All of the photographs in this NSFW Sunday are from Shutterstock. The inclusion of a visual here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the model’s gender identity or sexual orientation. If you’re a photographer or model and think your work would be a good fit for NSFW Sunday, please email carolyn at autostraddle dot com.
Welcome to NSFW Sunday!
+ There’s a close connection between having insight into yourself and having insight into others, according to a new study:
“‘Expanding our knowledge about internal dynamics such as our thoughts, beliefs, or emotional patterns, allows for a better understanding of these processes in others,’ claims lead author, Anne Böckler, a professor at Wurzburg University in Germany and research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. To get inside other people’s heads, then, it may be best to start with your own.”
Start by getting more self-aware and developing a sense of what you want and what makes you happy, as well as a sense of how you fit into the world.
+ Why call it a fling when you can call it a comet:
“The best part of a comet, to me, is its visiting nature. When the comet’s in your view, there are all sorts of heart-eyes and attentive admiration and swoons; when you hear it swishing across your orbit again, it’s all very exciting and everything lights up immediately. But it’s not something to hang onto; it’s something to feel hopeful about. When you’re a comet, you imply a promise to return, but it’s the lowest-pressure promise. This is ideal for a skittish summer mood. You’ll see each other whenever your trajectories happen to align again.
+ Here’s how to give a lap dance.
+ The number one dating tip for trans women: know that you are sexy.
+ “We need to empower black girls to take control of their sex lives,” writes Gabby Bess at Broadly.
+ At TNQ, Gwen Benaway writes about trans girls in love with cis partners, noting, “By empowering trans girls in love to speak about their bodies, sexualities, and the intimacy of their bodies, we can create a possibility of us in the world.”
+ Sometimes sex educators are banned from saying “clitoris” because abstinence-only sex education is a plague. Imagine if sex ed focused on pleasure instead.
+ These are the symptoms of HPV.
+ Here’s what your zodiac sign says about how you approach love and dating, and by “yours” I mean “your crush’s” because let’s be real that’s the more compelling point of interest. Remember to check out your (their) Venus as well as rising sign.
+ Here’s how to grow out your public hair:
“The first step, from the department of duh: Stop shaving, waxing, or doing any other form of hair removal and just let nature do its thing. It’s worth noting that your preferred method of removal will likely affect the way your hair grows. (Shaving can lead to thicker stubble, Shays says; lasers and waxing might cause it to grow in spotty or uneven patches.)
“It’s like a haircut — you just have to get through the grow-out phase,” Shays says. “There’s the frustration of not being able to put your hair in a ponytail, but you have to [remember] that one day, you will get there.” To help speed up the process, you can also take hair-stimulating vitamins, which some people swear promotes growth of all your hair.”
