timing

Many social norms, macro or micro, can make it seem like the ideal — or even only! — time to start having dating experiences is in high school. You may get the message that doing it any other time, even just waiting until you’re in college, puts you at some kind of disadvantage. To go against that grain may inspire some social judgement of you and, at least in my case, leave you wondering if you’re just fulfilling a harmful stereotype about what autistic people are capable and incapable of doing. Even if it’s impossible to remember amidst the din of outside messaging world, there is no one right time for dating. That’s as true for neurodivergent folks, including those of us on the autism spectrum, as it is for neurotypical members of the world.

and Zooey also asks, I had casual sex with a friend of mine and the aftermath here is getting a bit out of hand. We talked about having sex before we actually did so; however, I just broke up with my boyfriend and I made it clear that I wasn't interested in any emotional relationships. Last week my...

It depends on when you start taking your pills for the first time, and on what level of protection you want. If you start the pill on the first day of your period, it's likely -- so long as you take every pill in that cycle during and after that week perfectly -- that you will be have the full...

In order for oral contraceptives -- the birth control pill -- to be effective, they need to be taken every day. Missing one every now and then so long as you make it up within a day or so won't likely compromise your effectiveness all that much, but if you're missing a few pills regularly, that's...

When your period is going to happen in a given month is determined through the whole of your fertility cycle, by a fairly complex process of hormones in your body that trigger when you ovulate, how much uterine lining you build up and when, and how, you shed that lining. The only ways that any kind...

Hey there, Susie. You're welcome! Birth control pills are equally effective every single day of your cycle so long as you are taking the pills as directed, and on time every day, and without any other medications which could interfere with them. Some antibiotics, for instance, may decrease...

The closer you take your birth control pill to the 'normal time' the better. That said, you do have some flexibility (you have a twelve-hour window before the pill is considered "late"). You don't sound comfortable using the birth control pill as your sole method of birth control. Have you talked to...

No, it is not. Sounds to me like your girlfriend has misunderstood how fertility cycles work. While cycles vary between people who menstruate -- which is part of why the "calendar method" isn't a good one -- a vast majority of those people will be most fertile mid-cycle, between around day ten and...

First of all, good for you and your partner for educating yourselves about safer sex and wanting to be as safe as possible! The first step in having safer sex is deciding on and using some form (or forms) of birth control. The second, really important step then is making sure that you are using your...

It'd actually be pretty atypical for a regular period to fall on the same numeric dates for a long time. Let me explain why that is. The number of days in each calendar month is not the same: it varies from month to month. Menstrual cycles, on the other hand, when they're regular, are a given number...