Category Archives: sexuality

medical, sexuality, thoughts

Taboo Vocabulary

I’ve been going on, for a long time, about how we need to normalise nudity and sexuality, and become much more familiar and at ease with our bodies and bodily functions.
Apropos this I recently caught up with a July 2016 press release from The Eve Appeal, who are a charity devoted to fighting women’s cancers.
The press release reports on research they conducted into women’s, specifically young women’s, knowledge of their sexual anatomy, language and attitudes. The results are quite worrying.
Almost two-thirds of young women have problems using words such as “vagina” and “vulva” and only half of 26-35 year-olds are able to locate the vagina (compared with 80% of 66-75 years-olds).
But it gets worse …

It’s not just a knowledge gap … the data also showed a distinct difference in attitudes towards talking about gynaecological health issues … more than one in ten of 16-35 year olds said they found it very hard to talk to their GPs about gynaecological health concerns, and nearly a third admitted that they had avoided going to the doctors altogether with gynaecological issues due to embarrassment …
These findings are in direct contrast with the popular misconception that society is more open these days, making it much easier for women of younger generations to talk about gynaecological health.

I find this very worrying. It means there is a huge section of the population who are at much higher risk than need be of serious gynaecological health issues.
And according to Men’s Health Forum, men are no better about knowledge of, and attitudes to, their genital equipment. So don’t go getting all smug, guys!
I dread to think how bad is the knowledge of the other sex’s anatomy and the naming of parts. Or of normal bodily functions like menstruation.
We just have to change this! We have to get everyone much more familiar with their bodies — with bodies of all sizes, shapes and genders. We have to teach people the correct, as well as the incorrect and slang, names for body parts. We have to overcome the embarrassment and the knowledge gap.
There is really no reason for us to be embarrassed, because medical professionals aren’t — they’ve seen it all before. When I was in hospital recently for my knee operation I had a conversation with one of the (more mature) nurses, who remarked that they all, very early on in their careers, stop seeing genitals in any sexual way; they just become another piece of body no different from a finger or toe. And that is how it should be; just another part of a body. Until one gets into a specifically intimate and sexual situation.
It is also important that we teach when it’s appropriate to use various terms. While “penis”, “vulva”, “testicles”, “anus” are appropriate for a medical context, “prick”, “cunt”, “balls” and “arse” (although perfectly good Anglo-Saxon words) are much better kept for more intimate, private or jocular occasions. And even greater circumlocutory euphemisms are best abandoned completely.
Moreover, if we were all more attuned to, and comfortable with, our intimate anatomy how much more difficult it would become (and we would make it) for sexual predators/abusers. It would be much easier for (potential) victims to speak up, either at the time or afterwards. How much easier would it be for us to fight against female (and indeed male) genital mutilation and to reduce STIs.
I don’t know how we do this piece of public education, especially when we are starting from a base of such poor knowledge and attitudes. What I do know is that the responsibility has to lie with both parents and teachers. Actually it lies with all of us … we all need to use the correct words and not be frightened to do so.
If we can achieve this I feel sure it will result in much better health for all of us, because there will be no stigma in discussing “sensitive” subjects with medical professionals, or indeed with each other, just as we are all comfortable talking about ears, eyes, knees and backache.
It beats me why we can’t just do this.

beliefs, current affairs, freedom of speech, sexuality

Don't Criminalise Us …

The fight to get governments to decriminalise sex work (and sex workers) continues. Here’s a piece which highlights the views of Europe’s sex workers — most of whom are (voluntary, not trafficked) migrants.


It is notable that it isn’t just the sex workers who are saying sex work should be decriminalised. This view is backed by

major human rights organisations such Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the World Health Organization and several other United Nations agencies such as UN Women and the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work are also calling for the decriminalisation of sex work, noting that decriminalisation guarantees better working conditions, and reduces the social vulnerability and marginalisation of sex workers.

