Gender Issues
Confessions
Comment of the Week – Can Married People Have Opposite-Sex Friends?

Let’s clarify that question: Can/should straight married people have opposite-sex friends? Which begs the question, can/should gay married people have same-sex friends? These questions were inspired by the following recent comment: I have found that even though I’ve been married for years, I never spend time alone with my husband’s male friends, even men who […]

Pop Culture
The Super Bowl Ad Superlatives (in the Love and Sex Category)

BEST OVERALL: Dove Men+Care’s “The Journey to Comfort” At last, a commercial that celebrates manhood without being sexist, stupid or beer-related! It’s basically a mini-movie crammed into 45-seconds (seriously, try counting the number of scenes they had to shoot) that follows one Everyman’s life from birth to adulthood by highlighting the big moments as well […]

Dream Interpretation
Dream Interpretation: Awake I'm Female, Asleep I'm Male

photo by grandcamel Other people’s dreams are never interesting…except when they’re about sex. Each week, our dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg tells one lucky reader what their dirty dream means. This week, a reader asks Lauri: My boyfriend and I broke up recently because of trust issues I have, but a couple days ago we decided […]

Pop Culture
A Feminist in Fox’s Clothing? Megan Fox in the NYTimes Magazine

cover image from the Sunday NYTimes magazine We weren’t sure how or why the sex symbol with diarrhea of the mouth, Megan Fox, got an entire cover article dedicated to her in the New York Times Sunday magazine. Is she really such a cultural force? She’s been in like a whopping two movies (we’re counting […]

Wise Guys
Wise Guys: When Is a Boob Job Warranted?

photo by PinkMoose Advice from three of our guy friends. This week a straight woman asks, “I think my boobs are too small — slightly pudgy guys have bigger boobs than me! Should I get a boob job?” Gay Committed Guy (Mark): Gut response: No. Even though god knows how many Americans have some kind […]

News
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Hermaphrodites

photo by dalbera The South African runner Caster Semenya recently withdrew from a competition amid speculation about her sex. The rumor is that she is intersex — or a hermaphrodite, as they used to say in the olden days. If it’s true, then it’s too bad she withdrew, as we would have loved to see the world of […]

Polls
Poll for Gals: Ever Kissed Outside Your Sexual Orientation?

Gals, have you ever tongue kissed someone outside of your identified sexual orientation? (I.e. if you’re a straight woman, have you ever kissed a woman?)(polling) Can’t see the poll? Click here to take it.

Wise Guys
Wise Guys: Are You Down with Just Cuddling All Night?

photo by MShades Advice from three of our guy friends. This week a straight woman asks, “What do you guys think of a new date who wants to sleep over but doesn’t want to have sex?” Straight Single Guy (Max): Personally, I say bravo. The longer you make me work for it the better everything […]

Pop Culture
Transgender Kids Say the Smartest Things

Thanks to a tip from Goodvibes, we just watched this short and sweet clip from Jasmine, a 7-year-old transgender* kid who’s wise beyond her years. It reminded us of an excellent This American Life episode from earlier this year which features a touching story of two 8-year-olds who meet up when their families attend a […]

Wise Guys
Wise Guys: Do Men Ever Choose Masturbation Over Sex?

photo by slushpup Advice from three of our guy friends. This week a straight woman asks, “Do guys ever choose masturbation over sex? If so, why?” Straight Married Guy (Ben): Sure. Plenty of times. Sometimes my wife isn’t around and I don’t really feel like waiting. Or sometimes she is around but really tired, or […]

Research
Studies Show Chivalry Is Sexist

With the excellent debate going on in response to the recent Wise Guys question about men behaving chivalrously, we thought we’d stir the pot a bit by mentioning studies that suggest chivalrous behavior is a subtle yet harmful form of sexism, known as benevolent sexism. The term was coined in 1996 by the first study […]

Wise Guys
Wise Guys: What's the Deal with Chivalry?

a book about chivalry Advice from three of our guy friends. This week they answer the following: “What do you think about traditional gestures of chivalry like holding open a door for a woman, holding out her chair at the restaurant, etc? You know, is it just the polite thing to do, are you annoyed […]

Research
Evolutionary Psychologists Do It with Blinders On

photo by gniliep Evolutionary psychology can be so annoying sometimes. Like when it tries to explain women’s modern-day preference for pink as some left-over instinct from hunter-gatherer days when they needed to be good at gathering berries, completely disregarding the fact that in the early 1900s pink was the color of choice for little boys […]

Sexual Health
Will the HPV Vaccine for Boys Make Them Sluts? Ha!

photo by zmxncbv.com When the relatively new HPV vaccine Gardasil came on the market for girls a few years ago, conservatives got their panties all in a bind over the possibility that it would give sweet, innocent P.Y.T.s permission to do it. Now that the vaccine is being considered for boys, no one seems too […]

Videos
Archival Footage: How (Not) to Crossdress

This is an oldie but goodie from our Nerve.com days. For his column “I Did It for Science,” our friend Grant Stoddard decided to try out crossdressing. First he went to Miss Vera’s Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls. We weren’t too impressed with the results. So if you stick with the […]