March 2009
LAWS THAT AFFECT OUR SEX LIVES: COMMERCIAL SEX. PROSTITUTION
Prostitution is the performance of sexual acts for pay, including money, drugs, or other rewards. It has occurred throughout history. Women and men in ancient Babylon who worked as “sacred harlots” in the temples were greatly respected. Secular prostitution though has been much more common. Some prostitutes have enjoyed a high social status as courtesans—companions [...]
COMMON SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS: SYPHILIS. TRICHOMONIASIS
Syphilis Untreated, the syphilis (SIFF-i-lis) organism—a spirochete—can remain in the body for life and lead to disfigurement, neurological disorders, or death. The number of reported cases of syphilis in the United States has dropped below 120,000. This may be because of effective antibiotics and increased condom use among American men. Common Symptoms: Syphilis has several [...]
OUR SEXUAL FEELINGS: JEALOUSY. INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA
Jealousy Jealousy is our anxiety about a partner’s love and commitment. It can play an important role in the development of sexual inhibition and conflict. Jealousy does not occur in all cultures. It is most likely where marriage is seen as a way to have guilt-free sex, security, and social recognition. Jealousy mostly occurs in [...]
SOMATIC AND ENDOCRINE CHANGES IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE: THE GROWTH SPURT
The biologic marker of early adolescence is puberty, defined as the developmental phase of physical maturation to full reproductive capacity. It is a time of rapid conspicuous changes in body size and appearance, which are associated with the maturation of internal reproductive structures and based on major alterations of endocrine function. The most visible somatic [...]
ENDOCRINE FUNCTION AND GENDER DIFFERENTIATION: PRENATAL HORMONES
The prenatal hormones affect the sexually dimorphic pathways in the brain during the early months of fetal development, altering the threshold for behavior traits defined as boyish or girlish. The prenatal program does not preordain psychosexual differentiation as masculine or feminine but instead establishes a predisposition for behavior traits that are gender-shared but threshold-dimorphic. The [...]
ENDOMETRIOSIS: ADENOMYOSIS
If endometriotic tissue is stuck within the muscle wall of the uterus it is called adenomyosis. Adenomyosis is a condition related to endometriosis, but it typically affects older women (often in their forties) who have had pregnancies in the past. It may present as increasingly painful and heavy periods, which occasionally may be irregular. A [...]
PREGNANCY: WHAT SHOULD I DO AND NOT DO?
Sex. The activity which started this whole business can still be performed right through the pregnancy. Some women and their partners are concerned that sexual intercourse could damage the pregnancy, but this is not usually the case (although common sense suggests that you should avoid extremely rough intercourse). There are circumstances when it is not [...]
HOW OFTEN SHOULD WOMEN HAVE SMEAR TESTS?
In most cases cervical cancer is a relatively slow-growing cancer. It usually takes about ten years to go through its pre-cancerous to invasive cancer so having a pap smear every couple of weeks is unlikely to give more information than every couple of years. The Cervical Cancer Prevention Taskforce made some recommendations in November 1991. [...]
CHLAMYDIA: SYMPTOMS
Chlamydia tends to hang around the cervix or the fallopian tubes, so if it is going to let you know it is there (and it may not), your symptoms will usually relate to these two areas. The condition resulting from infection in the tubes is known as pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID. The most common [...]
SEXUAL FEELINGS: ORGASM
Arousal can heighten with further stimulation, until the natural resolution of sexual arousal, which is an orgasm, also known as a ‘climax’ or ‘coming’. It is maximal sexual response, and in both men and women is associated with a feeling of intense physical enjoyment and satisfaction. In men it is usually accompanied by ejaculation (the [...]