communication

That’s pretty normal as partners get more comfortable having sex together, so you should let him know that doesn’t mean anything is wrong. But if he’s not satisfied with that, the trick generally is just to mix it up: to mix in way more activities than intercourse, and to focus on his whole body…

Plenty! Without more information than that, it’s hard for me to know what’s been part of your sexual activity. For instance, if by sexually active, you just mean with partners – for any activity – then I’d suggest going back to your own drawing board, with your own two hands, and finding out about…

I’m going to suggest you look at reciprocity in sex – the idea that one person gives something, so the other should get something of equal value back – in a different way than you might be used to. (Excerpted and adapted from S.E.X., the Scarleteen book.)

You know, what “sex” even IS differs for everyone. There are a world of sexual activities out there – oral sex, manual sex, intercourse, anal play, role play, frottage, the works – and how each person does them isn’t only different from person to person, but from partnership to partnership, and…

Having sex with someone else is really intimate, and we’re all vulnerable in that space, and double for both when we have strong feelings for the person we’re with. So, in order to make our own best choices – including in terms of our emotional safety – we need to understand that. Does this person…

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common cause of vaginitis symptoms among people with vaginas of childbearing age (15-45). However, half the people who meet clinical criteria for BV have no symptoms.

My boyfriend says that anal sex is no different than regular sex. Is that true? He also says we don’t have to use a condom? Also, will I still be a virgin if I have anal sex? Will it hurt as much?

The Biblical sin of Sodom wasn’t homosexuality or anal sex – it was rape, greediness and poor hospitality, and the legal basis of sodomy is not about homosexuality, but about oral and anal sex, and often about homophobia.

At least once every couple of days, someone posts or writes into Scarleteen reporting that vaginal entry – usually intercourse or manual vaginal sex, and usually (but not always) with cisgender male partners – is painful, uncomfortable, or unfulfilling for them. Whatever sort of vaginal entry we’re talking about – with fingers, a penis or a dildo, with partners of any gender – not only doesn’t have to be painful, it really shouldn’t be. More than that, any kind of sex shouldn’t be about a lack of pain, but about the presence of pleasure.

We get a lot of questions at Scarleteen from folks who are worried about periods that are MIA (missing in action, for us civilians). Sometimes there’s a pregnancy concern, and sometimes not; but even if you’re not sexually active, a missing period can be worrying.