Biologists and psychologists like to tussle with human characteristics: what’s inherent? What’s learnt? What’s genetically coded? What’s malleable? Every so often an “expert” will reignite the nature vs…
Taboos in porn can be shocking, but they can also be very revealing about our sexual apetites.
Flickr/billypalooza
Fat people having sex, ugly people having sex, old people having sex. All too readily our culture cringes, shudders, if not gags at the thought. After all, if film and television have taught us anything…
Is there a genuine rise in the appeal for sadomasochist behaviour among women in 2012?
flickr/Jeremy Brook
The poster for Secretary is up on my wall at work. I actually paid to see A Dangerous Method purely for Jung’s novel approach to therapy (and God do I hate period films.) While I probably won’t read all…
Our debates about porn are stuck in the past.
x-ray delta one
It seems Australians aren’t ready for a real debate on porn and sex. Yet.
The Australian reported last month that Telstra was offering “soft-core pornography” with titles like “Dirty Housewife and Hot…
The Australian Sex Party was launched at Sexpo in 2008 by leader Fiona Patten.
AAP/Julian Smith
“Where’s the party?"
“Can I join?”
“Is this legitimate?”
These were just a few of the questions I was asked during my eight-hour shift as a volunteer for The Australian Sex Party (ASP) at their booth…
This is just asking for trouble.
Wikimedia Commons
Few of us consider that having sex could result in a violent, instantaneous death. But in nature, where sex and violence are often two sides of the same coin, many animals are routinely subjected to such…
Chief of the Defence Force General David Hurley and Minister for Defence Stephen Smith respond to reviews into Defence's culture and the Skype scandal.
Defence media
Defence minister Stephen Smith has released the findings of a series of reviews into last year’s ADFA sex scandal and the culture of the defence force.
The scandal revolved around an incident in March…
The upcoming SBS documentary Scarlet Road follows sex worker Rachel Wotton and her relationships with her disabled clients.
Health care, fair trials and education are things we readily accept as human rights.
Unlike fresh air and food, we can actually live without school or a due process trial for a whole lot longer than without…
One in five people over 80 are sexually active but not all protect themselves against STIs.
Flickr/adwriter
Why is it that when we combine the words “sex” and “older people” there’s a reaction of surprise, unease and awkwardness?
Is it because we believe older people don’t have sex? Or don’t have sexual fantasies…
So what's it to be, buddy, my cave or yours?
Kaptain Kobold
We humans had sex with Neandertals; we bonked the relatives of Neandertals; we got down and dirty with members of an as-yet unrecognised African population; and we, of course, got jiggy with each other…
Grindr is an app that allows gay men to meet up for … fun and friendship.
flickr/nathaninsandiego
The second Stephen Fry mentioned Grindr on Top Gear of course its popularity surged. Not only did the app – designed to help homosexual blokes hook up with those geographically convenient – surge in popularity…
Sex shops are venturing out into the High Street
Paul Maginn
Cities are fizzing with opportunities to experience sex and sexuality. While sex usually takes place in private spaces, it is never really out of our minds. Unconsciously we “know” that it is taking place…
Nile was not the first to congratulate Penny Wong on her baby news.
Dean Lewis/AAP
So Penny Wong, our finance minister, is going to be a mum. Sophie Allouache, Wong’s long-term partner, announced on Tuesday that her IVF-conceived baby will arrive in December.
While many commentators…
Rejoice, men: you may not need to hold your clock in dismay.
purplemattfish
If you’re in a room with 20 random blokes, it’s likely six or seven of them are worried about and unsatisfied with their ability to control their ejaculation during partnered sex.
In other words, these…
Guess what? It's not so much size but the shape that matters.
Ozchin
Why should male genitalia be so variable? This problem has puzzled evolutionary biologists for decades.
Even to the experts, it can be difficult to tell closely-related species apart just by looking at…
Wild zebra finch pairs keep their eyes peeled for opportunities to cheat.
Simon Griffith
Infidelity between sexual partners is ubiquitous – almost as prevalent as the tight and long-lasting social bonds that couples form.
But thanks to a recent German study of Australian zebra finches, a…
Rock stars are successful in the bedroom, but all too often their wild lifestyle catches up with them.
Flickr/Chalocuaz
Kurt Cobain was the messiah of my generation, the monumental talent who saved rock from the mediocrity of 1980s cock rock and hair metal. But behind his public eminence stalked a personal hell of addiction…
When is a roll in the hay worth losing your head over?
Suizilla
Sex is often viewed as a totally harmonious interaction between a male and female with the same innate goal – to produce offspring.
But it is becoming increasingly clear to biologists that the reproductive…
Porn allows us to explore desire safely and anonymously.
nasty days/flickr
Pornography is hardly an under-theorised medium.
For decades, radical feminists have decried its imagery as an instruction manual for rape. As women being objectified, humiliated, tortured. As men receiving…
Does homosexuality have something to offer everyone?
marlin harm/Flickr
Sexual orientation has long been cause for discussion and controversy, but just where does our sexual orientation come from? Are people “born gay” or are environmental causes at play?
Historically, many…
Stars like Jiz Lee and Dallas Fivestar are redefining porn for feminists.
violet.blue/flickr
I was recently approached by a young journalist, who asked for my comments on the Feminist Porn Awards.
In the course of the interview, she asked if I thought feminists should watch porn. I replied that…
Matter of fact, I got it now… porn is more accessible than ever.
K. Kendall/flickr
There are several myths regarding what constitutes “porn addiction”.
Some argue that, like alcohol problems, porn addiction is a disease. Once trapped, the consumer of porn will hit rock bottom with no…
Women's orgasms might be as useful as male nipples.
ex animø/Flickr
Why do women have orgasms? That may seem like a strange question, but it’s one which has perplexed scientists for decades and provoked fiery academic debates along the way.
The real question is: what…
As a society, we seem to be obsessed by sex. So wondering out loud why we have it is likely to invite a highly bemused response.
And yet sex remains one of the great, enduring mysteries of evolutionary…
