Category: Sex and Relationships

I can’t come. What have my antidepressants done to me?

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By Nicole Mitchell
Illustrations by Kelcie McKenney

I have chronic “white coat” anxiety—I am terrified of doctors and medical offices. Pair that with the somatic symptoms that come with my anxiety, my heart disease, and other illnesses I’ve had to deal with, it’s been quite a ride—especially when the pandemic hit.

After months of suffering with chronic stress hives, panic attacks, severe cleaning routines for my body and apartment, refusing to go outside, and absolutely avoiding everyone, I decided it was time to try antidepressants.

The good news? They worked! I’ve been taking them since October 2020, and I’ve only had one panic attack since then. And those stress hives? Disappeared. 

The bad news? Once I was on those meds, I couldn’t come. And I lost my sex drive, which changed the whole dynamic between my boyfriend and me.

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The battle of my Christian faith and my newly found sexuality

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By Emily Park
Illustrations by Katelyn Betz

Content Warning: Emotional abuse from religious sexism. Bible study text depicting shame included.

Thirteen-year-old me would be absolutely ashamed and horrified, I instantly thought while holding my broken phone case in my hands. Confusing, I know, so let me rewind a little bit.

As I sleepily rolled over to turn off my morning alarm a few Mondays ago, I picked up my phone and realized something was … off. Upon closer inspection, I saw the back of my phone case had completely fallen off leaving just the perimeter of the case on my phone.

The culprit? Last night’s sexual encounter. As my boyfriend and I were passionately grinding against one another, we realized about halfway through that my phone was underneath us.

A normal person probably would have laughed it off, thinking something along the lines of, “Well, if my favorite phone case has to go, that’s definitely the way to do it.” But not me.

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It’s International Female Orgasm Day, and 40% of straight women still aren’t orgasming

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By Kelcie McKenney

Have you heard about the Orgasm Gap?

Forty percent of straight women don’t reach orgasm during sex, while 95 percent of straight men reach orgasm in every sexual encounter. As if dealing with the glass ceiling wasn’t enough, women in heterosexual relationships aren’t coming enough. And everyone deserves a big orgasm these days.

In honor of today’s International Female Orgasm Day, PornHub is giving men a taste of the Orgasm Gap. All of today, Pornhub is interrupting videos most popular with straight men at the 40 percent mark with a quick video about how women in hetero relationships aren’t getting the pleasure they deserve.

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Loving Loving Day: How Richard and Mildred Loving Paved the Way for Interracial Relationships—Including My Own

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By Kelcie McKenney

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court decision on Loving v. Virginia struck down 16 state bans on interracial marriage.

The case was centered on the couple Mildred and Richard Loving. Mildred was an Indigenous Black woman and Richard was a white man. The couple was married in 1958 in Washington—where interracial marriage was legal—then moved to Virginia. In the middle of the night, their local sheriff broke into their home and charged them with violating Virginia’s anti-interracial laws.

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I Asked My Exes for Dating Advice

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By Kelcie McKenney

Dating in your 20’s. It’s a comment that is often followed with a sigh and a smile, both riddled with fond memories and lessons learned—or so I’ve gathered. At 24, I’ve spent many long evenings talking first dates and heartbreaks and love and lust with friends, and I’ve spent even more mulling over them by myself. They did what? He said that? God, I’m so in love. How could he? I can’t tell them. You will learn to love again.

Photo by Travis Young

Relationships teach us more about ourselves than most things I’ve experienced in my short life, and while I’ve learned plenty through my experiences, I wanted to learn more. I’m currently single, still wading through the dating game, trying to find something meaningful that clicks. So I thought: What the hell? What if I asked my exes to reflect on our time together? What if I asked them for dating advice? Continue reading →