Good Vibrations Magazine

Clipped from: Carnal Nation by clp.ly

I have to admit that this is the sort of thing that seems so obvious to me that I’m surprised that someone had to do research. But then, it’s good to have empirical validation, especially since that means that it can be used in other research.
It turns out that [...]

If you’re interested in talking about and exploring sex positivity, you might be interested in this group. I don’t know anything about them other than what you see here, so if you go, feel free to let us know how it was.
Sex Positive Discussion Group
hosted by Amy
tbamy@yahoo.com
This is a discussion group for all ages, genders, [...]

I ran across a link to a really great post on Scarleteen, which is a fantastic sex ed for youth website. Much of the site is in the Q&A format, and this page was no different. The question came from a young woman who is considering becoming a Christian and had concerns about how her [...]

Over the last several years, I’ve been exploring the ways in which sexuality and shame relate, as well as how a deeper understanding of these topics can enrich our understanding of sex-positivity. As part of this process, I’ve developed a couple of workshops on the topic and I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be offering [...]

There’s a pattern that I’ve seen in some circles to assume that people who describe themselves as sex-positive will do anything and everything. And while that affects anyone who moves in these communities, there’s a way in which it has an impact on women that’s different from the way that it affects men.
Clarisse Thorn has [...]

Recently, I was in an email conversation about sex-positivity and the other person asked me how sex-positivity and boundaries work. Her confusion centered on the fact that it often seemed to her that people who identify as sex-positive have an “anything goes” outlook. I’ve said before that, in my experience, sex-positive people often have stronger [...]

Social networking is an amazing way to connect with people with similar interests and find potential lovers or relationships. There are all sorts of sites, from OnlineBootyCall (for folks who want a quick hookup) to  AdultFriendFinder to AshleyMadison (for married people who want to have an affair). Many of these sites are more about the [...]

Tis the season to be jolly, or so they say. Happy times filled with pumpkin pie, presents with fancy ribbon, great food, and the fabulous aspect of family time. The few times a year where you might  see Aunt Rita and Uncle John. You are bombarded by thousands of questions about your exciting life, including [...]

“Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are.”
~Julius Charles Hare via tinybuddha.com
Sex is a practice.
So let me tell you what I mean. We live in a world that presents sex as something that we can do perfectly. If only we read the right tips in the magazines at [...]

You may recall the rather nasty piece that Matt Smith wrote a while back, in which he detailed his opinions about BDSM and presented them as fact. It sparked off yet another round in the sex wars, as detailed here.
In response to this piece, BDSM video veteran Mz Berlin blogged about why she thinks that Smith’s conflation [...]

According to SF Sexual Health Examiner, Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) has introduced a bill to ban ads for medications for erectile dysfunction on broadcast TV & radio from 6 am-10 pm because he thinks that the ads are indecent, have become “an intrusion into our daily lives”, and should be restricted to times when youth [...]

There’s a lot of discussion about the influence of porn on society. And there’s a lot of discussion about the unrealistic expectations that many people (especially younger people) have because of the messages that porn offers. While I think that many of these points make a lot of sense, I also think that there are [...]

Whenever a conversation/discussion/debate about sexual practices comes up, it’s quite common for someone to suggest that people who engage in certain activities should examine where their desires come from. Most often, I see this happen in debates around BDSM, open relationships and sexwork. For example in this recent thread on Feministing, a conversation about how [...]

One of the things that I’ve noticed as a student of sexuality is how often our triggers get in the way of sex-positivity.
We all have triggers, by which I mean that we all have emotional reactions that are disproportionate to the situation that we are currently in. It’s quite common for us to have these [...]

I recently heard about a fascinating bit of research on the ways in which happiness spreads through social networks. After a little digging, I found the article “Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study”and I think it has some interesting implications for [...]

I read a lot of blogs about porn, sex, sexwork and such and I’m often struck by how many people make statements about the motivations of everyone who watches porn, or is a sexwork client, engages in BDSM, or simply enjoys a specific sexual desire, fantasy or practice. I think it’s amazing how often people [...]

I recently read a fascinating book called “The Sexual Spectrum,” which explores some of the cultural and biological factors that lead to sexual diversity. I highly recommend it. And one of the things that the author delves into sort of rocked my world.
I don’t know how often I’ve heard people talk about the gender spectrum. [...]

“Why would someone enjoy that?”
“I just don’t get why someone has sex like that?”
“Why do you do that? That’s gross!”
Have you ever heard someone something like this? I definitely have. Whether it’s about spanking & bondage, anal sex, role play, casual sex, or, yes, intercourse, there’s often a little laugh. But the laughter is usually [...]

I spend a lot of time reading sex info websites and blogs as part of my job. They can be a great place to find the latest information about sexuality, get answers to questions, and check out the current thinking about issues that affect sex. Having said that, I’m not the first one to notice [...]

I’ve been running the workshop program at Good Vibrations for 10 years and I’ve learned some interesting stuff as part of that.
One thing that I always tell my new workshop teachers is that if we put the word “communication” in a class blurb, we get a lot fewer people. We can use language like “talking [...]

I’ve heard a lot of people talking about sex-positivity, especially on teh interwebs. But I don’t see as much clarity around it as I’d like. So here’s my take on what it.
First off, what sex-positivity isn’t:
Sex-positivity isn’t about how much sex you have, how many partners you have, what types of sex you have, or [...]

In the articles and blogs that I’ve read about porn, every so often, someone talks about the “cum shot“. For the most part, I see people talking about it as objectification of women, a way to humiliate the recipient (generally, this is an argument about humiliation of women since gay porn is consistently left out [...]