Casual Sex
Dream Interpretation
My Friend-with-Benefits Says “I Love You” in My Dreams…

Other people’s dreams are never interesting…except when they’re about sex & relationships. If you’ve got a good one, our dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg just might tell you what it means! Click here to submit yours (18 and older only for dream interpretations, please). This week, a reader asks Lauri about dreaming of a friend-with-benefits saying “I love you” in her dreams.” I’ve […]

Personal Essays
4 Dating Myths We’re STILL Stuck With

Edie Freedman is a student at New York University studying social and cultural analysis, politics and psychology. There she is a writer and editor for The Tab NYU. There is no question that the dating game for young people has changed dramatically in the last decade or so, thanks to social media and quick, instant-decision […]

How To
5 Essential Hookup Items to Bring with You

If you’ve managed to successfully navigate some of the pitfalls of swipe-based apps and found someone you’d like to hookup with, congratulations! You’ve succeeded where many have failed. With this being said, if it took a bit too much time to find someone on Tinder or Bumble that just wanted a hookup and not a […]

Your Call
Your Call: Does Her Long-Time Fling Have a Future?

We get a lot of advice questions coming in at EMandLO.com, but sadly, we just can’t answer them all. Which is why, once a week, we turn to you to decide how best to advise a reader. Make your call on the letter below by leaving your advice in the comments section.  So I have been talking to a guy […]

News
Casual Kink: Sooner, Faster, Weirder

Ever wondered what it takes to make two seasoned sex writers stammer and blush? Try mentioning casual rimming. We’ve devoted hundreds of words over the years to the fine art of analingus: the intimacy it both requires and engenders, the thrill of busting a taboo together, the importance of showering first… but we always, always […]

Advice
5 Dangerous Misconceptions Many Therapists Have About Sex

by clinical psychologist David J. Ley for YourTango Just because your therapist saw it on Dr. Phil, that doesn’t make it true … You may find this hard to believe, but most therapists, psychologists and doctors have received no training in sexuality. A minority of mental health, social work or medical training programs offer graduate-level training in sexuality issues, […]

Dear Em & Lo
How Many Sexual Partners Officially Makes You a Slut?

Dear Em & Lo, I am 18 and newly single, having just broken up with my boyfriend of over a year and my first sexual partner. I am worried about becoming promiscuous just as much as I am worried about denying myself, due to my old fashioned upbringing. I have been reading your site since before […]

How To
10 Tips for Hosting a Sexy Sleepover

If you’re planning on having a new guest over to “look at your etchings” for the first time, follow these 10 rules to ensure there’s a next time: Only invite a guest over when you won’t have to rush out the door the next morning. Warn any roommates that you will be entertaining that evening. […]

How To
How to Negotiate a Night of Casual Sex

It’s called a “prenook” — and if you’re interested in casual sex,  you should get one.  We have nothing against casual sex so long as everyone is being safe and the casual nature of the sex is completely mutual. And “mutual” is where things get tricky. May we introduce you to the concept of a […]

Your Call
Should She Lose Her Virginity to a Married Man?

We get a lot of advice questions coming in at EMandLO.com, but sadly, we just can’t answer them all. Which is why, once a week, we turn to you to decide how best to advise a reader. Make your call on the letter below by leaving your advice in the comments section.  I am a 26-year old black female who […]

How To
7 Must-Have Handbag Items for Spontaneous Casual Sex

Straight ladies, if there’s any chance your evening will end up in a sleepover, transform your purse into a make-shift washbag. Even if there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell you’ll be getting nooky tonight, carry these items with you anyway — because the best hook-ups happen when you least expect them. Compact ballet flats. […]

Say Amything
How to Have a One-Night Stand (When You Don’t Really Want To)

When we last left Amy, she was going to the hotel room of a strange man she’d met online — the first relationship she’d had with a woman had ended and she was lonely. Here’s what happened in the hotel… Kieran and I went to his hotel room and sat on the edge of the bed and […]

How To
10 Steps to Getting Casual Sex Right

At least half of all problems associated with casual sex can be traced back to its name: People think that “casual” means the sex takes no thought and fits as comfortably as sweatpants. But the truth is, you have to date for years before sex gets like that. (Monogamy does have a few benefits, after all!) […]

Say Amything
When Loneliness Makes You Sexually Stupid

I’ve been thinking a lot these days about what it means to feel uncomfortable.  Is it really so bad to feel bad?  Why are so many people conflict avoidant?  What does it mean when we brush up against each other the wrong way, and what would happen if we forced ourselves, just once in a […]

Dear Em & Lo
My Libido Makes Me Sleep with Mr. Wrong

Dear Em & Lo, I feel like I’m stuck right now. I meet plenty of young men that are very interesting, and eventually, after spending some time with them, I get attached. Something that sounds very normal but turns out to be very painful in the end. So here’s my problem: no matter how hard […]

Sex Poetry
Poem About Early 20th-Century Casual Sex by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay, born in 1892, was only the third woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry (in 1923), and she is famous both for her feminist activism and also for her bisexuality and open marriage: her husband of twenty-six years was a self-proclaimed feminist who took on most domestic responsibilities so she […]