Sex Ed
Advice
Why Kids Need Extracurricular Sex Ed

Lo is the founder of The Butterfly Academy, an extracurricular sex ed organization for kids and their caregivers. Think of all the ways we as parents and guardians try to broaden our kids’ horizons when we’re able to. We might: sign them up for sports so they stay healthy with exercise and learn the importance […]

Sexual Health
Check Out Lo’s Org: The Butterfly Academy!

A few years ago, a series of big events occurred, one right after the other, that profoundly shifted my career goals: That perfect storm made it painfully clear that we as a country and a culture are not where we need to be in the sex-education department. Sure, adults need sex ed too, but maybe […]

Confessions
How to Give a Sex Ed Lesson at a Slumber Party

A dad friend of mine, who’d read my recent piece on making sexual assault in the news a teachable moment for kids, forwarded me the following tweet from Andi Zeisler while I was in the middle of my 11-year-old’s birthday slumber party: The 4th-grade boys coming to my kid’s slumber party tonight are really in […]

News
The Harsh Reality of Religion-Driven Sex Ed in America

Pantsuit Nation, the private Facebook group of around 4 million members, was originally created as online camaraderie for Hillary Clinton supporters in the 2016 election but has since morphed into a sort of support group for progressives facing trying times under the Trump administration. The following is a recent post to the group from a midwestern parent who gave us […]

How To
10 Practical Ways Parents Can Fight Rape Culture

The powerful, unapologetic, detailed statement of Brock Turner’s rape victim made public recently touched a collective nerve, resulting in a huge outcry on social media about the rape culture that left him convicted of three sexual assault felonies but only serving 6 months in jail. The outcry, which has already begun to fade, has often […]

News
Teaching Kids They Can’t Say “No”?

Utah excels at socializing male supremacy and female acquiescence. While students at Kanesville Elementary in West Haven, UT, were not required to take part in the Valentine’s Day sixth-grade dance, those participating would be asked to fill out a dance card with the names of students with whom they wanted to dance — anyone whose […]

How To
3 Reasons Why YOU Should Take Charge of Your Kids’ Sex Ed

If your goal is to raise confused and ashamed kids, then go ahead and skip “The Talk.” Our kids’ sex education begins the moment they tune into the world around them. Numerous gateways introduce them to our highly sexualized society: smartphones, tablets, laptops, television, supermarket tabloids, and sometimes our own jokes and language. With so […]

Dear Em & Lo
Dear Em & Lo: Should I Teach My Goddaughter Sex Ed?

Dear Em & Lo, My goddaughter has reached the age where sexual exploration is something she might be considering delving into (if she hasn’t already). I’m not sure how to approach the issue of birth control with her. If she is wanting to have, or already is having sex then I want to support her […]

News
What the Dutch Can Teach Us About Sex

photo via flickr And no, we’re not talking about the relative appeal of sex in clogs. We have long sung the praises of Holland’s approach to sex — and, in particular, its approach to sex & pregnancy education. Because Holland has results that we can all agree are worth aspiring to (even bat-shit-crazy Michele Bachmann): […]

How To
In Honor of International Women’s Day: 7 Ways to Achieve Sexual Equality

Every year, March 8th is International Women’s Day, a political holiday that honors the struggles, achievements and hopes for women worldwide. Since its first observance in 1908, we’ve come along way, baby — but not nearly as far as you might think: The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 […]

News
Kavanaugh Is a Teachable Moment

These days, you hear a lot of parents bemoan the fact that they can’t have the news on, for fear their kids might hear something sexually inappropriate. That “America’s Dad” Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted 60 women. That the Catholic Church has been a child-rape factory and cover-up machine for decades.  That our own […]

How To
Vagina vs. Vulva — There’s a Difference, People

A while back we here at EMandLO.com conducted a poll called “Vulva or Vagina?” Readers had two options to choose from (natch): Vulva – If we’re talking about female external genitalia, this is the anatomically correct & accurate term. (Plus, it sounds nicer.) Vagina – That’s what EVERYONE calls it. It’s common practice, common knowledge. Nobody calls it […]

Advice
The Unbearable Lightness of Blowjobs

Miranda Levy is a major in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Elon University where she pens a sex column for its student-run lifestyle magazine, The Edge.  “Popping her cherry” “Swiping my V-card” “Going all the way” All of these phrases — and countless more — connote one single, sexual act: intercourse. Given its reproductive implications, our […]

News
The Power and Pitfalls of Consent

A lot of strides have been made in educating people, especially college students, about consent. Many now understand you have to ask for it throughout a hookup, it must be given enthusiastically and verbally as you go, it can’t be given by people impaired by drugs or alcohol, and it can’t be given by minors. […]

How To
Em & Lo’s Glossary of Male Sexual Anatomy

Just because male sexual structures are a bit more, shall we say, obvious, does not mean you can forgo the anatomy lesson. There are important parallels between male and female sexual machinery that will help you understand how to best to use what you’ve got on your own and with your partner, especially if your […]