Dr. Lindsey Doe: I'm Dr. Lindsey Doe, and this is Sexplanations

-- Intro Cut Scene --

Lately I've realized there are some thing about sex I thought you knew, but don't - so here are 15 mini lessons in sexuality.

Number 15: The Reproductive system of biosex females is about the size of an outstretched hand, and located here - below the navel. Much smaller and lower than what you may think.

Parts of it do expand - like the vagina for penetration and the uterus for fetal development, but at a resting state, it's all pretty small. 

Number 14: Attraction to minors who've started or gone through puberty is not called pedophilia. Pedophilia is attraction to prepubescent children. Hebophilia (or hebephilia) is attraction to early adolescent or pubescent youth - roughly eleven to fourteen.

Number 13: A condom package that reads "EXP: 2020/04" is not expired. I know that many of you usually read dates Month/day/year, but on condoms the date is often printed as the year, then the month. So this condom does not expire until April of 2020. How long will it glow in the dark? I don't know.

Number 12: Transmale facial hair is real. Okay, so first - when I say "transmale" or "transman", I am referring to a person marked as a female at birth who identifies as male - a man, "transman." To change their appearance, some transmen will add testosterone to their body chemistry in an average of 250 milligrams twice a month. Depending on genetics, this might mean that they grow facial hair like a lot of biosex males do during puberty - wispy at first, with a fuller beard years in.

Number 11: You can still get HPV if you use a condom. HPV - or the Human Papillomavirus - and herpes, are both passed from skin-to-skin contact. So your whole pubic region is susceptible, not just what the condom protects.

Number 10: The good thing about HPV is that in most cases the body manages it with time. In 90% of cases, the immune system will clear HPV in 2-3 years.

Number 9: Some vibrators have multiple settings. Check this out - vibrators like this one can be set to pulsate or buzz. This makes it so you can choose what feels best for your body or your partner's, and there's a greater range of sensations from one product. I'll add there are also vibes which you can customize and program if you want a "beep beep boop bop boop" - they will comply!

Number 8: Testicles can be pushed into the body. My friend was baffled when she reached out to touch her partner's balls and couldn't find them. The sack was empty! Where did they go? How could they just be able to do that? During fetal development, testicles start off inside the body and descent into the scrotum with age (usually.) What she learned is that it's possible for them to go right back up there into the inguinal canal, or to contract them without hands for lots of reasons: 

   1. To mess with your friend.
   2. To protect them from getting hit and
   3. To warm up the sperm in them, so you're less likely to get        
       someone pregnant. 

Number 7: In addition to condoms, there are all sorts of birth control methods for people with testicles. One is a pair of really right underwear that holds the testicles up in the body so the sperm in them are too hot to function. There's also vasectomies, withdrawal and new ones undergoing clinical trials like: occlusion, shots, pills and ultrasounds.

Number 6: How fish reproduce. Fish reproduce in at least eight different ways. 97% of fish species do so like us - internal fertilization via the equivalent of a fish penis. But there are other forms, like ovuliparity, where eggs are released and fertilized externally by waves of sperm.

Number 5: On the subject of offspring - something else you may not know is that I have kids. Some of them are temporary placements, like my five-year-old foster son. Others are permanent, like my two teen daughters. None of them came out of my body. This is related to sexuality because their experiences, like their lack of good sex education in school, influence what and how I sexplain.

Number 4: Erections are unconscious. Erections are regulated by the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system, which simply means you can't control when or if you do, or don't get hard. You can think about things that will contribute to having them, or touch erectile tissues to instigate a reflex, but ultimately it's up to your body, like digestion. You can eat, or not eat, but deeper digestive processes are involuntary.

Number 3: Using the pronouns they/their/theirs is not just for gender expression. When my friend who identifies as bi talks about a partner, she uses the pronoun "they" - even though her partners don't identify as non-binary or third gender. Whether or not she knows it, doing so effectively removes the importance of their gender, and models what it feels like to have a sexual orientation that doesn't discriminate. 

Number 2: Sperm can live for up to seven days in the female reproductive system. That's why period tracking apps like Clue are so valuable. They help keep track of menstruation and ovulation. So if the app says you're likely ovulating on the 14th, you now know that the sperm put inside you any time the week prior can result in pregnancy. 

Number 1: The Vulva has more than two holes. One - the vagina. Two, meatus to the urethra. Three and four, the openings to the paraurethral duct (also called the periurethral gland, lesser vestibular glands, and Skene's gland.) And five and 6, the opening to the greater vestibular gland or Bartholin's gland.

Now I know you know, but let's stay curious!


-- Outtakes --

One is a pair of really tight underwear that holds the testicles up in the body so that the sperm are chibichabichibichib

That was like something else was speaking in my mouth.

One!

(Matthew off-screen) No.