You wouldn’t be alone in feeling frustrated, isolated, devalued and depressed if you were suddenly labelled “asexual” at your next birthday. Millions of older Australians feel the same way when they’re…
Sex. It’s what got you into pregnancy, but is it also the pathway to getting you out? Around a quarter of all Australian pregnancies are medically induced, with a third of those inductions occurring due…
Does it seem strange that we will enthusiastically kiss an attractive person’s mouth, with tongues intertwining and saliva going everywhere, but that we might wrinkle our nose up at the idea of using that…
From the ancient Greeks to modern soccer World Cups and the Olympics, there has been an enduring belief by some athletes and coaches that engaging in sexual activity before athletic competitions may be…
Vibrators have been causing a buzz for as long as they’ve existed: sometimes this happens behind closed doors, and sometimes in the public sphere. But as the new film Hysteria shows, there’s still fascination…
When one reads an opinion piece littered with references to “liberal elites”, it is usually a safe bet that one is reading an inherently conservative point of view dressed up to look progressive. So it…
Religious leaders and holy texts share deep preoccupations with sex and reproduction. From Islamic purdah to Jewish menstrual purity laws, to Vatican neuroses about everything from contraception to masturbating…
Biologists and psychologists like to tussle with human characteristics: what’s inherent? What’s learnt? What’s genetically coded? What’s malleable? Every so often an “expert” will reignite the nature vs…
Fat people having sex, ugly people having sex, old people having sex. All too readily our culture cringes, shudders, if not gags at the thought. After all, if film and television have taught us anything…
The poster for Secretary is up on my wall at work. I actually paid to see A Dangerous Method purely for Jung’s novel approach to therapy (and God do I hate period films.) While I probably won’t read all…
It seems Australians aren’t ready for a real debate on porn and sex. Yet. The Australian reported last month that Telstra was offering “soft-core pornography” with titles like “Dirty Housewife and Hot…
“Where’s the party?” “Can I join?” “Is this legitimate?” These were just a few of the questions I was asked during my eight-hour shift as a volunteer for The Australian Sex Party (ASP) at their booth in…
Few of us consider that having sex could result in a violent, instantaneous death. But in nature, where sex and violence are often two sides of the same coin, many animals are routinely subjected to such…
Defence minister Stephen Smith has released the findings of a series of reviews into last year’s ADFA sex scandal and the culture of the defence force. The scandal revolved around an incident in March…
Health care, fair trials and education are things we readily accept as human rights. Unlike fresh air and food, we can actually live without school or a due process trial for a whole lot longer than without…
Why is it that when we combine the words “sex” and “older people” there’s a reaction of surprise, unease and awkwardness? Is it because we believe older people don’t have sex? Or don’t have sexual fantasies…
Australia’s rates of HIV infection have remained stable for the last five years but gonorrhoea cases shot up 25% last year, while chlamydia rates have reached epidemic levels among young people, a new…
Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of Technology