Cory Silverberg's Blog, page 2
April 24, 2014
Sex Research Counter-Narrative Round Up
This is over stating it somewhat, but authors of study published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health are interpreting data about cancer risk behaviors drawn from 9,435 adolescents enrolled in the Growing Up Today Study (and yes, they do call it GUTS) in the context of gender conformity.
They report that boys who describe themselves as "very masculine" are 80% more likely to use chewing tobacco and 55% more likely to some cigars than boys whose...
April 12, 2014
We're Making Vaginas?!
Humans have been making vaginas for a long, long time. Until recently, as far as most of us knew, the manufacturing of these organs took place in uteri around the world, usually finishing up 14 to 16 weeks after receipt of raw materials.
Manufacturing may not be the best analogy for this process, at least not the kind of manufacturing that involves machine automated assembly lines pumping out perfectly identical products. Even when humans do it on their own, it's more of a bespoke or artisan...
April 11, 2014
Sex and Lung Cancer: Missing the Forest for the Trees
Last month at the 4th European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, a professor of urology and a radiation oncologist led a rare morning session that focused on sex. During the one and a half hour workshop, Stephane Droupy and Luca Incrocci spoke about the importance of considering sexual function and satisfaction among patients being treated for lung cancer.
I learned about the session through a prepared release about the workshop in which the presenters called for more attention to be paid to...
April 7, 2014
What Does Normal Sex Look Like?
What do you imagine when you think of normal sex? Is having normal sex like getting a gold star, or is it more like a rubber stamp? When taken out of context many may feel as if normal sex equals boring sex. And yet the pull of normal is strong, as it can feel like protection against the shame of our individual sexual desires.
When I worked in sex shops I would get this question all the time in different forms. People would disclose something they had done sexually or something they fantasiz...
April 3, 2014
If You Thought Circumcision Debates Were Heated Before�
Things are about to get much, much hotter. That's because the authors of a new review of research, which was published online this week and will be in the May issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, have taken the already contentious topic of circumcision and super-charged it by introducing another infant intervention flashpoint, vaccinations.
The paper begins with an explanation that rates of circumcision in the US have not been properly reported, and what seems like an increase over time in...
March 25, 2014
How Do I Make Masturbation More Enjoyable?
Is it the mood lighting? The sweet talk? The touch that seems to always know the right spot, the right pressure, the right next move? Just what is it that makes masturbation enjoyable?
For many (most?) of us it's probably none of those things. How many of us sweet talk ourselves into bed? How often is our self touch something magical as opposed to something that works, that gets the job done?
If I've learned anything over twenty-five years of talking to people about their sex lives it's that...
March 21, 2014
New Blog Explores the History of Sexuality, One Notch at a Time
One of my favorite nerdy pleasures is lurking on academic sexuality listservs. It must stem from my many unrequited love/lust relationships with academic supervisors when I was in school. It's all a twisted mess in my mind, and while that might not be healthy, it's definitely sexy.
One listserv I read religiously is devoted to the history of sexuality, and I was excited when I learned that three participants in had started up a new blog called Notches: (re)marks on the history of sexuality....
March 17, 2014
Sex Question of the Week: De-Fetishize Me
Is it possible to get rid of a fetish? I'm sure there are plenty of recovery centers that would answer this question with a resounding YES (followed quickly by the appearance of dollar signs in their eyes and the sound of an old fashioned cash register ringing).
I'm no therapist, and I answer questions for free, which may be why my answer is a bit longer, and a lot less certain. Because I was asked this question directly I didn't want to start by questioning why the person wanted to get rid o...
March 12, 2014
Why Your Orgasm Won't Ever Come at the Push of a Button
A North Carolina surgeon has been working for more than a decade on an idea for a medical device which he claims will, at the push of a button, deliver an orgasm.
An article in the New Scientist claims that the surgeon, Dr. Stuart Meloy, expects clinical trials to begin "later this year" on his spinal implant that delivers electrical impulses to targeted nerves in the spine producing spontaneous orgasm in the wearer of said internal device (do you wear something that's inside your body, or do...
March 10, 2014
The Things We Do for Sex (Education)
I remember last year when the author and activist Kate Bornstein was having a health crisis a community came together and raised over $100,000 for Kate's health care expenses. A friend said, without irony, that this is what many people's health care plans look like now. That same year when the only worker co-operative sex store on the planet, Come As You Are, was in financial peril, they asked for help, and they got it. At the time I thought that this is what venture capitalism looks like for...
