Happy Groundhog's Day!

So what are some more effective ways to tell it’s spring?

Well, there are a lot of ways to tell that spring is here, and lucky for you…most of them have to do with sex. So, without further delay, here’s my top ten list of sexy ways you can tell it’s spring:

#10. The college students start dressing like spring break is ALREADY here.

#9. Crocuses start popping UP, signaling their reproductive readiness!

#8. The awful black/red V-day lingerie gives way to SLIGHTLY better pastels.

#7. Our sex survey gets more and more survey submissions every day.

#6. The importance of real sex education for teens makes the news/blog circuit, for ONE whole week.

#5. The spring peepers fire up their mating call—sounding more like a heavenly orgy, than the itty-bitty amphibian that they are.

#4. Spring fitness catalogs arrive in the mail, showcasing the “clothes” inside.

#3. Caucasians avoid posting their pasty bodies on Facebook, for fear of blinding their friends.

#2. The sun finally starts feeling warm again, eliciting our DESIRE to join those scantily clad college students.

#1. The local hummingbirds (“hummers” as my college biology professor so foolishly called them) pursue each other in sexually frustrated, chaotic zigzags, paying little attention to the passersby (me!) whom they practically impale.

Thankfully unharmed after a trip to the park,
-Mr. Science

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

Dear World,

Religion is like a penis. It’s fine to have one and it’s fine to be proud of it, but please don’t whip it out in public and start waving it around… and PLEASE don’t try to shove it down my child’s throat.

Sincerely, tired of hearing your religious guff

I laughed when a friend shared the above quote. If religion is like a penis, then spirituality is like…an orgasm? Well, probably. Orgasm is the oldest route to ecstasy. I’ve read some brain science about that but I can’t call it up and when I search for “orgasm ecstasy brain” I find little of use.

I do have a reference for a relevant tidbit, though. In an AASECT forum, one presenter explained that sexual function is an authentic representation of a person’s total condition of arousal, emotion, and more.

Unlike talk therapy, in which the reasons for starting a new behavior (like flying on an airplane despite a phobia) or ending one might be explored and a resolution reached, leading to new behavior, one CANNOT will a new sexuality on oneself. It might come with exploration of new environments, positions, experience, or partners, but we don’t get to pick what turns us on—only whether we stick around (or go looking) to get turned on.

I admit I write from a Cathoholic perspective of a certain balance between freedom and responsibility but I don’t think I’m bound by it. If we continue the analogy between spirituality and orgasm, we might think that the continued pursuit of spirituality, despite difficulty, is like the continued pursuit of orgasm, again, despite difficulty. Such persistence requires faith in something, whether is in one’s ability to “get there”, in the value of the means, or in the ends. And faith is the basis of religion.

Unfortunately, dogma makes religion land awry. And so does mis- or dis- information (or education) make sexuality land awry.

“You’ll grow hair on your palms!”

“You can’t get pregnant the first time!”

“If she was drinking, and didn’t object, then Itaintrape.”

Bullshit.

We don’t get to say “Bullshit” in church, do we?

I am convinced that—occasionally—we should! Just as we should—occasionally, meaning when appropriate—shout out “Bullshit” when we are being given mis- or dis- information on sexuality. It’s only an opinion. We should be free to express our opinion.

Take note that “You’re full of it!” is not the same. It’s an accusation and slander. It’s confrontational. It just doesn’t work.

I do have faith in sexuality. And I do have faith that, as a world, and as a community, as we communicate and learn about one another, we will move toward some kind of planetary orgasm, after which two things are likely:

1) We’ll be rather drowsy and in need of some kind of nap.
2) We’ll feel quietly connected to one another.

Sincerely,
Doug Goncz, CPS
Alexandria, VA

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

So, who am us anyway? (To borrow a line from the late, great Firesign Theater…) Well, we is a whole heap of things – you can check my profile – but one of ‘em is a “sexologist.”

I like to put “sexologist” in quotes because that’s what the right wing blogs do whenever they want to refer to me as a nutcase for my comments on Objectum Sexuality. The quotes are supposed to impersonate a question mark, oddly enough, as in questioning my credentials. Or even the validity of the term. I sometimes have those feelings myself, especially when I watch “Erin, the sexy sexologist” on the Pick Up Artist YouTube replays, as she smolders in her flimsy lingerie in a dark, dark room while hapless male virgins grope their way towards her smoldering errogenous zones, all in the interest of teaching the poor fellas how to get a date. I am tempted to point out the flaws in her methodology, because few first dates take place in a dark room furnished only in pillows, but perhaps I needn’t bother. I have only to fall asleep with the late Alfred Kinsey’s biography under my pillow and I awake refreshed and ready to face the world again, with or without the quotation marks.

