*flashing warning lights*. This blog post talks sex, not just what it is – but how to do it. If you are uncomfortable with words like masturbation or anus, this article may not be for you. You have been warned!
Sex. It’s everywhere, and with good reason. Human beings are inherently sexual, from the moment we’re born til the moment we die. That’s not to say we’re always ready, willing and able to have sex- our sexuality develops just as we do, and every person is different. Some men rarely experience sexual arousal until their fifties, while some young girls can’t stop thinking about sex, and every combination imaginable. Some people are asexual entirely, without any libido whatsoever. We’re all different, and we all grow.
It’s Sexual Health Awareness Week! To help us find our way through this maze of sex and relationships we have the YEP Crew bringing us a series of blogs this week on the theme of Safety, Pleasure and Respect in young people’s sexual and romantic lives! Before we delve into the nitty gritty, here’s the quick low down on they we are and what they do!
YEP Crew is a group of young people aged between 16 – 25 years old with the mission of actively engaging with young people (online and in face to face outreach settings in Perth W.A) around sexual health, relationships and blood-borne virus topics, in order to give young people the info and resources they need to be able to make safer and informed choices in their sexual and romantic lives. You can like us on Facebook by checking out www.facebook.com/yepcrew.
K.I.S.S
Okay, so what does it mean to be safe sexually?
Safety, [noun].
1. The condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury.
2. Denoting something designed to prevent injury or damage: “a safety barrier”; “a safety helmet”.” (www.google.com)
When it comes to sex and young people, we’re often told about the dangers of sex and all the things that can go wrong if we don’t protect ourselves. Some of you may have been shown some nasty looking pictures of STIs (sexually transmissible infections) like Chlamydia or herpes, or had the glorious opportunity of putting condoms on bananas in the classroom.
When it comes to sexual health, YEP Crew believes that the definition of safety has a broader meaning than one simply taken from a dictionary. Although it could be said that using contraception and/or protection helps to protect from risk and that wearing a condom is a ‘safety barrier’, making sure that you are safe emotionally is also very important! Sexual health means more than just being free from sexually transmittable infections (STIs) and blood-borne viruses (BBVs), it’s also about feeling happy and comfortable with what you’re doing and the decisions you’re making.
Yes, putting the U in pleasure, or even the pleasure in U – It feels good to say! And just a little bit naughty.
I think it’s funny how words can have such a different meaning, depending on the context they’re expressed in. For example, saying to someone, “It was a pleasure to meet you,” means something completely different to, “I can’t wait to be pleasured by you.” And I can’t imagine ever saying the latter one, even though I probably can’t wait!
Why does it feel a bit wrong to think about pleasure? Why does it feel wrong to seek out pleasure? I think it probably stems from the fact that society freaks out about young people having sex, and hurries to warn us about all the dangers of STIs (sexually transmissible infections) and unplanned pregnancies. Magazines such as Dolly and Girlfriend, even Cleo and Cosmopolitan, hide away the ‘sex talk’ in their sealed sections. What sort of message is that sending us? From the beginning of our lives as sexual beings, we’re either explicitly told to keep that part of ourselves tucked away and not acknowledge that it exists, or we can see examples of pleasure in pop culture (through movies, video clips, the internet) but we’re not sure how to get it for ourselves or how to talk about it. In my opinion, it’s not fair to only give us half the pieces to the puzzling exercise that sex can be! If you can’t let yourself enjoy something that feels good, you’ll end up living a half life.
I think I should rewind a little. Just so we’re all clear on what I’m talking about and why.
Relationships. They are what bind societies, and in many cases what allows the survival and continuation of the human race. Love has cost trillions of dollars, sent millions to their death in wars and literally changed the face of the earth. It’s no understatement to say that good relationships are a pivotal dimension of the human condition. Yet crucial as they are, why are so many people so bad at them?
Think of someone in a romantic relationship. It might be yourself, your parents or your friends. Do you think the relationship is healthy? Do the people in it spend more time criticising or complimenting each other? Do they yell every day or always talk affectionately and gently? Do they ignore and put each other down, or really listen truly respect what the other has to say?
Looking around at the people in my own life, it hurts me to admit that not everyone is as loving to one another as they should be, for whatever reasons. Human beings can be spiteful, selfish or just plain ignorant, and it can hurt those closest to them. I also look at my own intimate relationship and am so grateful, almost every day of my life, to be with someone so kind, respectful, loving and beautiful. Being with my lifemate is like eating the most amazing strawberry shortcake, all the time, without it ever losing its flavour or making you fat. And, using the metaphor of the cake, I wanted to share with you some of the ingredients that make our relationship so very, very tasty. Most of it will seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised how uncommon it is for people to follow it. I’d also like to add that everyone is different, and I’ve seen relationships based on bickering and teasing that have lasted decades and ended very happily. But as a general rule, here are some of the ways to make your relationship sweeter, healthier and just plain awesome.