And as that implies many are now warning that the basic human rights — as covered, for instance, by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — are being violated; and that those violations are state sanctioned the world over.
When are people going to wake up to what’s going on around us? It’s being done in our name, and yet how many of us agree with it?

beliefs, current affairs, sexuality

No Sex Please …

OK, so here’s another nasty, not so little, piece of legislation from the UK government.
The new digital economy bill, which is currently going through parliament, intends to block websites hosting “unconventional” sexual content. So who decides what is conventional, and who will implement and police such a ban?
There’s a piece in yesterday’s Guardian (yes, again!) which tries to explain the What, how and why?
Now whether you like so-called pornography or not, this is worrying. The legislation is ill-conceived and appears to be not just draconian but also potentially arbitrary and ill-defined.
Worse, my personal belief is that it infringes freedom of speech (and belief) and I would agree with critics of the bill who say it is not the government’s place to police what kinds of consenting sex (or indeed anything else) can be watched by adults.
I continue to believe that pornography (unless violent, coercive or involving minors) has a valuable place, just as does the rest of the sex industry. You, personally, may find it distasteful — just as I find the idea of male-male sex distasteful — but that doesn’t mean either should be banned and I would always defend your right to indulge should you choose.
The whole of the English-speaking world has a history of drawing its rules of censorship much more tightly than continental Europe. But that changed with the internet allowing information to be streamed direct to our homes without restriction. And the English-speaking, puritan, nanny state doesn’t like it.
It’s time we started treating people like adults and allowing them to make up their own minds. But to do that requires us to invest in sensible education of our children, and isn’t it easier to keep them in ignorance and subjugated?
So-called pornography is not being forced down people’s throats. It is complete myth that the internet is awash with porn at every turn and it’s being gratuitously feed to every child in the land. Yes, it is there, but you (whatever your age) have to look for it. My systems have every available filter turned OFF and still I do not get a continual stream of emails offering me penis enlargement (surely fairly tame?) nor does every Google search bring up 27,000 pages sex videos and bestiality.
It is worrying enough to have the state control our sexual predilections but the fear is that this will go way beyond pornography; it is the first example of any liberal democratic country creating an internet censor. The fear is what such a framework could go on to be used for.
Yes, this is censorship and as such must be resisted.
Wake up, the coffee pot is bubbling on the stove.

beliefs, medical, nudism, sexuality

Nudity. Why Not?

Yesterday, in between doing lots of other interesting things (which I’m not allowed to write about, at least yet) and having a day off, I came across a thoughtful piece of journalism on nudity.
In The Scientific Reasons Why You Should Just Always Be Naked Lauren Martin looks at some of the evidence in favour of accepting nudity. OK, it’s American — although that doesn’t make it any less valid elsewhere — not greatly detailed and is written with many questions in order to challenge our prejudices and taboos.
It is well worth reading the whole article, but here is the essence:

Things are only taboo because we make them that way.
… … …
Nudity is a taboo … because we primarily equate nudity or nakedness with sexuality and we have taboos about sexuality.
… … …
What would happen if we accepted our bodies the same way we accepted everything else? What would happen if we stopped covering up and started stripping down? What would happen if we all just let our bodies hang out in the open and didn’t hide them …?
… … …
There’s … no denying … that if we could get past our childish perversions and accept nudity as a basic and natural human form, there would be a lot less “deviousness” and fewer obsessions with the human body — and we could all just stop caring so much about it.
… … …
If men … were exposed to nudity on a normal, everyday basis, they wouldn’t fantasize and obsess over it the way 14-year-olds do at the sight of their first breast … By making nakedness an ordinary, matter-of-fact, common experience, unassociated with sexuality, the unhealthy prurient interest in pornography would be considerably lessened.
Imagine if men were desensitized to the female body … Imagine if men stopped putting all their time and energy into seeing women naked and just learned to live side-by-side with them?
… … …
Imagine if we all just looked at each other the way God made us without any implications or idealized notions of the perfect body? … it’s our clothing that creates our insecurities and inability to accept and love each other the way we should.
… … …
What if we’d grown up in a nude household? What if we’d been taught from a young age nudity is natural [and] beautiful?
… children exposed to nudity from a young age became … unfazed by the human body later in life and sometimes, psychologically stronger because of it … children raised around nudity [grow] up with a higher body self-concept … coming from a nudist family [plays] a more significant role in the children’s positive self body-image than their race, gender, or area of the country in which they lived.
… … …
Humans donned clothing to keep away parasites and filth, yet only created breeding grounds for different types of infections and disease … Along with infertility rates and Lyme disease, clothes also contribute to yeast infections and UTIs.
… … …
It seems arbitrary, but walking around barefoot increases brain flexibility. It doesn’t just make you feel young again, it makes your brain feel young again.


