relationships, or the pursuit of them. Sex Brings …

Talking With Both Daughters and Sons About Sex

By LISA DAMOUR Parents play a key role in shaping sexual decision-making among adolescents — especially for girls. A 2016 review of more than three decades of research found that teenagers who communicated with their parents about sex used safer sexual practices. Likewise, new research from Dutch investigators who studied nearly 3,000 teenagers found that …