Late Night: One a Day is Good for You–Apples and Orgasms!
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The new leaflet from British National Health Service geared for school age kids boldly states:
An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away…Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes’ physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?
Steve Slack, director of the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health at NHS Sheffield, one of the pamphlet’s co-authors,:
believes that as long as teenagers are fully informed about sex and are making their decisions free of peer pressure and as part of a caring relationship, they have as much right as an adult to a good sex life.
Of course they do, and hopefully this leaflet–or others–emphasize how to have a caring relationship and use contraceptives, along with having an orgasm! Sex is an act fraught with emotions for all ages. The release of oxytocin (the bonding hormone) which happens in both sexes at orgasm–though with greater intensity in women–can lead to all kinds of issues, and teens with all the anguish and inexperience of youth have fewer skills to cope with the feelings sex invokes. That, diseases, and unplanned pregnancies–from ignorance and/or lack of access to contraceptives–are good reason to suggest kids lay off getting it on, as the first few seasons of the original Beverly Hills 90210 demonstrate.
Let’s face it, sex education is a necessity and abstinence only doesn’t work, since teens, like oh say Bristol Palin, are going to fornicate. And some seem a little unclear on the concept of “virginity.” A 2005 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health, reported in the Washington Post, comparing teens who took virginity pledges versus those who don’t, showed that
Although teenagers who take "virginity pledges" begin engaging in vaginal intercourse later than teens who have not committed to remain abstinent until marriage, they also are more likely to engage in oral or anal sex than nonpledging virgin teens and less likely to use condoms once they become sexually active.
I thought, under today’s prevailing standards, a virgin was someone who hadn’t had sex with anybody, except maybe themselves. Wow, am I a fuddy-duddy!
Anal and oral sex without condoms are considered high-risk sexual activities, but at the same time can carry the same emotional vibes as "real sex." How high risk? I’ll never forget a publicist telling me about an actress who’d contracted gonorrhea of the throat. And in the abstinence-only movement aren’t you supposed to refrain from all kinds of sexual activity, anyway?
Regular orgasms are a great goal since orgasms are just awesome for you and yours:
* A UK study which looked at the relationship between having frequent orgasms (two or more per week) and mortality in men. At a ten-year follow up the researcher found that men who had frequent orgasms had a significantly lower risk of death than men who did not have frequent orgasms.
* Several studies have hypothesized that hormones released during arousal and orgasm, specifically oxytocin and DHEA, may also have protective effects against cancer and heart disease.
* Research has also pointed to the sedative and relaxing effect of oxytocin and other endorphins released during orgasm, which may explain why people use masturbation as a way to get to sleep, and why sex is a great way to deal with stress.
* There have been two studies which have found a connection between men who ejaculate regularly and a reduced incidence of prostate cancer.
• While orgasms can for some people trigger migraine headaches, at least one study has also found that orgasms can relieve migraine headaches.
I wish these studies looked at women as well…At any rate, people will wank; wanking is good for you as long as it doesn’t interfere with an extant relationship. And teens will wank and/or have sex no matter what uptight fundies try to say, so it’s important to provide them with guidelines for both physical and emotional well being.
lisa!