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The pre-pubescent world of girlhood was one filled with a romanticization of my impending period. I thought that having a period would make me a woman. I was being prepared for my future as a mother! How exciting. But at the same time I also knew that it was my god-given duty to hide this change. I should change and I should celebrate it, but I couldn’t make anyone uncomfortable.

What it sounds like, to me, is that whatever it is you’ve been doing sexually just isn’t something you feel okay with yet or good about right now. I get that it feels good at the time, but when I talk about sex feeling good, any kind of sexual activities at all, what I mean is sex feeling good…

We hear so many horror stories about first-time sex. Perhaps it might be good therapy to read about a first time that went well.

The Center for Reproductive Rights provides this in-depth map of abortion laws around the world.

At twenty years old, I have by no means conquered all of my personal anxieties or insecurities about sex and sexuality. But after spending years trying to deny it, I can say that I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am a sexual being. For most of my life, I have conceptualized my sexuality as separate from the rest of my body, intellect, and soul. This schism between my sexuality and the idea I had of my ‘Self’ cut me deeply during some of what could have been the best years of my life.

Don’t worry: I’m not going to tell you not to post pictures of yourself drunk or exposed on Facebook because future employers might look at your profile, or tell you not to write about how “totally wasted” you got last night on your Wall. What I want to talk about is the other side of Facebook, the side that allows creeps to spy on you.

Let’s shift this question a little bit, because ultimately, what you’re asking isn’t just about guys. You’re asking if there is one way where orgasm or ejaculation feels better or best for any given group of people. The easy answer, and the truest answer, to that is no: just like there isn’t any one…

There is no one, unilateral stance on feminism and BDSM, whether someone is being dominant or submissive; whether women have partners who are men, women, both or neither. For decades, there has been a lot of feminist conversation around it and other aspects of sex with a lot of varied opinion…

You know people really are all very different, and usually when we try to compare one partner with those of our past we miss the mark by a long shot because of those differences. So lets break your question down into a few different parts and take things one at a time. Let’s take the big question…

The murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller on May 31st has resulted in a lot of conversation about abortion. It’s a topic frequently hushed, or spoken about more around its politics than the actual procedure, the experience itself and the real women who have abortions. So this increased discussion is certainly something potentially positive happening because of something horribly tragic. However, often in these conversations and news stories, language is used that’s confusing or inaccurate, and some statements are made about abortion or women who choose abortion which are false, unrepresentative or misleading. And any of this can come from either “side” of abortion debates or discussions, due to political aims or motivations, ideological ideas or agendas or just out of plain old ignorance.

Short answer: Absolutely, yes. There could be—and likely are—plenty of other reasons why your boyfriend does not want to do sexual things with you. Longer answer: Our decision about whether to have sex, or whether to engage in any type of sexual behavior is rarely the result of a single factor. It’s…

If I only had a dollar (heck, even a quarter) for every time a young person wrote into Scarleteen to ask us if we think they might be [fill in a sexual orientation here], I’d be pretty freakin’ wealthy. This is in no way to make light of your question to us, more just to let you know that this is…

A website where people who have given birth of all ages, shapes, sizes and nationalities can share images of their post-pregnancy bodies so it will no longer be secret; to see what people really look like sans airbrushes and plastic surgery. What if the next generation grows up knowing how normal…

All of us who work at clinics that provide abortion, or as abortion or reproductive rights educators or advocates know we do so at substantial risk. Women who come to our clinics as clients also know that they, too, may be at risk. The slaying of Dr. Tiller yesterday is tragic and upsetting, but it is not surprising or new. We didn’t become scared for the first time yesterday. We’ve always been scared, and we have always had cause to be scared. The murder of Dr. George Tiller at his church yesterday morning – based on the information we have so far – was domestic terrorism, and terrorism which has been known and prevalent for some time.

Very sad news: A prominent abortion provider, George Tiller, was shot and killed this morning inside his church in Wichita, Kansas. He was one of the few remaining doctors in the US who perform therapeutic late-term abortions after 25 weeks (to 28 LMP). Unfortunately, Dr. Tiller was regularly targeted by radical anti-abortion groups; his clinic was bombed in 1986 and he was shot and wounded in 1993.

It’s amazing how well my generation - those in their late teens and early 20’s - can distance themselves from topics that have everything to do with us. For example, driving fatalities and alcohol abuse. It’s staggering the number of teens who die from car accidents related to substance abuse, as well as those who spend their high school and college years with a beer bottle in hand. It’s even scarier to look at how many teenagers don’t know BASIC FACTS about sex and sexuality. This is something I’ve known for a long time as a Scarleteen staff member, but it doesn’t change reality.

A friend dying is usually a really big deal, especially when you’re young and death isn’t expected like it is when we’re 60, 70 or 80. While young people can sometimes feel like their lives are going to be short, I think it’s safe to say few people actually expect anyone’s life to end when they’re…

I hate, hate, hate that phrase. Nearly everywhere I go or look as a young adult sexuality educator anymore, I run into it incessantly. Let me be clear: I don’t hate doing all that we can, to help people of every age to avoid pregnancies or parenting they do not want or do not feel ready for. I’m so glad to do that, and it’s a big part of my job at Scarleteen and elsewhere when I work as a sexuality and contraception educator and activist.

Libido – the desire for sex of any given kind – is a very complex thing, much like sex and sexuality are complex. It’s emotional, it’s intellectual, it’s chemical and physiological, it’s both personal and interpersonal, it’s spiritual, it’s metaphysical, it’s historical, it’s aspirational. Our…

It’s normal for a woman’s body to respond to anything she finds pleasurable, and every woman’s body responds in similar yet different ways. What you’re really talking about here is arousal. What we know about sexual response is that there is a basic cycle – generally referred to as the sexual…

I only rented Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist recently, so I know I’m behind the curve on this one. But I just had to say something. I loved this movie. I loved it as a person just chilling out on her couch wanting to watch something good, and I loved it even more as someone who works with and for teenagers and young adults. When I looked up the director, I was unsurprised that I’d liked it so much. Peter Sollett also directed Raising Victor Vargas, which is one of the best, most honest and real coming-of-age films I’ve ever seen.

I’ve continued to enjoy TED videos, featuring people like Aimee Mullins, and my interest really doesn’t seem to be subsiding any time soon. TED is the “Technology, Entertainment, Design” conference who’s video talks and lectures are released on-line every weekday. Most recently, my thoughts on it…

This project began as after this blogger, a self-identifying feminist with vulvodynia, became fed up with the available information about FSD from a feminist perspective! There are relatively few discussions about this topic on the internet, despite the fact that up to 43% of women experience some…

I’ve watched a few lectures from the TED conferences which have been put online this year and really enjoyed most them, even if I do disagree with some of the speakers on what they say… I just watched the following video where Aimee Mullins, an amputee, athlete, actress and model speaks on what…

Earlier this week, I drove over to my very awesome local sexual health clinic, willingly had my upper left arm anaesthetized, and got a matchstick-sized piece of plastic jammed under the skin just for the heck of it. Well, okay, not exactly… What I really did was get Implanon inserted, and it was…