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Sex and sexuality

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience

Addiction Ageing and death Childhood and adolescence Cognition and intelligence Consciousness and altered states Family life Gender and identity Language and linguistics Life stages Love and friendship Mental health Mood and emotion Neurodiversity Neuroscience Personality Pleasure and pain Psychiatry and psychotherapy Self-improvement Sex and sexuality Sleep and dreams Social psychology Spirituality Teaching and learning Technology and the self Wellbeing

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Collage image of a smiling woman in patterned dress with colourful wavy borders set on a beach background.

videoLove and friendship

Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone

5 minutes

Vintage film poster with illustrated women underwater surrounded by bubbles text reads “Primitive and Exciting”.

essayPublic health

A very American fear

Moral panics about erotica have coursed through the country’s history. Why do so many Americans think of porn as harm?

Rebecca L Davis

Blurry photo of a person lying back with head tilted, set against a red and dark background.

essaySex and sexuality

Sex and death

Our culture works hard to keep sex and death separate but recharging the libido might provide the release that grief needs

Cody Delistraty

Photo of a white temple with modern design features, a golden statue on top and a bright double rainbow in the cloudy sky.

essayHuman rights and justice

Utah is so gay!

The Mormon state is seen as deeply homophobic. Yet, from polygamy to pride, Mormons themselves are a distinctly queer lot

Kristi Rhead

Two older women wearing hats and sunglasses raise their arms in celebration at a street parade, with a purple background.

videoSex and sexuality

From secret crushes to self-acceptance – a joyful chronicle of ‘old lesbian’ stories

29 minutes

Close-up of a hand gracefully resting on a naked woman’s torso, soft lighting accentuating the skin’s smooth texture against a dark background.

essaySex and sexuality

Sexual sensation

What makes touch on some parts of the body erotic but not others? Cutting-edge biologists are arriving at new answers

David J Linden

Illustration of a person sitting in a room with a bed and various objects. The background is pink, and the objects include a lamp, books, clock, plants, lava lamp, slippers, and a small ball. The person appears to be drawn in a simple, sketch-like style.

videoSex and sexuality

After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation

14 minutes

Close-up of a woman with blonde hair and a nose ring. She has a serious expression. The background is a foggy landscape with soft pink and grey tones.

videoTechnology and the self

A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised

19 minutes

Painting of a nude woman standing on a seashell, with two figures blowing wind from the left and a woman offering a cloak on the right.

videoArt

More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution

19 minutes

A drawing of a hand figure standing on its pointer and middle fingers with a smiley face. Behind is a cave with drawings of human shapes on the walls.

videoSex and sexuality

For ages, solo sex was hardly taboo. What led to its centuries-long dry spell?

4 minutes

Elderly person with a serious expression and a cigarette in their mouth, wearing a grey sweater, standing in front of a house with a curtain and wooden chair.

videoGender

The ‘sworn virgins’ of Albania who trade femininity for freedom

10 minutes

Ancient Greek marble relief of a centaur engaging in combat with a human, displaying intricate muscle details and dynamic movement on a stone background.

essayArt

All those naked Greeks…

Men in ancient Greek art exercise, fight battles, pursue lovers and mourn lost friends, all without their pants on. Why?

Sarah Murray

A man sitting in a large jar holds a lantern, surrounded by four dogs, with an ancient town scene in the background.

essayHistory of ideas

Self-satisfaction

The ancient Cynics taught that masturbation is about more than pleasure: it suggests how to live simply and autonomously

M D Usher

An old drawing shows people in a shop with shelves displaying phalluses. Two women examine items while a man and woman converse in the background.

essayStories and literature

The honesty of pornography

Often vilified as a weapon of male supremacy, pornography in fact has much to tell us about ourselves and our culture

Kathleen Lubey

A classical artwork depicting multiple nude figures in passionate embraces against a lush, outdoor background with trees and distant mountains.

essayHistory of ideas

The invention of free love

Percy Shelley thought romantic love freed men and women from the strictures of monogamy, but did it free them equally?

Neil McArthur

A minimalist drawing of two women in robes, reaching out to each other against a beige background.

videoThe ancient world

Sappho’s homoerotic poetry was beloved in ancient Greece – and burned centuries later

5 minutes

Model of a grey building with a red door, surrounded by grass and small figurines, representing an institution.

videoHuman rights and justice

The staggering cruelty of Ireland’s Church-run ‘mother and baby homes’

18 minutes

Victorian-era portrait of a man and woman; the woman holds a small framed photograph, in an ornate gold oval frame.

essayLove and friendship

Tainted love

Love is both a wonderful thing and a cunning evolutionary trick to control us. A dangerous cocktail in the wrong hands

Anna Machin

Woman gazing at her reflection in a hand mirror, wearing pink earrings and lying on a patterned red rug.

videoTeaching and learning

The vulva dialogues – inside a sex-ed class that rebels against genitalia shame

11 minutes

Illustration of a man’s face flanked by four women’s faces above four hands set against a yellow background. The women have various skin tones and coloured hairstyles.

videoPersonality

Art students divulge (and animate) the dating pet peeves they find unforgivable

3 minutes

Traditional Japanese artwork showing a couple kissing, their kimonos parted to reveal their nakedness.

essayBiology

Slow sex, long life

Tokyo’s imperial archives advise what science now confirms: the secret of longevity lies in the gentle arts of the bedroom

Denis Noble

Black-and-white photo of a bald man beside a bookcase in a room decorated with his portrait and religious icons.

essaySex and sexuality

Idealising the predator

How did certain French intellectuals get away with preying upon young girls, shamelessly, in public and over decades?

Lily Dunn

Group of rowdy men in suits at a bar, raising their arms and cheering, with drinks and cigarettes on the table.

essayGender

Are men animals?

Diagnosing men as violent and oversexed beasts is tempting but it’s a regressive idea built on dubious analogies

Matthew Gutmann

A black and white photo of a smiling man being carried by a group of men dressed as nuns, all looking joyful.

videoHuman rights and justice

When the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence canonised Derek Jarman

24 minutes