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!
- Why not try approaching dating like a hobby?:
“Instead of thinking about it as a thing you have to do, and do a lot, in order to find success, why not think of dating as an enjoyable activity you choose to do? Just a fun pursuit. Like tennis. In true hobby fashion, there’s nothing really to gain except honing a particular specialized skill, meeting people you otherwise wouldn’t meet, filling idle hours, and maybe getting some physical exercise, by which I mean maybe getting laid. Apparently, having hobbies helps make you happy, and how nice to think of dating as something that could make you happy, too — here, now, and not in some future happy ending.”
- The only way to get what you want is to ask for it. Yes even on dating apps. Honesty is hot:
“According to Zander, ‘the work’ involves admitting what you want and owning who you are—even on something as casual as a dating app. […]
‘Telling the truth is hot.’ Zander says. ‘You can say, ‘I’m really looking for my person. They’d better be good.’ But you also have to tell the truth to yourself,’ she says. ‘Be honest with yourself if you like someone. Be honest with yourself if you don’t. Otherwise, you’re just going to be manipulating someone else, and yourself, for a relationship you might not even want. To me, that’s desperate. Not saying, ‘I’m multi-faceted, I have a lot of parts to me, I want to be with someone who acknowledges them and I want to have fun, too.’”
- Here are some sex things to try according to your astrological sign. And remember, your moon sign impacts your approach to intimacy, too.
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It’s okay and awesome to star in your own sex fantasies, or to not star in your own fantasies, whatever you want.
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Got a partner (or self) into humiliation play and not sure where to start? Negotiate together, be thoughtful, go slow, be aware of context and check in often.
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Here’s how to tell the difference between rumbly and buzzy vibrators.
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“Micro-cheating” is absurd.
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“[D]ating with Down Syndrome can be a complicated,” writes Sofia Barrett-Ibarria at Broadly.
+ Be discerning with who you have sex with on shrooms, writes Madison Margolin:
“‘Sex, like everything else on psychedelics, is amplified,’ says Neal Goldsmith, a New York-based psychologist and author of Psychedelic Healing. ‘Psychedelics enhance what’s already there, they put you in touch with reality with greater clarity and intensity than you generally experience.’ Because, he says, ‘sex is so different than everyday walking life, such as going to the grocery story,’ or making sandcastles for that matter, sex on psychedelics could also be very ’emotional, visceral, hormonal, or psychological.’”
- The only way to talk about consent is to also talk about pleasure, argues Andrea Barrica at the Establishment:
“Why is pleasure important? Because asking for what we want and saying no to what we don’t want is a direct rebellion against the patriarchy. Because how do we teach anyone about giving their enthusiastic “yes” if they don’t understand pleasure? Because men expect pleasure every single time they are sexually intimate, and women should, too. Most of all? Pleasure is a powerful form of self-care, wellness, and has been proven to be a key driver of happiness.”
