Feature image of Mistress Tom deFun and Blair in Crash Pad Series episode 311. All of the photographs in this NSFW Sunday are from the Crash Pad. 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!
Mistress Tom deFun and Blair in Crash Pad Series episode 311
There’s a difference between boundaries and walls, namely that walls keep others out, boundaries create space for relationships, writes Ayesha K Faines at Zora:
“[E]nforcing personal boundaries is easier said than done, because few of us have taken inventory of what our boundaries actually are. Every interaction, no matter how fleeting, requires implicit boundaries, but in relationships specifically, boundaries are the conditions we place on our love and affection. That alone sounds harsh, because let’s face it, women are socialized to love unconditionally, even when it’s in spite of themselves. We are encouraged to be pliant and appealing, particularly to men, but rarely are we encouraged to focus on our own needs and desires.
And then there’s the bigger hurdle. Asserting our boundaries goes against everything we learn about being ‘nice.'”
Beating Hart, C’est La Vie, and Cinnamon Maxxine in Crash Pad Series episode 308
A new study (of cis heterosexuals, ugh) has found that watching porn is not bad for your sex life:
“‘These results arguably provide some evidence that the correlates of normative (porn use) may not be as pervasive or significant as some literature would have us believe,’ the study’s authors said. They did, however, address the limitations of the study, including the fact that their participants didn’t include anyone from the LGBTQ+ community.
‘Continuing to understand the positive uses and influences of online sexually explicit material through research may further challenge the cultural discourses focused on harm, and potentially contribute to healthier and more fulfillilng sex lives,’ concluded the researchers. ‘If evidence suggests that these stimuli are not inherently/unconditionally harmful, there may be more scope to explore potential beneficial applications or adjunctive uses within clinical settings.'”
Kissy Burgundy and Cinnamon Maxxine in Covid Edition: Kissy Burgundy
Here are some road trip sex stories.
Here’s “what it’s like to be a Black intimacy coordinator in the era of consent and political resistance.
What do you need to do right now to prepare for winter? It’s time to do it.
The Fat Zine is “an ode to the beauty of fat bodies” from Gina Tonic and Chloe Sheppard and issue one is out now.
Trying to adhere to compulsory heterosexuality with a side of internalized homophobia while being queer is why some queer women frame some types of sex with men as self-harm.
Pakistan has banned five dating apps.
It can take a long time to receive a vaginismus — “a psychosexual condition caused by the body’s automatic reaction to the fear of penetration” — diagnosis.
Dylan Ryan and T.Pfister in Crash Pad Series episode 306
Masturbating when you’re sick might be good for you:
“At the very least, says Kathleen Dass of the Michigan Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Center, masturbation ‘helps to improve the immune system.’ Citing a 2017 study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Dass explains, ‘Masturbation was shown to stimulate neurotransmitters through the endocannabinoid system, which affects homeostasis and apoptosis[programmed cell death].’ Homeostasis and apoptosis aid in body regulation, leading to better overall functioning and health.
That’s not all jacking off does for your bod, though. ‘We know that orgasm increases our dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin (the ‘love hormone’) to make you feel good and lead to a better sleep,’ Dass continues. ‘Studies show that people who don’t get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, such as a common cold virus. Lack of sleep can also affect how fast you recover if you do get sick.'”
Spookyfatbrat in Covid Edition: Spookyfatbrat
Endometriosis — a condition where tissue from your uterus start growing in other parts of your body, including on or around other organs — is chronically misunderstood by medical professionals, has limited treatment options, and, inexplicably, still has an unknown cause:
“Arvind Vashisht, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist at University College London Hospital, told Refinery29 that endometriosis, just like many lifelong conditions, including cancers, is caused by a multitude of factors that ‘switch on’ a particular auto-immune response and cause damaged tissue to grow and spread. But we don’t know yet what causes that switch to turn on.”
