I see you, and it makes me so happy to see you. There is such a disconnect between what we say America is about and what it is right now. True freedom is the freedom to be who we are, and it hurts my heart so much that in some parts of this country, it is unsafe for trans people to do that right now.
The narrative that led to their prosecution in the Eastern District of New York on forced labor charges began somewhere else entirely, a highly questionable Netflix documentary, whose editors were more interested in sensationalization than accuracy.
The school knows that they have this deepfake issue, and they all of a sudden add this clause to their enrollment contracts. That to me seems a little disingenuous and unfair, and it doesn't seem like someone's apologizing.
My local Target was the first place I noticed the shift. One day, a few years ago, a sign appeared: red text on white paper announcing that no one under 18 would be allowed in without an adult. Before the poster, every weekday afternoon, clots of teens would move through the arteries of the store, occasionally blocking them. The kids would laugh among themselves, swatch makeup on their arms, peruse the candy offerings.
During that time, I've had two long-term male partners, who shared similar issues. The first felt the IUD several times during sex. I had my doctor snip the strings shorter. This did not help. It still poked him, and he even bled once. My second long-term partner (and current husband) had the same issue. I got a new IUD and kept the strings long since they're supposed to "curl up." Didn't help.
The moment sex becomes something you owe rather than something you want, the dynamic shifts entirely. It reframes intimacy as a transaction, and that's where things start to go wrong. Sex debt thinking often comes from a place of insecurity or poor communication. Usually, couples have never discussed what sex actually means to them in the context of their relationship.
The realm of intimate relationships is wide and diverse, providing endless opportunities to discover joy, pleasure and connection. But exploring new ground without consent from both parties may cause unease, betrayals of confidence and even injury. A good sexual relationship depends on this kind of conversation because it ensures that any exploration is grounded in permission and mutual curiosity, strengthening the connection and enhancing the experience for both parties.
A few years ago, I, a 21-year-old man, agreed to take part in a stupid frat hazing activity. Unbeknownst to "Felipe," a 21-year-old man, I performed oral sex on him during that activity while he was blindfolded. At the time, Felipe was just an acquaintance-we didn't become good friends until much later. Felipe's big brother at the frat, "Ron," is the only person besides me who knows that I performed oral on Felipe.
In the past, when we've done these analyses, we've seen couples express an interest in bondage play or sensory play. But this year, we're almost seeing a shift towards getting back to basics. I found it so interesting that regardless of gender, age or where you live, people want more oral sex.
As the shaky evidence base for youth gender medicine has become better known, activists have retreated to an argument from authority. Never mind the Cass Report, whose findings resulted in the closure of Britain's leading youth gender clinic. Never mind the study by a leading American practitioner showing that the treatments she championed did not improve minors' mental health. Never mind reports that some adolescents were being put on a medical pathway after only a single clinic visit. For advocates, the important thing to remember was that "gender-affirming care" for minors-puberty blockers and hormones, plus surgery in rare cases-was endorsed by all of the major American medical associations.
I am a bisexual, 50-year-old woman who enjoys threesomes, including with the most common configuration of a bisexual woman partnered with a straight male. All my past encounters have been amazing-open communication, everyone hot for everyone, natural transitions between constellations of two and three people interacting. However, last night I ended up in bed with a couple, and once we got our clothes off, something happened.
My husband and I have a great sex life that I love. He gets me off consistently with his fingers on my clit, and my orgasms are body-shattering and euphoric. However, ever since I first had sex, I've always been a little surprised and disappointed by how little sensation I feel in my vaginal canal. I can feel a penis, fingers, and toys go in, but once they're in, it's sort of a vague sensation of fullness, and nice, but not much.
Since my first pregnancy in my late 20s, my libido's been much lower than Eric's. But when I started perimenopause, I experienced this surge of desire (and curiosity) again, and he and I began to discuss our fantasies. Both of us were turned on by the idea of a threesome with another man, so a couple of years ago, I asked Eric if he'd be up for going to an adult social club.