I was brought up in a household where nudity was natural and pornography was seen as a healthy part of life’s rich pattern (but violence and abuse were definitely not acceptable). To this day nudity and pornography don’t faze me — and I fail to understand the taboos around sexuality. I’ve long been an advocate of mixed student residences and mixed changing rooms — if we were all well adjusted to nudity and our bodies this should not be a concern for anyone (but until we are it will be).
I spend time in the nude when I can and I know I have a lot fewer problems with yeast infections and so on because of it. Despite admonishment from the medics I do spend almost all my time at home barefoot (it has to be really cold for me to put socks on) because fresh air is not only better for the feet (see yeast infections, above) but there is thought to be a protective effect against dementia.
So there you have it. An article which looks at some of the evidence and comes out supporting what I’ve been saying for nearly 50 years! Nudity is healthy, mentally and physically, and embracing it would benefit all of us both individually and as a society.
So what really is so special about nudity that we have to make a taboo out of it? Nothing! Get over it.
PS. As an example of how daft all this is, it took me longer to find a suitable illustration for this post than it did to actually write the thing!

links, science, sexuality, topographical

Monthly Interesting Links

You just can’t get the staff these days. This month’s issue of interesting links to items you may have missed is late again. Apologies. And there is a lot in this month, so let’s get going.
Science & Medicine
Our first item is a bit technical, but interesting … It seems that neural networks (models for what makes our brains work) have a deep connection with the nature of the Universe.
And now to some much easier topics …
We all get paper cuts from time to time, but why are they so painful?
Something else we all get from time to time is bags under the eyes. But why?


And in another BBC magazine story here’s something slightly scary … just what does live under our fingernails?
There’s a very odd and rare condition where people’s internal organs are arranged the wrong way round, in mirror image — it’s called situs inversus. This piece is about what it means and what it’s like if you have it.
One of the most demanding, important, and mostly unseen, medical specialisms is being an anaesthetist. No surgery can happen without them and your life really is in their hands. This is what it means to be an anaesthetist.
Sexuality
The clitoris is so often not understood and doesn’t get the attention it should (from its owner as well as from men). This piece talks about why this is important.
After a change in the law, Italy’s Supreme Court has ruled that public masturbation is not a crime as long as it isn’t done in the presence of minors. This could <cough> get interesting.
So why do polyamorous people fear ‘coming out’? Spoiler: mostly misunderstandings.
Lest anyone doubt it, sex workers are ordinary people like the rest of us. This was realised by a New York Times reporter who was investigating whether prostitution should be a crime (in the USA).
Environment
OK, so now for a complete change of tone. Here’s a forester and environmentalist who ​thinks trees talk to each other.
Things have always come in standard sizes, haven’t they? Well no, the concept of standard sizes really only starts with a German architect in the 1920s.
Social Sciences & Business

In case you’ve not caught up with it yet, here’s a piece on the UK’s new £5 note.
London
Did you know that London’s Monument (to the Great Fire on 1666) contains a secret laboratory?
Here are ten secrets about the Thames which you probably didn’t know.
And equally fascinating, just how do London bus routes get their numbers?
OK, so more secrets: here are ten places in London you’ll probably never visit.
Lifestyle
Not all of us see them as a necessity, so why do we bother with clothes? And no, it isn’t all about keeping warm.
Here’s another take on the health benefits of being a nudist.
Food & Drink
I bet we all do this, but here’s why you shouldn’t wrap food in aluminium foil before cooking it. Yes, its the appliance of science!
The Five Second Rule. Myth or not?
Here’s the latest finding: against all expectations it seems that hard-fat cheese is good for us.
Chris Leftwich is the one man in London who knows everything about fish and seafood. Londonist has the story.
Shock, Horror, Humour
And finally for this month, here are the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes for research which makes you laugh and then think.
Toodle, pip!

