shame

When it comes to sex, women are often portrayed as nothing but warm vessels there to validate male partners’ egos. The widespread cultural acceptance of a woman pursuing pleasure for her own sake is a relatively new one (at least in West’s modern history), and we’ve still got a long way to go. It’s no small wonder that many women have a difficult time asking for what they want in general, let alone when it comes to sex.

Sexual shame hinders women in far too many ways. It’s a difficult beast to tackle, as it assumes so many nuanced, subtle forms in our daily lives.

Contrary to a common public opinion, there’s no right or wrong way to have sex.

Women get a whole lot of messages about body hair. So how do you figure out what you want in terms of shaving and other personal grooming?

When we have sex, all of our bodies’ small idiosyncrasies, quirks, and so-called “flaws” are on display. Our natural functions are part of life.

I’m just going to lay it down for you: sex will not be great unless you’re mentally and emotionally prepared. But “prepared” means something different for everyone. For one person, it might mean a solid, committed relationship. For another, it might mean having overcome some body image problems. And for yet another, you might just genuinely feel ready right out of the gate. We all require different things in order to be truly prepared to have sex for the first time. Some of us might require a lot, and some might require almost nothing. Sex might have a lot of emotional or moral meaning for one person, but for another, it might have no such weight behind it at all.

Many women and girls feel insecure about sex, especially when it’s new. How can we build some sexual confidence?

Scarleteen volunteer Sam reflects on the significance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and how it relates to sexuality, identity, and her middle school experience.

Some people struggle with strong pregnancy fears when there isn’t a pregnancy or hasn’t even been any real risk of pregnancy. What’s that really about, and how can you move forward?

When it comes to sex with and for only yourself – masturbation – it should be just like sex with a partner when it comes to if you do it or not. If it’s something you want to do and feel comfortable doing, then you can choose to do it. If it’s not something you want or don’t feel comfortable with…