I think it might be helpful to remember that when it comes to life experience and human development, the difference between someone in their mid-twenties and mid-thirties is actually smaller than it is for someone in their teens and someone in their twenties. If you are concerned your sister isn't i...

Our bodies really don't. What's different chemically is more emotional than physical when it comes to sex with ourselves and sex with partners (and this isn't about intercourse: this is about any kind of sex or sexual response with others: intercourse doesn't do anything different hormonally than ot...

Can I ask what "recently" means in terms of starting to date? In the last year, six months, month, week.....? Can I also ask why you think this all feels so desperate for you? In terms of the sexual feelings, is masturbation not taking care of a lot of that for you? If not, then really, th...

We co-hosted a twitter chat last night with awesome sex ed cartoonist Erika Moen, and maker of washable pads Glad rags last night, all about sex and periods! If you want to take a look at the whole conversation, you can find it here! https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23sexperiod&src=t...

This is one of those where if the only thing we really have to go with is itchy, it could be just about anything that can irritate the vulva, or cause an imbalance or infection, which honestly, is just about anything! I know it stinks to not know what the what is when you're not well, but I'm afraid...

It does sound, to me, like it's time to call a healthcare provider, yep. So sorry you're still having troubles!

And cranberry juice often works very well at preventing UTIS -- which may not even be what you're dealing with here -- and far less well at stopping one that has started, alas.

Have any of you seen this, yet?

http://www.scarleteen.com/article/etc/h ... aith_in_bc

Sure thing!

Exactly. They just may, potentially, make it less effective. We couldn't possibly guess at percentages like that, though. Again, this is a conversation best had with your prescribing physician or pharmacist (though they won't be able to give figures like that either, since to my knowledge, we don't ...

By all means, the pill offers additional pregnancy protection, even if and when it might be somewhat less effective due to something like a possible medication interaction. So, it's not like your pill, even if the antibiotics DID interact, would go from being 91% effective in typical use to being 0%...

Honestly, it just sounds like your pal here is having a time of life where he's being mighty superficial, and not seeing that that rarely, if ever, amounts to much. Nor that -- from the sounds of things -- he's risking losing something of real value, on top of it. The thing is, when someone is decid...

In some ways, a lot of this reminds me of the assumption that if women had all the power in the world men do, they would necessarily use it better, and be more moral. And of course, that's fallacious: we have no idea if that would be true, and chances are, because women are simply people, people wit...

I would say it does, for sure. Same goes with the long-held and widespread idea women should save sex for marriage, but it is no big whoop if men don't, nor is it expected of them.

I don't think that sounds robotic, and I get it. So, you'll have that time and space after this month. And then too, maybe time where you have seen how you feel about your relationship as something other than it has been. If you want help when that time rolls around setting up some frameworks for yo...

Just stop scratching. Likely, that blood was because you scratched yourself. No scratching!

I love that phrase for this, and I agree, so long as it allows you to do that as a process. :) In other words, like a lot of things, figuring orientation out is a process of usually-gradual discovery, not something most people are at all likely to know right away. But for sure, that's the goal, we j...

The thing is, that likely will not be a super-common experience. Again, what is most likely is that much of the time, you will need or want lubricant. So, I'd see if you can't revisit what I asked earlier, in terms of figuring out what the mental hangups are with lube or condoms, and then what you c...

It's okay. It sounds to me like maybe before talking more about options with this now, what you need to do most is figure out if you even really want to do anything more with this relationship than leave it. I'm just not getting a clear sense of that from you, and some of the questions you're asking...

Really this is one of those things where you are asking for someone to prove why something unfounded -- and clearly based on misunderstanding how the body works -- is unfounded, and that's always tricky. But if you just take a look at any FAQ from companies that make pads or tampons, and the most ba...

I know it is. Maybe I can file this one away for when I retire and need things to do I have wanted to do. :) I'd suggest you consider that relationships between men and women are no more or less normal than those between people of the same gender or sex. Really: they're all just relationships, and l...

Are you starting with lube from the beginning? Really, condom or no condom, chances are that with genital sex, especially intercourse, you'll be needing or wanting to add lube sometimes, if not all the time. These things involve friction with or without condoms. So, it seems like the trick with lube...

I wish I knew Greek! (In general, but it'd also obviously be helpful today.) Here is the thing: our sexual orientation is about who, with real people, we feel emotionally and sexually drawn to (and since sexuality involves emotions, if there is sexual attraction, there is some kind of emotional attr...

Have you ever tried the "female" or internal condom? It's non-latex, and it's different than male copndoms if it's something about them -- not just latex -- that isn't working for you. With male condoms, it'd help to know what's not feeling comfortable for you when you are NOT using latex....

Here's the scoop: If you started the pill on day one of a period or did a Sunday start, where you started on or before the first Sunday after a period, then yep, seven days should be fine. If not, then backing up for one full cycle is what is usually advised. So, what you guys are doing poses the sa...

'Let Jealousy be your teacher. Jealousy can lead you to the very places where you most need healing. It can be your guide into your own dark side and show you the way to total self-realization. Jealousy can teach you how to live in peace with yourself and with the whole world if you let it.' ~ Debo...