I’m leaving Vegas today and just wanted to say how happy I was so meet so many readers, including but not limited to Marcey, Heather, Michelle and others. You are all doing important jobs as educators and I am glad that this blog continues to be helpful to you in your work.
On to Chicago now - the Literally Sexy event at Victory Gardens is tonight!
The above photo was taken by Peter Wynn Thompson and is from the New York Times web site, from an article about American Airlines’ flight cancellations. When I hear about cancelled flights, or when I see big traffic delays, I can’t help but think about the feelings and frustrations of the people who are caught in these situations. This is more about me and my experiences than anything else, I suppose, but it makes me wonder who, among those "stranded", is trying very hard to get home to a child they haven’t seen in a while, or to a marriage or relationship they are trying to save, or to a parent who is not well, or may be dying. Is this too morbid? I ask myself. I don’t mean these thoughts to sound morbid… but it’s part of life, right? That at any given moment, among a cancelled flight that was to carry 300 human beings to another location, surely one or two of them need to get somewhere so bad that it hurts. Something to think about when you’re caught in traffic or one of many passengers thwarted, that perhaps someone else who is feeling frustrated is really just desperately in need of help.
In this Kinsey Confidential podcast, listen to me answer a question about female masturbation. You can learn more about Kinsey Confidential on our web site.
Whew! It’s been a busy few weeks and I apologize for not blogging more often. There has been quite a lot going on! I have had tons of flowers blooming, which has been a very good thing for me. I love warm weather and flowers and I really think spring is ready to burst onto the scene full time.
I’ve also had quite a lot going on in terms of work. We recently completed a study related to lubricants and are getting ready to embark on another study related to sexual enhancement. On Monday, I guest lectured in a Women’s Health class and taped another ten Kinsey Confidential podcasts. By the way, it turns out that we have had tens of thousands of downloads of our Kinsey Confidential podcasts so please do keep spreading the word and letting your friends and family know that they can use these to learn about sex. I’ve also been working on a feature story (yes, related to sex) for a popular magazine and will be excited when that comes out (I think this summer).
Tomorrow I am off to Vegas to join some friends and colleagues and talk about sex toys, then it is off to Chicago for a truly fabulous evening at Victory Gardens where I will be taking part in the Literally Sexy event, and finally on to Rome where I will be giving a talk about sexual problems following cancer treatment at the European Federation of Sexology conference. And yes, I will be wired and working and even blogging throughout this time.
There have been other things going on too and I can’t wait to share them with you another day. In the mean time, I hope you’ll enjoy this picture of my crocuses as they started to bloom a couple of weeks ago. (I know, I’m such a dork). Please keep reading and writing and thinking about sex - and let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to cover. I’m all ears!
Yes, we really did get this question. Check out one of our latest Kinsey Confidential podcasts, hosted by yours truly, here.
Oh no. As you remember, I’ve posted previously about my experiences working in Kenya this summer, and how the political-related violence over the past few years also has caused issues with patients getting their medications for HIV, and with the general displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, as well as much violence and killing. It seems that unrest is cropping up again - check out this NY Times article that was just recently posted.
In a recent post, I referred readers to a NY Times piece about abstinence on college campuses which prompted reader Tim to ask me about my thoughts about purity pledges and late starts at sex. Personally, I am not in favor of pledges in relation to sex - I think that teenagers and young adults need to be able to be given the space and accurate information and emotional support to learn about relationships and sexuality, and to make the choices that feel right for them. As for late starts at sex - and by late, I just mean later than average - I certainly don’t think that anyone just have sex at any other time than when they are ready. Some are ready earlier than others; some are ready later than others.
That said, some research has suggested that later-than-average starters may have other sexual or relationship issues that manifest later on - see here and here. Is there something about starting late that causes problems? Or is this just an association? For example, some men or women who start late are men or women who when they were younger felt very nervous about sex, or worried about rejection, or maybe they didn’t feel supported by their families… and maybe these same issues later contribute to other sexual/relationship problems. Similarly, maybe some men or women who start very late have always felt badly about their bodies or felt shameful about sex and that this carries forward to affect them in their adult lives.
That’s not to say that early starters at sex - and average starters at sex - don’t have sexual problems or concerns too. Most of us do, at some point. But for years the focus of some research was looking at what was different about "early" starters… and now we are starting to try to understand the characteristics of all groups (early, average and later starters), so stay tuned. I’m sure more knowledge is on the way.
I took a photo of this ad… but I forget where I was. I’ve been traveling so much lately. I think it was at the 30th St train station in Philly last month.
Oh, the conundrums of modern society. To wax or not to wax? What about health issues? Listen to my response to a question about this very topic of whether one can get chlamydia from a bikini wax on this recent Kinsey Confidential podcast.