Yes, sexology is a grand and glorious undertaking. If you are a young person of immeasurable curiosity and a dedication to watching hours upon hours of erotic material – even those sorts (especially those sorts) that hold no sort of appeal for you whatsoever – then I encourage you to consider sexology as a career, or at least as a calling. For one thing, people will either back away slowly or pulsate in your personal space until you have no air, when you announce what it is that you actually do.

Announcing your profession can occasionally backfire, however. It did for me when I was on The Tyra Show. When the makeup artist found out what I did, he just couldn’t help cougarizing my face: “I’m going to make you look like one of those women on ___ Avenue who SHOP first thing in the morning!” I was too intimidated by the process to do anything but meekly submit to the false eyelashes and far too gooey/glossy lipstick. I figured he knew what looked good on TV and I, being most prone to Berkeley Therapist Drag when in professional mode, thought I did not. Well… needless to say, I should have asked him to make me up like one of those Berkeley Therapists who squeeze organic produce first thing in the morning. Sigh. At least I can say I lost my talk show virginity to Tyra Banks. Someday my hypothetical grandchildren will be proud.

You might wonder (or you might not) – what sorts of grand sexological projects are on my “to do” list today? Well, I am currently spending far too many frantic hours creating a series of sex educational slideshows for adults with developmental disabilities. This is massively fascinating work, and I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the brave souls who submit their genital photos to Wikimedia Commons, as an offering to the public domain. As I am doing this work for a nonprofit, and have no money for stock photos, these genital snippets allow me to create tasteful and purposeful illustrations for my slide shows. Unlike Erin, the sexy sexologist, these folks are probably not aware they are performing a valuable public service in the midst of their pulsating exhibitionism. I only wish that fewer images were shaved, and that more of the photos were reflective of human diversity. Most are too big, too bald, and too white – sadly. And thus it was ever so.

Yes, I’m pleased to be here on Sex Your Brain!

Thanks, Mr. Science!
-Dr. Amy Marsh

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

I’ve just been really busy with my full time science teaching job (somebody has to pay the bills for this site) and brainstorming how to improve Sex Your Brain in 2012, which I’m really excited about.

Before we get to 2012 though, let’s take a look back at 2011 which was a HUGE year of growth for us…

Stats from Sex Your Brain in 2011:

Our Logo - Jan. 2011

• Over 250,000 pageviews, up from 90,000 in 2010.
• More than 5,000 completed sex surveys!
• Increased our Facebook fan base to over 500…
• Our readers spent over 3,000 hours reading our fun, free and educational sex trivia.
• Our email subscriptions tripled in size.
• We launched our Twitter account: SexYourBrain
• We updated our website banner and logo!

So, what’s next?

Goals for Sex Your Brain in 2012:

Sex Your Brain 2012

• Find 6-10 sex-pert writers to help contribute.
• Surpass 500,000 pageviews.
• Reach 1,500 Facebook fans.
• Top 10,000 surveys, in 2012 alone.
• Increase our email subscriptions five-fold.
• Post the sex survey data into age/gender groups.
• Include a monthly theme for blog articles to elicit more dialog, comments and debate.

Fortunately, we are already well on our way to reaching these goals, as I already have two amazing sex-perts lined up to contribute. Woot!

Our first new contributor/author is the veteran sex blogger Dr. Amy Marsh, a certified sexologist, who is absolutely one of the best, and most compassionate writers about human sexuality. We are very lucky to have her join us and here’s a sample of a recent video montage she put together: The Simplest Secret of Sex.

That’s all for now…but stay tuned for work from our new writers and more exciting additions to the Sex Your Brain team!

Cheers,
Mr. Science

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

Thankfully, Chirstopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá broke the mold on their ground breaking book, Sex At Dawn, about the evolution of human sexuality.

Sex at Dawn is a perfect combination of witty understanding and LONG years of research, as it fashions a compelling argument about how human sexuality evolved as a share-the-wealth resource, and has since morphed into a monogamous (as-in-MINE) resource with the advent of property ownership.

Critical Points from Sex At Dawn:

• Ancient humans shared everything, including; their land, the animals and plants they ate, and their movable homes. Life was about sharing and sharing everything—even sex—benefited the entire tribe. The book includes vast evidence of the sharing that goes on in ancient and modern hunter/gatherer groups and how this is different from our modern “me” based society. It also provided some nice theories as to why sharing sex was so successful in hunter/gatherer societies (i.e. more fathers=more help).

• When humans shifted to an agricultural society, from their hunter/gatherer lifestyle, it changed the world to revolve around “ownership”. Sex was no exception to this societal shift toward personal property, as sex is both a human need and highly marketable (just like food). It was the shift to land ownership and cultivation (plus help from the church) that led humans to tie the monogamal knot, thereby insuring access to the resources to feed our kin, while maintaining regular—if somewhat monotonous—access to sex.

