The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education has produced a fantastic new resource all about the hymen, which calls for the hymen to be renamed as the ‘vaginal corona’. This is in response to a fair amount of ignorance about the hymen and virginity – which has caused problems for women and intimate relationships (particularly in countries where virginity is put at a premium).

The booklet is available in several languages including English, Arabic, and Sorani. The guides are designed to describe what female genitals look like, what the vaginal corona (hymen) is, and to challenge myths around virginity and female sexuality.

Best of all, they’re sex positive, clear, and free. So if you’re working in sex education, activism or outreach then you’ll definitely want to use these resources in your work. I’d recommend them to you even if you think you know a lot about female sexuality, virginity and female anatomy. Many of my colleagues who’ve been researching and educating on sex and relationships have been amazed how much they’ve learned from this booklet.

While you’re enjoying the resource linked above you might want to also check out other parts of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education’s website which is a treasure trove of sex positive (and free) resources. My favourites include Dicktionary (about the male body and desire) and Pussypedia (about the female genitals and pleasure) and a guide to clitoral sex. There’s also a whole slew of resources, teaching guides and articles, an amazing sex FAQ section. And this wonderful film ‘Talking about sex’ which describes how sex education programmes can help change boys and men’s inaccurate views about sex, improve relationships, and tackle gender inequalities.

Feel free to share this information and support the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education – showing the rest of the world sex positive education at its best.

On 12 November 2009 the Policing and Crime (P&C) Bill went through Parliament. The hotly contested and controversial Clause 14 – originally proposed to prosecute anyone having sex with a prostitute who was ‘controlled for gain’ (a vague and unworkable term) – was changed so people will now only be prosecuted for paying “for sexual services of a prostitute subjected to force”. This will now become law.

New legal changes will also be coming into effect soon. According to the English Collective of Prostitutes these include “a new definition of
“persistence” for loitering and soliciting which makes street workers more vulnerable to arrest; removing “persistence” from the kerb-crawling law so that guilt can be proved on the first offence; compulsory ‘rehabilitation’ orders, though the government has had to limit to 72 hours the time street workers can be detained before they are brought to court for breaching the order; more powers to close premises where they suspect that certain prostitution offences are being committed, including someone being ‘controlled for gain’; more powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize people’s assets and property and profit from them”.

These proposed legal changes have been subject to political debate for many years now, and the P&C Bill was noteworthy for the deliberate disregard by many politicians for independent evidence on prostitution. Many academics, sex workers and those campaigning for better health and social support for anyone involved in prostitution see the proposed changes as continuing to put prostitutes at risk, and will continue to challenge the current trend of policy making based on opinion rather than evidence.

Still on the topic of prostitution the unmasking of popular blogger Belle de Jour has been a media favourite over the past couple of weeks. In case you don’t know the history Belle de Jour is a blog about a high class call girl that proved so successful it led to a book deal and spin off TV series. It also led to some frankly astonishingly bad sex features in women’s magazines (where high class prostitution was mixed in with aspirational and commercial sex messages). And complaints from some quarters that the TV series in particular was glamourising prositution. All the while debates in mainstream media raged about whether Belle really was a prostitute, or whether she was a male journalist making up stories.

It turns out Belle is a scientist, Dr Brooke Magnanti. She was a prostitute for several months after submitting her PhD thesis (a time well known for being strapped for cash and in-between jobs). Having already been a science blogger, she then blogged about her sex work experiences. This would have remained secret but an ex boyfriend threatened to out Dr Magnanti who decided it was safer to tell her own story to the media.

This has led to a really odd mix of media coverage with journalists expressing surprise that a smart woman was also a prostitute, rehearsing sad stereotypes about prostitution, and in the name of ‘balance’ contrasting Belle as the happy hooker with dismal stories of drugs and disease. It’s been open season to revive the ‘glamourising prostitution’ argument – although now with added bite as critics have a named person to go after, rather than an anonymous blogger.

Channel 4 news did host an interesting discussion on the topic (albeit with the standard hat tip to high class prostitution vs. murdered prostitutes – an unhelpful comparison which does nothing to respect the memories of those prostitutes who have been killed or injured).

This whole case raises a number of issues for academics and universities. We know from bitter experience that academics involved in prostitution (or who support sex workers) have faced discrimination at work. I’ve written a short piece for the Times Higher on this topic, feel free to join in the conversation about this issue that’s running below this piece.

