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 …

Can kinky sex make you more creative?

Researchers claim BDSM can help people achieve ‘altered states of consciousness’ By Cheyenne Macdonald [E]ngaging in kinky sex may send you into an altered state of consciousness and even unlock your inner creativity, according to a new study. Using a small sample of participants from the kink-focused social network Fetlife, researchers investigated the mind-altering effects …

New resource to inform staff and aged care residents’ families on sexuality

By Contributor Sex remains important for many people living in aged care, but a challenge for staff and residents’ family members, writes Michael Bauer, who introduces a new guide to assist. Sexuality is linked to wellbeing and quality of life and the need for affection, looking and feeling attractive, as well as intimacy, and sex …

What does YOUR sex fantasy say about you?

From threesomes to dreaming of sleeping with someone else, your raunchy dreams unravelled By Tracey Cox [G]ood news if you enjoy having erotic daydreams. Research done by an Israeli psychologist has just found having sexual fantasies about people other than your partner doesn’t significantly harm your relationship. So let’s skip to the second most popular …

A graphic history of sex: ‘There is no gene that drives sexuality. All sexuality is learned’

Changes in sexuality over time have made the modern family what it is. What next? Homa Khaleeli asks the authors of a groundbreaking graphic guide, The Story of Sex By Homa Khaleeli [P]hilip Larkin famously announced that sexual intercourse began in 1963 (“Between the end of the ‘Chatterley’ ban / And the Beatles’ first LP”). …

How did evolution change our sexual organs? It’s time to learn the history of sex

By Philippe Brenot Porn images are everywhere but we need better ways to teach children about love, intimacy and yes, masturbation [A]t the start of this third millennium, sex seems to be all around us – within easy reach, on our screens, constantly talked about in the media. What used to be concealed, shameful and …

Screw Science: The Futuristic Sex Tech Aiming to Penetrate Your Bedroom

From fully customizable vibrators to bioelectronic headsets, smart sex toys are on the way up. But does personal pleasure necessarily make for better health? by Alex M.F. Quicho [P]leasure is personal, mostly because it has to be, and not least because female scientists continue to face grinding discrimination regardless of their area of research. And …

Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are: Why Oct. 11 Matters To LGBT People

by Robbie Medwed Coming Out Is The Single Most Powerful Political Strategy We Have It’s Pride Weekend here in Atlanta, one of my favorite weekends of the year. It might seem odd to you that the largest Pride festival in the South and one of the largest in the country is in October and not …

Sex and Food: The World’s Strangest Aphrodisiacs Through Time

Hot chocolate? The potato? Piranhas? Throughout history, humankind has persisted in the belief that some foods are linked to sex. By Felisa Rogers [F]rom the Garden of Eden to the oyster cellar bordellos of old New York, food and sex are entwined. Although every food under the sun has been touted as an aphrodisiac at …