health

STI Risk Assessment: The Cliff's Notes

Need to check out what your sexually transmitted disease or infection risk might be in a jiffy?

Ready or Not? The Scarleteen Sex Readiness Checklist

Thinking about partnered sex? Do yourself a favor and look through our checklist to get a good idea bout the readiness of you and your partner -- it's more complicated and demanding than many people think, and knowing what you need to get ready can help assure that your sexual experiences with a partner will be as great for both of you as possible.

I Guess You Just Have to Be Prepared to Die!

Submitted by Heather Corinna on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 21:22.

That's the response to the question "What if I want to have sex before I get married?" in "No Second Chance," a film that is part of Sex Respect, an abstinence-only program. Sex Respect has a host of other special and oh-so-factual messages for you in their student workbook, including such sparkly gems as:


Is birth control safe? Are certain brands best?

Gwenaly asks:

I've been wondering if using birth control is safe? And is there a certain brand of birth control that I can use that will be the best to use?

Sisters Are (or should be) Doin' It for Themselves.

Submitted by Heather Corinna on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 18:28.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. (Well, short for me anyway.)

Why are so many of you kickass, take-charge gals leaving the buying, having and using of condoms only up to the men? I gotta tell you, it confounds my mind.


Advance Australia....Fair?

Submitted by Karyn on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 04:55.

Australians let us all rejoice,
For we are young and free.

Not a bad way to start a national anthem, if you ask me. Australians have a long list of reasons to rejoice, when you think about it. Lately though, being young and free hasn't been one of the items on that list. Oh sure, Australia's a first-world democracy, quite wealthy with lovely things like a good education system and mostly public health care. So what am I on about, you might ask, when I say young and free isn't a fitting description?


I think I have a UTI: what should I do?

ab asks:

I am a teenager and think I may have UI and that could be from a UTI but what should I do to treat it/make it go away as it is affecting daily routine? I have not visited any doctor as I am embarrassed to tell my parents about this possible problem. Do I need to see a doctor, if so how should I tell about this condition to my parents as I can't go on my own? What is the typical process during a doctor's visit for UI or UTI? Will it include a full body exam, because I feel nervous and sensitive to that, especially with someone else in the room with me (e.g. parents). What should I do about this? Can this be cured without need of going to a doctor?

Is my foreskin normal? How does it work?

mr-nemesis asks:

I am 16 years old: when erect only half of the tip of my penis shows. I was just wondering if this is normal? I thought that when your penis is erect that the entire tip is exposed, then when non-erect the foreskin retracts to protect the tip? Am I right or wrong? When will my full tip come out? Or do I have to pull my foreskin back during intercourse? Thanks!

Where's my sex drive driven off to?

wanderingxaimless asks:

I'm an 18 year old girl with almost no sexual experience. This weekend I fooled around with my boyfriend for the first time ever and realized something--I was getting wet, but not horny. I also realized I hadn't been horny at all in the past few months. Is something wrong with me? How do I get my sex drive back?

Feminists with Female Sexual Dysfunction

A blog written by, for, and from the perspective of feminists with female sexual dysfunction.

Boys, Birth Control, and Nature

I swallowed my reservations about hormonal contraceptives, why can't the men?

Show Your Support: Vote for Scarleteen

Submitted by Stephanie on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 20:23.

Our founder, Heather Corinna, and Scarleteen have been nominated for the Our Bodies Ourselves Women’s Health Heroes award. This award is designed to honor and recognize those who make a difference through significant contributions to the health and well being of women.


You Decide: Making Informed Health Choices about Hormonal Contraception

Designed to help health care providers better understand and speak to the risks and benefits of hormonal contraception, and helpful for patients to choose for themselves.

The luck (or not) of the draw

lisasucks asks:

I'm 19 and my boyfriend is 28. We've been having sex for a year now and we have not been very careful at all. We never use condoms! It's weird though cause I have not gotten pregnant. He usually doesn't ejaculate in me LOL but still. . . . I always joke and tell him he's sterile but now I'm really thinking he is. Since I haven't gotten pregnant does this mean there is something wrong with my boyfriend or me? Or does it just mean I'm lucky?

Is it safe for him to taste my menstrual blood?

theredmarker asks:

I know having your partner finger you during your period is perfectly safe (while a little messy), but I do have another concern: my boyfriend often puts that finger in his mouth to taste the fluid after he's done fingering. So I was wondering, is it safe to do that while on your period? Like, are there any health risks involved with ingesting the blood? Now I do realize this would be a very small amount of blood, but I'm just curious.