Communication and good sex

A Sydney Morning Herald article "Shyness found to hamper safe sex" states that "A new national survey of more than 1000 people has revealed about 63 per cent of men and 52 per cent of women still refused to mention contraception in the heat of the moment" They recommend we practice talking about contraception in front of a mirror befure venturing our with a potential sex partner.

What is it about sex that makes men and women irrational unthinking pleasure seeking machines? Are we driven subconciously by the media? or pornography? or do we actually have no regard of the consequences of sex? Do we in the search of that perfect orgasmic moment not care of the consequences of the sexual activity on ourselves, our family, community and society?

What does it mean to be a real woman?

Interesting article "Don't Judge a Woman by their cover" in the SMH today.

"The message, ingrained in society, is: if you don't adopt the trappings associated with conventional femininity, you're not a ''real'' woman"

Do we as a society and a culture judge a real woman only by external appearances? Do we stretch this to say 'real women' also have to be sexy and sex objects - thereby spawning what has come to known as 'Raunch Culture'.

Where does that leave young women who don't want to be dressed in the current fashion with sky high heels? or necessarily want to be the sexiest chick in town?

Variations of Sexual Differentiation

The world champion 800m runner Caster Semenya is said to have undescended Testis, High levels of Testosterone, but apparently (not clearly stated) external female genitalia.
She apparently also identifies and behaves as a female.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/secret-of-semenyas-sex-stripped-bare/2009/09/11/1252519599453.html
The newspaper articles say she "is technically a hermaphrodite"
More likely she has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome.

This raises interesting questions of what determines our identity as female or male?
Our genitals?
Our Chromosomes?
Our Gonads?
Or our personal brain identity?

Degrees of Sex Differentiation

Todays Sydney Morning Herald article "Several degrees of androgyny"
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/several-degrees-of-androgyny-20090826-ezvd.html
Discusses the complexities of being born and growing up male and/or female.

They discuss a condition known as "Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome" While the article describes what we call 'Complete AIS", most have varying degrees of insensitivity to androgens and are 'Partial AIS'

There is a support group for AIS in Australia with excellent information. Indiana University has an excellent site - worth a visit.

Contact us at the Graduate Program in Sexual Health if you are interested in discussing, researching or inviting one of the team to speak on issues of Gender.

Teenagers and Sex

Hello all
It has been a while since I visited. We are at the end of week one of semester 2. It is exciting to see how happy the students seem to be.

Some of you may have seen the ABC TV series on the Science of Teens on Thusrsdays at 8 pm? I had a small part in the episode to air on the 6th August:
http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/fhs/628.html?eventcategoryid=49&eventid=4484

Hope you all enjoy the show.

The many health benefits of sex

Apart from being so much fun, sex is also really good for your health. Check out the web site:
http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/10-surprising-health-benefits-of-sex
Some of my favorites:

• 42 half-hour sessions [of making love] will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound.
• Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you're feeling suddenly more generous toward your partner than usual, credit the love hormone
• men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later by a third

I would like to know the benefit of sex on athletic activity. Should we quarantine our athletes from sex before the big game? or encourage a diet of plenty?

Graduate Program in Sexual Health wins award at WAS 2009

I have just returned from the World Association for Sexual Health Congress in Gotenberg Sweden.
The BIG news in that our program was awarded the WAS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE & INNOVATION IN SEXUALITY EDUCATION 2009.
This is the equivalent of winning an Oscar award for sex education.

Do let me know (P.Weerakoon@usyd.edu.au) if you want to be a part of this award winning group.