The first time I looked at my vagina, I was repulsed. Legs spread in a frog-like fashion, right hand equipped with a handheld mirror patterned with Disney Princess stickers and fingers poking at my labia in the most unsexual manner possible, I had never felt more concentrated in my 12 years of life. And, simultaneously, […]
Imagine walking into your therapist’s office and leaving with instructions to go have sex. While it may seem odd, the science behind this prescription exists. Within the medical community, it is becoming increasingly clearer that having sex regularly (more than once a week) has long-term health benefits. Along with the physical pleasure of sexual encounters, […]
When I entered the “talking stage” with my now boyfriend, I must have doubled the water bill. Absolutely terrified of what he might think when he inevitably felt or saw my figure, I spent hours contorting my body in the shower to reach every nook, cranny, flap, and crack I could find. Feeling around to […]
“Tell us about your first time.” It always happens when we’re playing Hot Seat or Truth or Dare. Everyone buckles up for a good story—bonus points if it happened somewhere crazy. I smile softly to myself, knowing they’re going to be surprised, or maybe even disappointed, by my response that I’m a virgin and waiting […]
Note: The author recognizes that there are many women who do not have vaginas or uteruses. This is a personal exploration of a transformation into adulthood, and the author wants to express her love for women of all shapes, sizes, races, gender expressions, and sexual identities as they battle what can be a very scary […]
“How big is it?” she whispered. “80 inches long and 38 inches wide.” “It,” of course, is a twin XL bed, of which one or more resides in every Harvard dorm room. Uncomfortable, narrow, and really, really low to the ground, the beds here at Harvard are tough enough for one person to get settled […]
Whenever I’ve let it slip to a friend that I’m saving myself for marriage, they ask me what that looks like. They aren’t questioning my religious beliefs or suggesting a possible far-right indoctrination in my childhood that led to deep sexual repression. Instead, they wonder how I could possibly reconcile my “commitment to purity” and […]
Trigger Warning: Mentions of eating disorders and descriptions of treatment. When I was first admitted to the residential unit, fourteen years old and newly diagnosed with severe anorexia nervosa, I immediately became cognizant of how trapped I truly was. It was often weeks between breaths of fresh air. O-u-t-s-i-d-e. I am cursed by those seven […]
Ah, the quest for the perfect high. It’s a pursuit as old as time, and one that has confounded stoners for generations. But fear not, dear reader, for this guide will help you on your journey to getting really, really baked. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to achieving the perfect high. Different strains, different methods […]
They say it offers insouciance: Like Granny Smith apples soaked In peanut butter, It’s ever-adored. It may only be a guise: A parched rose wrapped In a bouquet of April tulips. I myself am uncertain: The prison sentences are ghastly, There’s no question. But does it really infuse Our tired, debilitated selves with painlessness? * […]