sexuality, words

Words: Yoni & Lingam

Yoni

  1. In Hinduism, a stylized representation of a vulva worshiped as a symbol of a goddess or Shakti.
  2. The female genitalia, regarded as a divine symbol of sexual pleasure.
  3. The Tantric symbol of the feminine.

According to the OED the word first appears in English in 1799 and is derived from the Sanskrit yonih, womb, abode, source.
Lingam

  1. In Hinduism, a stylized phallus worshiped as a symbol of the god Shiva.
  2. The penis.
  3. (In Sanskrit grammar) the masculine gender.

Again, the word is from the Sanskrit liṅga, liṅgam, mark, penis. It is first recorded in English in 1719.

history, sexuality

The Oldest Profession

Despite its reviled status today prostitution has a long and honourable tradition in many countries. From the Ancient Near East to the Incas and Aztecs. In India and Japan; Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. To the Middles Ages and modern Europe. And a history in which is has more often been legal, and encouraged, than illegal — contrary to our modern western (largely Christian) expectations.


So I was interested to find this in the description of the above miniature in Flavio Febbraro’s How to Read Erotic Art which I reviewed yesterday:

In the late Middle Ages, so-called stuphae — baths or saunas — were present in almost every city across Central and North Europe. In addition to offering hot baths, they provided premises for sexual encounters with obliging women. On the other hand, prostitution — despite the Church’s official intransigence in regard to sexual activity — was tolerated, if not encouraged, by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. It was seen as a lesser evil that served to channel masculine aggression and ensure public order. Consequently there were authorized ‘brothels’, managed according to standards defined by the municipal authorities, that enlisted women mainly from the countryside. These women enjoyed the acceptance of the community in which they lived. Houses of tolerance and stuphae were located in the centre of town, often in respectable buildings, demonstrating that, his activity took place openly, with no particular negative judgement attached to those who frequented them.

So why the problem now?
It makes no sense to me.

current affairs, sexuality, thoughts

MPs with some sense?!

There is hope that some MPs, at least, are beginning to see some sense.
The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee has issued an interim report on possible changes to the law on prostitution with MPs coming down on the side of decriminalisation.


According to a BBC News report they are suggesting that soliciting should no longer be a crime and that the rules on brothel-keeping be relaxed to allow prostitutes to share premises. They are however also saying that using brothels to control or exploit sex workers should remain illegal.
Note though that this is only an interim report and that the committee still needs to do more work on looking at both the Swedish model and the New Zealand model.
But if they make their current suggestions stick it will be a significant victory for common sense.

environment, links, science, sexuality

Your Interesting Links

So here’s this month’s collection of pointers to articles you may have missed the first time round. And you’ll be pleased to know there is (almost) no mention of the political omnishambles in the UK.
Science & Medicine
Ooo-eerrr. Did you know you can actually see the evidence for evolution on your body? Goose-bumps. Ear muscles. And more. [Short video]
Why do we have so much trouble with our modern reinforced concrete but ancient unreinforced structure don’t?
Bigfoot — the American version of the Yeti. What if it actually was real?
Sexuality
[Not for the faint-hearted] One man tells what it is like to have 90 degree bend in his penis. Apart from painful, that is.
[NSFW] Girls, have you got a pain in c***? If so it might be vulvodynia. And like bent pricks it can be just as painful and is often curable.
[NSFW] Female Ejaculation. Myth or reality? Here’s some more investigation.
Environment
Given that we should all be concerned to conserve water, mathematicians reckon that we should always pee in the shower.


