‘Bi-erasure’

Bisexual people who are out to their partners may have worse sex By Canela López Research presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality annual conference last week found that bisexual people in mixed-gender relationships who are out to their parents have lower rates of sexual satisfaction than if they aren’t out.  The study …

What Happens to Relationships When Sex Hurts

Women who suffer from the chronic-pain condition vulvodynia often feel isolated from their partners. But a better medical understanding is helping. By Ashley Fetters In her 18 years as a sex therapist in Orange County, California, Stephanie Buehler has come to recognize a certain tense, fraught dynamic in couples when a female partner has vulvodynia. …

Surrogate Therapy Takes a Hands-On Approach to Overcoming Sexual Trauma

—Up to and Including Intercourse By Shannon Gormley Touch, erotic or not, can communicate painful memories, insecurities and vulnerabilities that are hard to verbalize. One of the most revelatory moments of Carlene Ostedgaard’s career was the time she got an orgasm from having her shoulder touched. It happened a few years ago, when Ostedgaard, 35, …

How to Move Forward When You’re in a Sexless Marriage

A Q&A with a clinical psychologist who specializes in getting couples to talk openly about sex. By Sophia Benoit Recently, a 36-year-old man posted something stupid on Reddit. This is not breaking news—this happens likely thousands of times per day, but the post made it over to Twitter, and people went in. The issue at …

Meet the BDSM therapists treating clients with restraints, mummification and impact play

By Gillian Fisher When we say BDSM, you probably think of chains, whips, and all sorts of sexy stuff. But there’s far more to it. BDSM has long been recognised as an erotic practice, with more people than ever introducing aspects of bondage, domination, sadism and masochism into their sexual pursuits. A combination of changing …

An essential safe sex guide for lesbian, bisexual and queer women

Everything you need to know about vulva-to-vulva sex. By Paisley Gilmour If you’re a lesbian, bisexual, pansexual or queer woman, or someone who has a vagina and sleeps with vagina-having people, it’s likely you haven’t had the sexual health education you need. School sex ed is so heteronormative that many of us never heard so …

“My full-time job is telling men they’re worthless pigs”

Inside the murky world of findomming By Dayna McAlpine Financial domination or findomming, in which men pay women to insult them and then drain their bank accounts, is reportedly on the rise. But who are the cash cows and pay pigs, and why is the dangerous practise of findomming so appealing? Stylist investigates. “I can make …

A queer user’s guide to the wild and terrifying world of LGBTQ dating apps

By Jon Shadel What’s the best queer dating app today? Many people, tired of swiping through profiles with discriminatory language and frustrated with safety and privacy concerns, say it isn’t a dating app at all. It’s Instagram. This is hardly a queer seal of approval for the social media platform. Instead, it’s a sign that, …

Young People with Learning Disabilities Denied Sex Education Due to Societal Stigma

by Ellen Hoggard Young people with learning disabilities are being denied sex-positive relationships and sex education due to societal stigma, with 36% of professionals saying that sex education is not prioritised in their school This Sexual Health Week, young people’s sexual health and wellbeing charity, Brook, is working with the learning disability charity, Mencap, to …