As of this week two of China’s most popular gay dating apps were unavailable for download, although it appears they still work for those who had already downloaded them. Founded in 2012 Blued is the most popular gay app in China with more than 40 million global registered users. Considering the closure of Shanghai Pride […]
IOC Moves to Ban Trans Women and Intersex Athletes with “Male Levels of Testosterone”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is likely to introduce a new policy on trans athletes after its director of health, medicine, and science, Dr. Jane Thornton, gave a “science-based review” to its members showing permanent physical advantages to being born male. Thornton, a former Canadian rower, has referenced the use of SRY cheek-swab gene test […]
When Referring to Your Lady Bits, Words Matter
A new study examined the terms women use to name their genitals and their associations with genital attitudes, sexual pleasure, and genital health behaviors across both non-sexual and sexual contexts. The findings of this study provide the first empirical evidence linking genital naming to women’s GSI, sexual-, and health-related well-being, affirming that the words women […]
Another Good Reason to Workout?
Women can experience exercise-induced orgasm (EIO) and exercise-induced arousal (EIA) during exercise or physical activities that are vigorous, repetitive, or demanding of core abdominal muscles, usually apart from sexual situations and without direct genital stimulation. In a qualitative study based on interviews with 21 adult women, researchers aimed to understand women’s lived experiences with EIO/EIA. […]
Gender Trouble Again
Conceiving of gender and sex as binary concepts is a stubborn means of categorization that has long limited human understanding of important aspects of identity and experience. In most cultures humans become binary subjects at birth in two major ways: 1) we are corralled into either male or female sexed body designations based on anatomical […]
Kinsey Survey Reveals Inadequate Sex Education
A recently published study by researchers affiliated with the Kinsey Institute examined the perceptions of 3,895 single American adults about their sex education in school. Over 40% believe that better sex education would have helped them gain more sexual self-confidence and have healthier romantic relationships. The majority said their sex education mainly focused on reproductive […]
Meeting Partners Online Yields Poor Results
An international study of over 6000 partnered individuals from 50 countries shows that 21% of those initiating their relationship since 2010 met their partner online, and that those relationships tended to be less satisfactory and involve lower intensity of experienced love. An article in The Guardian discusses how the new rules and terminology for online […]
Sexual Inactivity in Japan
A newly published review in the Journal of Sex Research synthesizes the results of 43 surveys conducted over the last 50 years concerning sexual inactivity, inexperience, and lack of desire among Japanese youth, which is increasingly recognized as a serious social problem in a country worried about population decline. Today, about half the Japanese population […]
Decline in Youth Trans and Queer Identification?
A study published by the Centre for Heterodox Social Science at the University of Buckingham uses three surveys to suggest a substantial drop (about 50%) in non-binary self-identification among American students since 2023, and a smaller but not insignificant drop (about 10%) in “queer” self-identification; however, the rate of identification with traditional labels like gay […]
Childhood “Nerds” Likely to be Lifelong Virgins?
A study of approximately 400,000 UK and Australian adults, mostly middle-aged and older, reveals that about 1% of the population goes through life without ever having experienced any form of sexual intercourse. The study found sexlessness is associated with a range of genetic, environmental, physical and mental factors – but much still remains unclear. Among […]