abstinence

Before I say anything else (and I've got a lot, so go on and put your feet up: this is big stuff, so you deserve big responses), I want to make a couple things super-clear. One: you get to have whatever kind of mutually consensual sexual life it turns out feels right for you, even if that turned out...

Then don't! Here's a feast of support and help for those who want to say no, not now, or not-like-this to sex or sexual relationships.

Many men -- and people of all genders -- will not and do not wait until marriage to engage in various kinds of sex with partners. That's as true now as it was 20 or 50 years ago. For at least the last 100 years in the west, most people do engage in some kind of genital sexual activities with...

For starters, I think staying silent about this with a romantic partner isn't likely to help you out, especially one you're physical with. Unless you feel like your relationship is too new to be talking about sexuality at all yet, I also don't think keeping how you're feeling to yourself is going to...

That question probably either sounds like a really important one or a really stupid one, depending on your view. But I want the answer regardless, and am seriously tired of waiting for it. That's why I went ahead and asked it myself. As an organization that provides information on all methods of...

The first thing I want to mention here is that I’m not sure there is such a thing as “a normal teenager”! Seriously, each individual is different, with different needs and desires, and so there is no one way to be in the world. The best we can do is make decisions that are well-informed and that...

I absolutely DESPISE the term "foreplay." Let me tell you why. That term states or suggests -- structurally, it means "before sex" -- that vaginal intercourse is capital-S sex and that every other kind of sex either isn't sex, or should only exist to help prime the pump, as it were, for vaginal...

Please understand that anal sex is sex. It is no more or less sex than vaginal intercourse is, just like oral sex is sex and manual sex (fingering or handjobs) are sex: that's why all those terms end with the word "sex." So, if you do not want to have sex until marriage, then don't have sex until...

Whenever you or a partner are being treated for an STI or any infection, it's best to hold off all sexual activity until you are sure everything is clear and healed up. Even if your symptoms seem to have disappeared, it can take your bodies a while to completely clear the infection and get back to...

There's a lot to talk about here. Let's start by addressing and dealing with your risks. It sounds to me like you're both so unaware of your own anatomy, and were so unfamiliar with what any given kind of sex might feel like that there's no way either of us can say if you only had anal intercourse...