Sexual Intelligence

Way back in 2004, Janet Jackson’s right nipple was unexpectedly exposed for exactly one-half second during the Superbowl half-time show. Grown men cried. Women fainted. Children were driven mad by the brown protuberance. Read More

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of addressing Sex::Tech, the national conference on Youth, Technology & Sexuality sponsored annually by ISIS (Internet Sexuality Information Services). Over 400 sex educators, youth program directors, and technology developers (many under the age of 25 themselves) gathered to discuss how to use new technologies to enhance young people’s sexual health. Read More

First, why is "slut" considered an insult? After all, it's simply a woman who's willing to have sex with several men with whom she isn't married, and probably doesn't even "love." Read More

Should prison inmates have the right to masturbate? I was interviewed about this on Public Radio last week. To prepare, I read up on the subject just a bit. And I was shocked. Read More

President Obama has joined President Bush in opposing the widest possible access for Emergency Contraception (Plan B). And he's done it for the two worst possible reasons: emotion and "common sense." Read More

Yale University President Richard Levin has announced that the school is discontinuing "Sex Week" in its present form.

Since 2002, Yale University's Sex Week has brought speakers to campus to discuss a variety of sex-related topics. But as it grew, it involved corporate sponsors such as Pure Romance (in-home sex toy sales parties) and porn stars such as Sasha Gray. Read More

I've spent a lot of time interpreting pornography and pornography-watching for the American public--not only clinically, but by training professionals, testifying in court, interviewing actresses and producers, and wrestling with the Religious Right.

I’ve been on movie sets and I’ve been on network TV, but in all these years I’d never watched a porn film being made. Read More

Today I had the great pleasure of watching the masterpiece "Amarcord" again. The film is a charming series of vignettes set in Fellini's seaside hometown during his childhood in 1930s Italy. A warm and gentle comedy, it lovingly skewers the platitudes by which everyday people manage their daily lives. Read More

I wouldn't want to be Anthony Weiner right now. Because everyone can see he's conflicted about sex.

But c'mon, aren't you? Isn't everyone?

Would you want your mental sexual architecture exposed? Of course not.

And that's the problem: Everyone in America is conflicted about sex. But only people with certain kinds of sexual conflict get caught. Read More

I'm seeing an epidemic of "porn addiction" in my office. Not of porn addiction, but of "porn addiction." Read More

These happily married people--call them Nick and Nora--aren't very romantic, either. They share money, so they don't really "take" each other out. At their age they have most of the stuff they really want, so neither really wants a "gift;" besides, they can each shop for themselves way better than for each other. Read More

Calling it "the most dangerous show on television," the Parents Television Council has asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether MTV's "Skins" violates federal child pornography statutes.

The show's sins are that they (1) show teens having and enjoying sexual activity, and (2) employ teen actors to portray these teens. Read More

A half-century ago, when blacks were commonly seen as inferior to whites, and millions of whites demanded to live separately from them, satirist Lenny Bruce efficiently skewered racists: Read More

With the recent election still echoing in everyone's ears, and pundits pundificating about how conservative the country really is, this is a good time to remember the major study done about online pornography subscriptions just 18 months ago. Read More