• The authors provide absurd amounts (even Mr. Science was amazed) of reproductive data from studies of humans and other primates that prove how the human reproductive system did NOT evolve for monogamy. It’s phucking fascinating, but you’ll have to read the book for the nitty-gritty bits…

• The authors (who are married…) do NOT argue that monogamy can’t work. They just provide information on how humans evolved sexually and why monogamy is so difficult for SOME people.

Thanks for the exceptional read Chris (and Cacilda), and I’ll look forward to seeing your talk tonight in Portland. Sex At Dawn is a real inspiration to get my own book finished!

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

August’s Sexy News Stories:

• Who is Afraid of Hope Solo’s Nipple? - Why are we so afraid of the human body that we airbrush fully covered nipples off an American sports hero?
• 15 Strangest Sexual Fetishes – A photographic gallery (non-erotic) of strange sexual fetishes, some much freakier (Ursuagalmatophilia) than others (Salirophilia).
• Beyond a Public Health Model of Sexuality Education – Another quality article stressing the importance of early, and comprehensive, sex education.
• Boost Your Libido with Vitamin B – The importance of vitamin B to a healthy sex life.
• No Sex Education Please, We’re Chinese – An interesting look at the lack of sex education in China, and the problems it is causing.
• Sex on the Brain – What areas of women’s brain correspond to different erogenous regions.
• Rick Perry on Abstinence (video) – Governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry defends his policies of abstinence only education in Texas, despite Texas having the 3rd highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation.
• Bisexuals Do Exist – A new report documents that bisexuals exist—dispelling the silly conjectures that bisexuals are actually closeted homosexuals.
• How Our Fear of Teen Sexuality Leaves More Teens Vulnerable – Former Surgeon General (and one of my idols) Joycelyn Elders explains why best teen contraceptive in the world is simply a good education.

Please subscribe to Sex Your Brain for our latest news stories and sex trivia fun. New questions, answers and sex quizzes will be posted shortly!

Happy September,
-Mr. Science

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

Then, nominate Sex Your Brain, or any other great sex related blog, before the deadline of August 31, 2011. Thanks for your support and make sure to check out some of the other sex blogs nominated, as many of them include hard working writers who rarely get noticed, despite their vivacious subject matter.

Thanks for all your support and I hope to get back to more regular sex trivia blogs in the next couple weeks, including updates about the sex survey—which now totals nearly 3,500 completed surveys!

Sex Trivia Fact of the Week:

Testosterone (one of the primary libido hormones) is 20-30% higher in the morning for both women and men. Interestingly, this higher level of testosterone isn’t thought to be the primary explanation for “morning wood”, but it is a nice explanation for why many couples cherish their weekend mornings in bed…

Cheers,
Mr. Science

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

July’s Sexy News Stories:

• What Makes After-Exercise So Hot? – A fun blog post that explains the boost in testosterone that exercise provides.
• Kenyan’s Chewing “Potency” Herb into Extinction – Humans are pushing lots of plants and animals toward extinction, but this is not the usual global-warming or habitat-destruction story of extinction…
• Global Population to Pass 7 Billion People – Later this fall we will have over seven billion people here on Earth. This is up over 700% since the year 1800. Can you say “Dwindling resources”?
• The Percentage of lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Folks – According to a recent science study, 3.8% of the U.S. is considered part of this group.
• Exploring Why Our Supreme Court Censors Sex but NOT Violence – An interesting read that describes how a nudity in the US receives far more censorship than video games for teens in which people are graphically tortured, dismembered and killed.
• Add Semen to the List of Things Dogs Can Detect – In Sweden, dogs prove helpful at sex crime scenes.
• Can America’s Attitude About Sex Get Any Worse? – A great article based around the grief the writer’s son got for saying “breast” in preschool.
• Penis Songs in Aquatic Insects - Science geeks only: A new world record is set for the world’s noisiest penis.
• For Men, Finger Size Really Does Matter – AARP story about the positive correlation between penis length and the comparative size of a man’s 2nd and 4th finger.

Look for more fun sex trivia questions, and sexy news stories, here and on our oh-so-likable Facebook page…

Happy Hot Summer!
-Mr. Science

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!

Therefore, many of the most common sex questions are versions of: “Am I normal?”

Common Sex Questions:

How big is the average penis?

Are folds and flaps normal down THERE?

How big is a normal vagina?

However, my answers in the links above come up well short of the following GREAT videos, one for each gender, which enlighten how many different sizes and shapes human genitals come in.

Both videos are incredibly informative and worth every second of your time.

I would rate both videos somewhere around PG-13…but I’m all about freedom of speech when it comes to sex education.

Enjoy!
-Mr. Science

The Perfect Vagina

My Penis and Everyone Else’s

Sex Your Brain with Mr. Science!