Sex Ed Before Bed

On this episode, I partner with Vanessa and Maggie, hosts of 21 Questions, to speak with revered sex therapist and social worker, Angie Gunn. 

Angie addresses our questions about polyamory, also known as consensual non-monogamy, ripping apart misconceptions about people who practice it and how they practice it. She also shares the dramatic life events that led her to this profession and lifestyle. 

Hear tidbits on:

Work with Angie

Theme music: "Rise and Shine" by Audiobinger, sourced from the Free Music Archive. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Edited for time and volume. 

Sofia Fortin is the founder of the Happy Vagina Project. Her mission is to create connections between the art of sex, feminine woo woo and unleashing your inner awesome. Sofia is a certified sexuality coach and sex educator who is inspired to help women and men reconnect with their inner spark and reignite their love of life and their relationships. 

During this enlightening chat, Sofia breaks down what tantra actually is (it's not what you think) and she answers an important question: Does improving your sex life and raising your sexual confidence ripple outwards to other areas of life? 

Sofia answers this question through her own rocky road to sexual self-discovery. Her story will make you wonder if your sexual self-esteem and habits are at a 6 when they could be at a 10 and some tactics for finding your peak. She also talks about how new moms struggle with changes to their sexuality. 

Sofia offers coaching services for women and couples worldwide, you can learn more here. 

The theme song is Rise and Shine by Audiobinger. Edited for time and volume. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Audiobinger/~/Rise_and_Shine_1696

What happens when a somatic sex educator spends 30 minutes a day masturbating mindfully for 30 days?

Caitlin Roberts is a savvy somatic sex educator; she helps people discover how to feel more pleasure using the knowledge that rests in their bodies. Recently she challenged herself to spend 30 minutes a day masturbating mindfully for 30 days - the results were explosive. What does it even mean to masturbate mindfully? Get ready to rethink all the ways you get jiggy, 'cause I sure did.

Timestamps

Caitlin's blog to be a slut. 

Source: Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity, Fifth Canadian Edition

Theme song: "Rise and Shine" by Audiobinger, sourced from the Free Music Archive. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Edited for time and volume. 

Karen B.K. Chan is a legendary sex educator in Toronto, Canada. For more than 20 years, she's been teaching youth, adults and couples about sex, sexuality and emotional intelligence, but I first learned about her when someone showed me a clip of her talking about consent. She was chill, funny, and gave her audience a lot of respect. I could see how her approach worked.

Consent is one of the main reasons I wanted to be a sexual educator and it was a privilege to talk about how vague and messy consent navigation is with someone so well versed in the topic.

Expect to hear a nuanced chat about:

- what does consent look like when you're drunk or high?

The theme song is Rise and Shine by Audiobinger. Edited for time and volume. 

Wes Heney was born female. That is, he had the anatomic composition or body of a person most people would see as female. As Wes reached puberty, he grew breasts that he detested. He dressed like a guy and wanted to be treated as such. He sensed a profound disconnect between his body (anatomic sex) and who he felt he was - his gender identity.

In episode 4, Wes tells the unforgettable full story. I ask some basic questions about:

What's it like taking testosterone? 

The theme song is Little Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon. 

Veronica is a social psychologist, and the owner of The Nookie, a downtown Toronto sensuality shop. V describes her escape from corporate life into value-based entrepreneurship, manifested in a sex shop that urges all genders to seek more pleasurable experiences. 

The theme song is Little Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon. Edited for time and volume. 

So what does a sex therapist do?

Matthew Ridley is a Pre-Clinical Fellow with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and holds an M.Sc. from the University of Guelph in Couple and Family Therapy.

In episode 3, Matthew and I talk about how he provides queer and sex-positive sex therapy for couples and singles and address these questions and way, way more:

Is there a "normal" when it comes to sex? How can refuting ideas about how we think sex is supposed to be ignite our private lives? Is porn bad for you/your relationship?

Who knows? You might get some complimentary therapy along the way ;)

The theme song is Little Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon. Edited for time and volume. 

Carly is a sex educator, she visits schools to teach Ontario’s relatively new sex education curriculum, launched in September 2015. Carly also remembers the old sex ed curriculum, you know, the one that hasn’t changed since 1998. That one. Carly talks about how the new curriculum is lightyears ahead of the old, the challenges she has with it, and what she enjoys about the work she does.

The theme song is Hungaria by Latché Swing. Edited for time and volume. 

Whitney Wilson manages the Domestic Violence Court Referral Program at The John Howard Society. When a person is charged with domestic violence, they might attend a program run by her to help them challenge their attitudes and behaviours.

So what causes domestic violence? As Whitney explains, it has to do with upbringing but also the way society strictly defines masculinity. Most domestic violence offenders are male and, as she explains with eloquence, men don’t think they’re allowed to express negative emotions, aside from anger. As Whitney reveals, anger is a secondary emotion, it’s driven by something else. This is a fascinating analysis of how social constructs can factor into violence.

It’s not all heavy. Hear the rehabilitative tactics Whitney uses to help clients amp up their empathy and unearth a deeper sense of what it means to “be a man”.

The theme song is Take Me Now by Nick Chapman.