Welcome to the final blog in the YEP Crew series ‘Safety, Pleasure and Respect’ for Sexual Health Awareness Week 2012 (13 – 17th February). We’ve written already about safety and pleasure, but central to all of this is RESPECT!
Respecting yourself and the people around you is so important if you want to get along well with others and move along in life. But what exactly is respect? Respect is about understanding and appreciation. It’s about valuing all of the aspects that make up you, as well as each unique individual in the community. It’s also about understanding a person’s wants, desires and needs and their rights to make decisions and choices based on this.
Respect is also about accepting people’s differences and not taking part is any bullying type behaviour. If you respect someone it means that you think of them highly – they may be a really good friend for example. If someone respects you it means that they appreciate you as a person and they recognise your wants and needs as well as your rights. You can also respect places (like universities and churches), things (like other people’s property), and people’s opinions, choices and rights to say yes AND no.
Welcome the final in our series about Managing Depression written by 21 year old Bethwyn. Bethwyn has taken us from signs and symptoms, to treatment and how to help a friend who may be suffering from depression. We want to say a big thank to Bethwyn for sharing her story as one of our Youth Content Producers and giving hope to many and letting us know that we are not alone that depression can be managed and treated. Enjoy this final blog in the series.
Hi everyone. This will be the final installment on my blog series about depression. I hope that what I have written here has helped some people with their concerns and problems – whether it be for a friend, family member, for yourself, or even just to learn more. I love writing and this is such a wonderful way to get my writing out there – by talking about my own experiences and offering some small place of information for those dealing with something I have gone through.
In this post, I’m just going to talk about my own experience a little bit more, and also about how I’m doing now. This is a little hard for me, so please forgive me if my writing becomes a bit disjointed or confusing – it’s the way my thoughts are sometimes!
Hi and welcome to the fifth installment on depression!! This post is directed towards those people that may not be suffering from depression themselves, but may know someone who IS suffering.
Sometimes it can be bewildering to know that someone in your life is dealing with this and not knowing much about it at all. There is a certain amount of understanding that comes from experiencing the symptoms yourself, but that doesn’t mean you can’t understand if you haven’t experienced them. It just takes a lot of compassion and a bit of research. So, if there’s someone in your life experiencing depression and you’d like to learn how to be of help, I hope this post will give you a bit more of an idea.
The workplace should be a safe environment. A place where you come to do your job and a place that you should feel comfortable around your co-workers, managers/superiors and customers.
The workplace is a place where you should be free of harassment and a place that you should feel confident in at all times. That is why workplace harassment is not tolerated.
Harassment in the workplace can take any of the following forms from physiological to physical, to verbal and cyber to blackmail and so on. In fact it is where a person is subjected to behaviour, other than sexual harassment, that 1:
is repeated, unwelcome and unsolicited
the person considers to be offensive, intimidating, humiliating or threatening
a reasonable person would consider to be offensive, humiliating, intimidating or threatening.
These behaviours can cause the victim to suffer from stress, depression, anxiety, fear and can make the workplace an uncomfortable and unenjoyable place to visit.
I’ve had a bit of a break for the holidays, but welcome back to this blog series on Depression! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. It is important to remember that, while these times are often full of joy and togetherness, they can also be an especially hard time for anyone experiencing mental illnesses like depression. Unfortunately there isn’t just a switch to get rid of depression – it doesn’t just go away when we want it to. I must admit to experiencing problems with my own depression during the holiday break, but I am lucky enough to have many supportive people in my life, as well as experience with dealing with depressive ‘episodes’
Money, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It comes in coins and notes in plenty or few, but no matter what, it is a necessity that every person needs in order to make a living. As young people of society (and as young people in general) we like to have fun and make the most out of what comes our way, we like to socialise and most of us like money, no matter what shape or size it comes in.
Money is fun to spend, is good to have but money isn’t everything. As they say, “The best things in life are free” and with memories and Kodak moments one can be happy and content with their life. But in order to have a future and in order to provide for a family, or even just yourself, you need money. That is where savings come in!!!
*flashing warning lights*. This blog post talks sex, not just what it is – but how to do it. If you are uncomfortable with words like masturbation or anus, this article may not be for you. You have been warned!
