communication

You know, what “sex” even IS differs for everyone. There are a world of sexual activities out there – oral sex, manual sex, intercourse, anal play, role play, frottage, the works – and how each person does them isn’t only different from person to person, but from partnership to partnership, and…

Having sex with someone else is really intimate, and we’re all vulnerable in that space, and double for both when we have strong feelings for the person we’re with. So, in order to make our own best choices – including in terms of our emotional safety – we need to understand that. Does this person…

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common cause of vaginitis symptoms among people with vaginas of childbearing age (15-45). However, half have no symptoms!

My boyfriend says that anal sex is no different than regular sex. Is that true? He also says we don’t have to use a condom? Also, will I still be a virgin if I have anal sex? Will it hurt as much?

The Biblical sin of Sodom wasn’t homosexuality or anal sex – it was rape, greediness and poor hospitality, and the legal basis of sodomy is not about homosexuality, but about oral and anal sex, and often about homophobia.

At least once every couple of days, someone posts or writes into Scarleteen reporting that vaginal entry – usually intercourse or manual vaginal sex, and usually (but not always) with cisgender male partners – is painful, uncomfortable, or unfulfilling for them. Whatever sort of vaginal entry we’re talking about – with fingers, a penis or a dildo, with partners of any gender – not only doesn’t have to be painful, it really shouldn’t be. More than that, any kind of sex shouldn’t be about a lack of pain, but about the presence of pleasure.

We get a lot of questions at Scarleteen from folks who are worried about periods that are MIA (missing in action, for us civilians).

If we look at our sexuality one way, it looks a million times simpler than it actually is. If we look at it another way, it appears a million times more complicated. While it’s important that we bear everything in mind we need to in terms of infection and disease, birth control, our relationships, our bodies and the whole works, now and then we need to remember the bare bones and the human element of the thing, and keep the essentials in the forefront of our minds.

After a few years of being the postergirl for alternative approaches to menstruation – writing articles, being interviewed, doing workshops, selling washable pads to women and getting involved in too many party conversations on the topic to possibly count – something is starting to give. The truth is, I’m starting to get a little bit tired of being nice. I’ve lost my patience with trying to pussyfoot around the issue until women are willing to talk about their own blood. And so, as a form of cleansing for me and education for you – should you choose to engage in it – I have penned the following set of arguments dispelling the myths about washable menstrual pads and your period. So there.

There is really only one thing that you need to know about sex and disability: Disabled people have sex, too.