Navigating sex and sexual relationships after assault can be challenging: how do you deal with a relationship that seemed to facilitate healing at first, but now seems to be standing in the way, especially when the roof over your head seems to require it?
Knowing the issues with clitoral versus vaginal orgasms in terms of history and the politics around women and sexuality, how do you rectify when orgasm feels different based on those different kinds of stimulation?
How do you tell a partner that you’re not comfortable with something they want to do, whether you have sexual abuse in your history or not? You tell them you’re not comfortable with something they want to do.
Is it better to be a man or a woman when it comes to sexual pleasure?
How can you tell Mom you’ve become a sexual adult without disappointing her? How can you ask her for birth control? How can you disclose being sexually active? And is it okay to use her sex toy eithout asking?
Even more than that, the women in these stories have transcended being “good female characters” who subvert stereotyps into just being good characters, period; real ones, ones whose journeys we are, sometimes to a desperate extent, obsessed with.
Do you have to worry that simply by virtue of being a male person with a sexuality, you’ll abuse someone? No. Being a certain sex, having a certain gender or having a sexuality does not mean a person has any kind of innate predilection to abuse.
How can you become a virgin again? Can you become a virgin again? Why keep using that term at all, and keep trying to make sense out of a freamework we know often just isn’t sensible?
Depending on your view, the answer to that question might seem really obvious or very tricky and hazy. However, it’s a phrase and concept that’s bandied about a lot, yet is rarely explained. A group of Australian researchers finally defined it clearly and holistically.
The connection between sexual rights and HIV and AIDS is undeniable, with the majority of HIV infections transmitted sexually. Sexuality is a natural aspect of life, and a fundamental part of our humanity. But we continue to ignore at and the price is paid in women’s lives.
