Sex & Sexuality

What’s sex? What’s sexuality? How do people experience and actively express their sexualities, by themselves, with partners or both? How can we take part in sex in ways that are wanted and consensual, physically and emotionally safe and enjoyable for everyone? How do you figure out what you like? How can you communicate about sex? How do you deal with feelings like fear, shame, anxiety, dysphoria and other body image issues? How do you create the kind of sexual life you want? You’ll find the answers to all these and more here.

Highlighted content

Article
  • Gabriel Leão

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many higher learning students are having to put their sexual lives on hold. To talk about casual sex in college life and the effects COVID-19 might be having on it, Scarleteen spoke with sociologist Lisa Wade, PhD, visiting scholar at Tulane University and author of the groundbreaking "American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex On Campus."

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

Jdusjsisnn asks: So I have a girlfriend and we have tried to have sex a few times, and at the beginning of it- when we work into from kissing/ touching I’m erect and when I receive oral sex I’m usually also erect but once we’re about to begin vaginal sex I tend to get flaccid enough to where I can’t...

Article
  • Suzannah Weiss

There’s a lot of hype around orgasms, and they are an amazing part of sex for many people — but if you haven’t had an orgasm yet, that’s okay, too. And who could blame you when nobody really teaches us how to orgasm? Here are a few things to do if you want to start exploring your orgasmic potential.

Article
  • Teresa Tak

Ooof, masturbating at home. Mom and Dad being one door down can be so nerve-wracking that you can’t even occupy sexy-thoughts long enough to get aroused, let alone do something abut them. Here are some tips from someone who knows this situation to help you stay discreet, overcome your anxiety, experiment with your sexuality and find this kind of comfort at home.

Article
  • Eva Sweeney

What if a partner is nonverbal due to disability? Here are some tips on how to seek and obtain consent and how to generally communicate during sex with a nonverbal partner, so sex can be safe, satisfying and fun for everyone involved.

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

Hi Ghost, It sounds like pleasure is a bit tricky to figure out - both by yourself and with a partner. Fortunately, there are solutions! You’ve touched on something important by mentioning that you don’t experience much pleasure not only in your genitals, but also in most of your skin. It might help...

Article
  • Emily Depasse

Despite the initial shame, guilt, name-calling, jokes, and fear related to disclosure, my STI presented me with a chance to love myself more deeply. It gave me a chance to sit with myself, who I thought myself to be, who I thought I was going to become, and who I really was.

Article
  • Eva Sweeney

Cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injuries, among other disabilities, can involve spasticity. People often have day-to-day coping mechanisms to help manage their spasticity, but what do you do when you have spasticity and want to have sex?

Article
  • Cass Ball

Fantasy is an important part of our relationships with ourselves and our sexual desires. But it can also be a source of shame. How can we find ways to reconnect with our sexual fantasies and create a healthy relationship with desire.

Article
  • Thomas MacAulay Millar

The news is full of the wrong ways to try to have sex. Forever we’ve seen high profile men – almost always men – chasing people for sex, abusively. For the last few years, some high-profile men have been held at least a little accountable for it, which means it is not always swept under the rug anymore. But now that the abuse is more visible, if you stare into that abyss long enough, it might start to stare back at you. You could end up lying on your bed wondering if being a guy while being horny is somehow inherently tainted and gross. Most of us want to find someone or a few someones, for relationships or hookups, but right now, looking at some of that foulness, it might feel like trying to find a partner is a minefield of red flags because men’s sexuality is inextricably abusive. It isn't.