Many of those involved in the debates and campaigns around supporting sex workers identify as feminist. It was unfortunate, then, that a key component of Saturday’s Reclaim the Night march focused on celebrating Clause 14 (see above). Given the fact that many sex workers had felt excluded by radical feminism in this debate – and many academics also felt the agendas and so-called ‘research’ of such groups was given greater weight by the government – it’s a shame the divide was further emphasised on an event that should bring women together. Not least sex workers who are more likely to be at risk from sexual violence. Penny Red has a candid take on this story, while Sarah the bringer of tea explains why trans women are also excluded by some feminists involved with Reclaim the Night. Distressingly it seems that a woman was attacked while on the demonstration (which is both ironic and depressing).

I’ve no quibble with the right to protest against sexual violence or for women’s safety. My concern, however, with events like this is they don’t present a safe space for all women and often have the effect of alienating the very women those organising such activities are claiming to protect.

The National Chlamydia Screening Programme has been reviewed by Dr Ruth Hussey for the Department of Health. You can read the five page summary here. This indicates there are concerns over whether the programme will be continued, too many (and as a consequence confusing) sexual health branding messages (via websites etc). The report also reveals problems with funding, agreement on which services are responsible for delivering testing, and PCTs that are not aware of/up to speed on evidence and so are promoting ‘good ideas’ rather than evaluated best practice. Well worth a read if you’re a healthcare practitioner, health commissioner or anyone working in sex education.

Spot what’s unethical about this research. A Leeds University professor asks four of their female students to hang out in nightclubs and observe whether women pull more men if they’re wearing more revealing clothing.

Following on from recent research about the lack of evidence underpinning cosmetic genital surgery The Guardian has an interesting feature exploring issues about vulval ‘enhancement’. While Vagina Dentata takes a more sex positive view with some handy hints for some vulva-related gifts. Just in time for your Christmas list.

Cory Silverberg has details of what promises to be a fantastic online course about Disability, Sexuality and Rights which could be very useful to those of you working in healthcare, education or social care.

If you’re around tomorrow evening you may want to pop along to Westminster Skeptics in the Pub where a number of science bloggers will be debating What next for science activism in the new media?. Here’s a summary of what will be discussed:

The rise of science blogging and the effective exploitation by activists, scientists, and science writers, of online communication has been a significant but fairly recent phenomenon. This meeting, which is an unofficial sequel to the Science OnLine conference in London earlier this year, will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of this phenomenon, both now and in the future. A stellar panel of Martin Robbins, Petra Boynton, and Hauke Riesch, as well as the writer of Gimpyblog and a writer from Evidence Matters, will set out their views on the current problems and challenges facing science bloggers, activists, and online communicators. They will reflect on what has so far been achieved and also offer thoughts and insights on what can – and cannot – be achieved next. This will then lead into a general discussion and Q&A session.

Hope to see you there!

Finally, you may have noticed I’ve organised the links on the blogroll over to your right. I’ve had a number of emails from people asking me to link to their blogs. Please do feel free to let me know of any blogs on sex education, activism or science/psychology/journalism you think I’d be interested in. I won’t endorse blogs that are judgemental, sex negative, promote commercial or aspirational views of sex that are unrealistic, or endorse outdated or unhelpful ideas. But I am happy to link to blogs that are evidence based, represent critical thinking, and are accessible.

We’re all familiar with the term ‘designer vagina’, but did you know there’s actually no clinical evidence to suggest non-essential female genital surgery is effective or safe? A systematic review of the literature on labial surgery for women (just out in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) has found “medically nonessential surgery to the labia minora is being promoted as an effective treatment for women’s complaints, but no data on clinical effectiveness exist”. The paper isn’t open access but is well worth a read if you can find it. It outlines the issues around genital surgery including why this trend is increasingly popular. Sadly women’s media is not massively critical on this topic, so here’s hoping this research might encourage a bit more critical reflection among editors (although I’m not holding my breath).

Predictably plastic surgeons haven’t responded massively well to this review – I wonder why? You might be shocked or amused to see one practitioner’s reaction courtesy of the BBC:
“Essentially this is just about removing a bit of loose flesh, leaving behind an elegant-looking labia with minimum scarring”.
As ever, The Daily Mash wade in with their satirical take on what makes a whole ‘perfect vagina’.

