readiness

Withdrawal is NOT an effective birth control method: just ask my parents, and their parents, and...you get the picture. I also have a fantastic nephew who I adore, both of whose parents swear (and have no reason to lie, really) that they practiced withdrawal PERFECTLY. Apparently not. That's the...

If you're uneasy about it, then I think it's pretty obvious that it's probably not the time to do it yet. We can like someone a lot and be intimate in ways with them that don't require sex or any given type of sex, and which also don't put us at risk of things we're not prepared to be at risk for...

Do you want to have a better sexual experience this time, as well as a relationship of real quality -- in which someone loves, likes and cares for you just as you ARE, not based on a persona -- with your new boyfriend? If you do, then it's really important to be honest. When we're dishonest with...

Hi Miguel, it looks like you're fighting some serious peer pressure. Despite all of our progress towards gender equality and rights, we still have some pretty wacked double-standards in our society. There's the double-standard that says that women who have lots of sex are whores, and men who abstain...

You know, when we're just plain horny -- rather than interested in really sharing sex, emotionally and physically, with another person -- the best choice to make is to masturbate. That's not just best for us, it's also better for any potential partners: if often isn't so great to be someone's...

Risk-taking is a very, very normal (I'm going to say it again in case you missed it: VERY normal) part of adolescent and young adult -- and overall human -- development. When the risks we're taking are sound risks to BE taking, which involve the possibility of real benefits, that not only isn't a...

The state of the hymen does not change risks of pregnancy in any way, nor does the hymen -- or not having had sexual intercourse before -- act as any kind of birth control. If you're at least in puberty, and you're menstruating, then already, it's a given that your hymen at least has micro...

As you and your partner consider sexual activity, it is great that you're seeking out information and resources to help prepare you. It also sounds like you have been talking about this together, which means that you've already crossed a big hurdle that a lot of people get stuck on. So in order to...

One of the absolute worst reasons to have sex -- and a great way to assure that the sex you have won't leave you feeling great physically or emotionally -- is because everyone else is doing it, or because you feel left out. When you have sex with a partner, it should be about you and about that...

Well, it might help to start by simply acknowledging - or reminding yourself -- that there is no one "best" or "right" body type. Clearly, you feel yours isn't -- and that's understandable in a world so messed up about looks -- but without external messages that something was wrong with your body...