Topic: safe sex

Awesome High Schools Acknowledge That Teens Have Sex, Offer Condoms After Prom

Awesome High Schools Acknowledge That Teens Have Sex, Offer Condoms After Prom

You know what’s great? Low teen pregnancy rates. And what’s even greater? That those rates are low not because abstinence-only education is working (it’s not, by the way), but because teens are wising up about condoms and other forms of birth control–and because schools are finally getting the message that kids are going to have sex. It’s just a thing they do. Which is why it’s really great to read that some high schools have been providing free condoms after prom. More »

Alcohol Makes Everyone Want Unsafe Sex (Not Just Irresponsible Sluts)

Alcohol Makes Everyone Want Unsafe Sex (Not Just Irresponsible Sluts)

A new study says that alcohol consumption ups your chances of having unsafe sex…It’s not rocket science, but it could help clear up some misconceptions about the “kind” of people who forego condoms and spread HIV and other STDs. In the past, people have questioned whether it’s alcohol, or the personalities of the people drinking the alcohol, that make for irresponsible mating. But researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health say pretty much anyone who’s had more than four or five drinks is more likely to have unsafe sex. More »

Viagra Condoms: Making Safe Sex Sexy

Viagra Condoms: Making Safe Sex Sexy

Condoms are pretty effective birth control when used correctly; unfortunately, they won’t do anything if you don’t use them at all, which is the case for a lot of men and women who complain that sex just isn’t all that fun with a piece of latex tubing involved. Problem solved (and finally, the solution doesn’t just lie in a new pill for women): The “Viagra condom” is here! (Well actually, it’s still getting approved, but almost it’s almost here!) Just leave it to drug companies to find a way to make safe sex sexier (and more profitable). More »

6 Health Reasons to Have More Sex (And Not Use Condoms)

6 Health Reasons to Have More Sex (And Not Use Condoms)

I ask two vital questions of each patient who comes to my office: 1. How’s your energy? and 2. How’s your sex drive? No doubt, a change in either of these factors is a very good indication that something’s out of balance with your health. Unfortunately, a lot of us are out of balance. According to an extensive study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, about 43% of women and about 30% of men experience symptoms of sexual dysfunction including lack of desire, arousal issues, inability to orgasm or ejaculate, premature ejaculation, painful intercourse, lack of enjoyment, erectile dysfunction, and performance anxiety.

If you think sex has fallen away simply because you’re getting older, aren’t in a relationship, or haven’t done it in a long time, think again. Pleasurable sex is something that every adult should enjoy for a lifetime – with or without a partner. And remember, sex doesn’t just mean intercourse alone. Masturbation (on your own or with a partner) and other forms of sexual play that get your hormones revving are definitely recommended. If you’re currently having great sex, keep at it, because it’s good for you. More »

The Unlikely Sex and Dating Adventures of a 39-Year-Old Divorcée

The Unlikely Sex and Dating Adventures of a 39-Year-Old Divorcée

Thank you, Grace Kelly, for making a night of erotic indulgences seem ladylike. I don’t have a Mark Cross bag in which to secret overnight essentials like Lisa Carol Fremont did in Rear Window, but a boxy Ferragamo works just as well. And, for those times when you don’t plan ahead, run like hell. Don’t do a walk of shame – rather, run to the nearest subway, bus, or train stop. Not out of actual shame, but because your makeup is half-eaten-off, and you really don’t need the entire worshiping congregation of the Baptist church near your latest conquest’s home to see you ambling crookedly down the street in four-inch heels, with bedhead and ripped stockings to boot.

After a very sexually-deprived marriage (how do you not have sex on your honeymoon?), and a subsequent clinical depression and various addictions to numb the pain of the void, it really was time to jump back into the dating game. And it is a game; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. When you’re 35 +, all those familiar dating rituals and crane dances are nonexistent. What you have at your disposal are other divorcĂ©es with baggage, young men, and very strange characters that don’t fit into any tidy category. I’ve run into all of them during the past few years. More »

IUD: The Ugly Stepchild of Birth Control You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Use

IUD: The Ugly Stepchild of Birth Control You Shouldn't Be Afraid to Use

My life was made possible by the recall of an intrauterine device. It was the mid-1970s and my older sister had been born a few years before. My mother, bleary-eyed, blissful—and definitely not ready for a second kid—went to the gynecologist and, like many women at the time, was introduced to a piece of plastic shaped like a small bug or a fish, her free pass to a life without worries about birth control for the new few years.

Everything was fine—wonderful, in fact—until her gynecologist informed her that the Dalkon Shield had been recalled. It turned out her carefree birth control method also had a proclivity to cause ectopic pregnancies and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

“Please don’t take my IUD,” my mother pleaded with her doctor. “I love my IUD.” (Seriously, that’s what she said.) The doctor apologized, removed it, and one year later she was expecting me. More »