Are orgasms bad for your health? Well, yes, according to Marnia Robinson (lawyer turned sex expert) who suggests that orgasms ‘play havoc with your neurochemistry’ and recommends people should practice sexual intimacy without orgasm. This is an interesting theory, but it’s only a theory, and the data included in Robinson’s thesis seems to be selective rather than systematic. While Robinson rightly does talk about conventional messages about sex being around achievement and unrealistic goal setting, her message ultimately becomes less about personal choice and slips into the familiar rhetoric of their being a ‘right’ way to have sex. This story’s picked up on here.

Movie star Jane Fonda’s got the media in a fluster by announcing sex is still great aged 71. It’s led to the predictable discussions about whether it’s okay or not for seniors to be sexy – and a whole flurry of spin off features and radio programmes all arguing that older people ought to be getting it on, and are sexier than ever before. Which doesn’t quite fit the evidence. Some older people do report positive relationships and enjoying intimacy – although that may not necessarily involve lots of intercourse (or even any intercourse at all). Caution is required so we don’t reinforce the stereotype that anyone over 60 should be sexless, or pressurise older people to think sex is a mandatory activity and there’s something medically wrong if they’re not still doing it. [You might be interested in some blogs about senior sex I've written previously - all linked within this blog].

In anticipation of tomorrow’s Disability: sex, relationships and pleasure conference at the Royal Society of Medicine, The Times asks ‘Is sex for the disabled the last taboo?’. The piece covers some of the issues facing disabled people about relationships (it’s a bit limited by some inaccurate reporting in places – the comments after the piece I think are more interesting). I’ll be blogging a report on the conference early next week where I’ll be particularly focusing on some of the key questions of evidence based policy and practice relating to sex positive support for disabled people.

Want to know how to talk dirty? Here’s a quick guide I contributed to for Playboy about some common errors people make around naughty chat (over 18s only). [I was glad to see this feature didn't go down the usual uncritical approach to spicing up your sex life and encourages readers to reflect on why they want to talk dirty and ensure it's something their partner is equally interested in].

There are two key errors people make with sexy talk:
- The first is to assume their partner is fine with talking dirty without checking, and launching into some rude chat that embarrasses, upsets or unnerves them.
- The second is thinking talking dirty is something they ought to be doing, but not feeling sure what to say – or when to say it.

Talking dirty can be a real turn on, but isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Saying something unexpectedly could really spice things up, but it also could be a disaster if you offend, upset or just make your partner fall about laughing. If you want to get better at communicating your desires I’d recommend Carol Queen’s Exhibitionism for the Shy.

Sex writer Brian Alexander contacted me recently with a problem he was answering from a reader of his Sexploration column. The woman in question had a partner who was getting off on her being sexually provocative with other men. It was hard to tell if this was a case of a couple with communication problems, or a guy being controlling and forgetting the key rules of acting out sexual fantasies – that it must always be safe, sane and consensual. You can read the problem and answer here.

Finally, the fantastic international sex education campaign 15 and counting have launched a competition where rappers, singers and musicians have been composing songs relating to the campaign. All the entries can be found here. With some of the most popular here. My favourite is Hemanifezt – Be a Protector for Yourself.

So if you’re a musician, song writer or performer why not contribute your song to the competition? Educators working within schools or healthcare may want to encourage young people to get involved in the competition. And feel free to share this information – both about 15 and counting and this music comp.

And if you want a bit of inspiration, let’s go back to the 90s with a groundbreaking safer sex song that still sounds great today.

Let’s talk about sex!

A couple of weekends ago the New View Campaign (who work to challenge the medicalisation of sex) hosted an event called Vulvagraphics.

The aim of the event was to celebrate genital diversity. The site above contains links to the various exhibitions that featured in the event. All of which represent a diversity of vulvas depicted in art, film, drama, literature and craft.

In an era where we’re used to seeing surgically enhanced or airbrushed images of vulvas, and at a time when we tend to focus on vulvas in negative ways (as dirty, hairy or smelly), Vulvagraphics invited women and men to rethink how they view the vulva.

Photos of the event (including a variety of vulvas) can be seen here. Viva la Vulva posters and ‘love your vulva’ badges are available here.

This might be an event you respond to by wondering what those kooky feminists are up to now? However, it does have an important message about body awareness and confidence. It is worth reading about the event and seeing how you might apply the messages from it. That might be individually in terms of your own body confidence, or as a means of celebrating your vulva with a partner. Or if you’re a parent it might enable you to think how you can encourage your children to feel proud and positive about their genitals. Teachers, sex educators and healthcare staff could also reflect on how they currently deliver messages about genitals – and whether those could be improved and made sex positive.

So go ahead. Love your vulva. Or if you don’t happen to have one, love someone else’s