Salon.com > sexual health

When she wants sex more

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Once in bed at night, Cathy's boyfriend would almost instantly curl up in the fetal position facing away from her and begin breathing heavily as though asleep. "But if I put my arm around him, he would stiffen up and hold his breath," she says. "A couple times, I even saw him hurriedly shut his eyes." Sometimes the 37-year-old from St. Louis, Mo., would take a more direct approach, telling him, "I want to be with you" -- but she often ended up being rebuffed. It wasn't uncommon for him to ask, "Why do we have to have sex all the time?"

This is the gender reversal of what we're used to hearing: stories about women complaining of a headache or offering a simple, "Not tonight, honey." Just this week, the Wall Street Journal published a piece ostensibly about "differing expectations about sex" in relationships in general, but which fell back on the stereotype of the frigid wife who withholds sex. The piece presented only one real-life example of such a dynamic and, despite mentioning far, far down in the piece a study on desire that found no significant gender differences, the piece ran with the headline, "He Says 'More' and She Says 'No.'"

South Africa debuts single dose AIDS treatment drug

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:41:00 +0000

South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced on Monday the launch of a new single dose combination anti-retroviral drug that will cost just 89 rand a month ($10) per patient, potentially revolutionizing AIDS treatment in the country.

“Before 2010, we were buying the most expensive ARVs in the world. Now we are a country where the ARVs are the cheapest in the world... It means we can increase the number of people on treatment,” Motsoaledi said.

As reported by Agence France-Presse:

Antiabortion activists block sexual health funding for at-risk teens

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:16:00 +0000

Last year, a pair of researchers at North Dakota State University won a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families to start a sexual health program aimed at preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in at-risk teens.

But as Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones reports, the school had contracted Planned Parenthood to provide the services, and antiabortion activists in the state started complaining about NDSU doing business with the nationwide women's health -- and in states other than North Dakota, abortion services -- provider.

"When I see something that says this is Planned Parenthood — they’re not even a part of the state of North Dakota. They don't serve anyone in North Dakota, and they shouldn't be a part of North Dakota. They're not a part of how we do business in this state," said Rep. Bette Grande on a local radio show denouncing Planned Parenthood and NDSU. "It is an overt abortion industry that we don't want to be a part of," she added.

Study: Condoms don’t ruin sex. Really

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:29:00 +0000

Impressionable young people and other sex novices, gather round! There is no longer any reason to let someone pressure you into having sex without a condom. So no more falling for "it just feels better" at the last minute, you hear?

Sex with condoms is totally the same as sex without condoms. Science says so.

A new study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that within a nationally representative study of American men and women, sex was rated as "highly arousing and pleasurable" whether or not condoms were used. Translation: Consensual sex is pretty much always going to feel good. Because it is sex.

Researchers from the School of Public Health at Indiana University reviewed how men and women ages 18-59 rated their last sexual experience and found that the "results showed that men and women consistently rate sex as highly arousing and pleasurable with few differences based on condom or lubricant use," according to the study.

And there was no significant difference found in how easily men reported getting erections while using condoms, either.

Drug-resistant gonorrhea has come to North America

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:32:00 +0000

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 700,000 Americans get gonorrhea every year. And while that might sound like cause for concern, the common STI is relatively easy to treat with a course of antibiotics.

That's why a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association has public health officials worried. A class of antibiotics known as cephalosporins appears to be weakening against gonorrhea infections worldwide and, according to the report, the drug-resistant strain has now reached North America.

Head researcher Vanessa Allen, of Public Health Ontario, examined people who were treated for gonorrhea with cefixime (a cephalosporin) at a clinic in Toronto. Of the 133 patients who received treatment, 6.77 percent failed to respond to medication -- meaning one in 15 patients had contracted the drug-resistant super strain. And a recent piece in the New Yorker reports that some public-health officials believe the superbug will be widespread in as little as five years.

Report: HPV rates remain high because parents won’t vaccinate

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:45:00 +0000

A report published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that while cancer rates overall continue to decline in the U.S., rates of human papilloma virus-related cancers remain high.

Here's the insane part: This doesn't have to be the case! There is a vaccine that could help stem the number of cancer deaths -- of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, pharynx, anus and throat -- related to HPV each year. It's just that not enough kids are getting it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began mandating the Gardasil shot for school entry, but parents refused, believing it would only promote sexual activity. (Even though research shows that's not case.) In 2010, fewer than half of girls aged 13-17 had received even one dose of the vaccine, while only 32 percent had received the recommended three doses, according to the report.

I was a sex surrogate

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:00:00 +0000

The ad in New York magazine said they needed women who were “bright, articulate and enjoyed helping people.” A little skimpy on information, but I decided to call. I’d just returned from an eight-month dance-teaching gig in Brazil, and I had no idea what to do next.

I know many women wouldn’t take the job they were advertising, but I’d had my own sexual trauma in the past, and needed healing from that. Since I had spent many years in self-destruct mode, I wanted to use my need for sexual connection to help others. Finally, I had my answer: working as a sex surrogate.

Like Helen Hunt’s character in “The Sessions,” a sex surrogate is a therapist who helps people overcome their bedroom dysfunctions. Yes, it involves sleeping with strangers, but unlike prostitution, these men weren’t in search of a good time. They were in pain and filled with shame. They had tried everything. Usually, a sex surrogate is a last resort. And over time, they taught me more about intimacy and vulnerability than I could have imagined.