Beavers. They’re definitely beginning to make a difference to the ecology down in Devon. And it’s all for the good.
Samphire, aka Glasswort. It’s that tiny green, succulent-like plant that is sometimes served with fish. And it is a superb defender, and stabiliser, of our coastlines.

Social Sciences & Business
I promised (almost) nothing about the UK political situation. This is the one exception, and it is really sociology we already knew. There are five lessons which have been brought into sharp focus by the current mess.
I find it surprising that apparently pet ownership is in decline. This article looks at some of the possible reasons.
No apology for returning to one of my regular themes: nudity. Jess Staufenberg in the Independent argues that nudity and naturism is ‘best way to teach sex education’ to children. I agree; and it certainly seems to work for the Dutch.
History
Edward Johnston designed his iconic typeface for London Underground during WWI and, although it has been tweaked over the years, Transport for London have brought it up to date for its centenary. This is the history.
Shock, Horror, Humour
Finally, not so much something shocking or amusing but something philosophical to make you think from zen master, Brad Warner. What if we’re wrong? About everything. And there’s good (if circumstantial) evidence that we might be. And there’s a follow up on life after death.
More next month.

history, links, science, sexuality, topographical

Your Interesting Links

Slightly later than planned, and hence slightly longer than usual, here is my monthly list of articles you might have missed before …
Science & Medicine
Kazakhstan is a treasure trove of naturally wild and flavourful apple varieties.
Welcome the tiny ingestible origami robot which can be used for repairing wounds.


Ocean scientists have been using message in a bottle techniques for over 100 years, and they still are.
One mouse, two mouse, three mouse … Can cats count mice?
And still on felines … can a cat have an existential crisis? Spoiler: yes. [Long read]
Ear wax is very strange and mysterious stuff. [Long read]
Sexuality
OK, girls, so does the ‘G-Spot’ actually exist?
Do humans actually send out airborne aphrodisiac pheromones to attract potential mates? Erm … dunno.
Social Sciences & Business
On the social and design engineering of high heels. [Long read]
How many friends do you have? Are they really your friends?
Alain de Botton on why you will marry the wrong person. And there’s not much you can do about it!
Language
What’s it like learning to talk all over again? Learning Chinese as an adult.
Art & Literature
From mega-libraries down to nano-libraries … here’s the story of London’s smallest library.

Wow! The whole of Samuel Pepys’ Diary is now online.
History
It seems that Ice Age Europe wasn’t populated by who we thought.
The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge have discovered that one of their Ancient Egyptian coffins holds them youngest known mummified foetus.
Ancient toilets can tell us a lot about the lifestyle of their users, and it seems the flush toilet goes further back than we thought. [Long read]
The colour of monastic habits was much more fraught with controversy than one might suspect.
A plague on all your houses. New research suggests that the Black Death was even more devastating than we thought.
Ianvisits reviews the exhibition of the lost library of the Tudor magician John Dee.
Slowly coming more up to date, here’s a look at the background and organisation of the Gunpowder Plot.
An unsuspected mass grave in Durham is though to hold the remains of prisoners from the Battle of Dunbar.
Investigations into a 1661 document awarding £20 to Major Smith.
Lady Antonia Fraser on the sexy and scandalous truth about Versailles and the new BBC series about the same.
How old is that London house? Is it Georgian Or Victorian?

London was devastated during World War 2. The recently published LCC bomb damage maps reveal all. It’s a magnificent volume!
There have been lots of weird and wonderful proposals for building in London which have come to naught. Here are some, arranged by Underground station.
Food & Drink
How to tell real Parmigiano Reggiano from imposters. Science now has a way.
People
So here are two pieces about the forensic mysteries of identifying unknown bodies.
First the mystery of Saddleworth Moor: who was the man they’ve nicknamed Neil Dovestone?
And in the US, just as here in the UK, the identification of nameless bodies can take years before the mysteries are solved.
Shock, Horror, Humour
So here’s a little quiz to end with … What is London’s longest tunnel? It’s OK, I got it wrong too.
More next month.