That’s right. Genetic material from the coronavirus was present in ejaculate, according to a study published in the JAMA Network Open journal.

The researchers tested semen samples from 38 people, ages 15 to 59, who had tested positive for COVID-19. Genetic material from the virus was present in the semen of six patients — about 16%. Four of those people currently had the virus; two were in the process of recovering.

Before you freak out: Just because there are bits of the virus’s RNA in semen, it doesn’t mean that those bits are infectious, Dr. Stanley Perlman, a professor of microbiology, immunology, and pediatrics at the University of Iowa, told The New York Times. “This is an interesting finding, but it must be confirmed that there is infectious virus — not just a virus product in the semen,” he said.

If the virus can be transmitted through sex — and that’s a big if — it’ll be “another item on the long list of reasons to use a condom,” says Holly Richmond, PhD, a somatic psychologist and certified sex therapist. The study authors agree. “Abstinence or condom use might be considered as preventive means for these patients,” they wrote.

Of course, we already know that you could contract coronavirus other ways during sex — from holding hands, cuddling, or kissing. “I guess you could be having sex with a mask on, but that’s not super sexy,” Richmond says. That’s why the NYC Department of Health released a statement discouraging people from sleeping with anyone they weren’t in lockdown with, even going so far as to say that your safest sex partner right now is… yourself.

Experts have previously found evidence of the coronavirus in feces and urine, says Justin R. Garcia, acting executive director and research director at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. “I think this is a reminder that people need to think cautiously about the behavior they’re engaging in right now, whether that’s kissing or intercourse,” he says.

To sum up: This was a small, preliminary study, and way more research needs to be done to confirm whether COVID-19 may be sexually transmitted. But if you are sexually active, go ahead and start wearing a condom now anyway.

“If this can increase condom use, that’s great,” Richmond says. “COVID woke us all up to washing our hands, to sanitizing more things, and now it might be the reminder we needed about how important condom use is.”

Your horror-induced horniness has a lot to do with your body’s physiological response to fear, explains Dr. Holly Richmond, PhD, a somatic psychologist and certified sex therapist. Typically, when we’re scared. Our body has a few natural and hormonal responses. Our adrenaline and cortisol levels go up, and our blood goes to our extremities. Richmond explains that all this also happens when we’re aroused.

“When we’re scared our blood naturally is pulled to our extremities, so that we can run faster,” Richmond says. “When we’re turned on, the blood flows to our genitals… Cortisol levels go up both when we’re scared, and when we’re in aroused, specifically in situations with new partners, or when there’s a novel aspect to sex.”

With that said, Margee Kerr, a sociologist, fear researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, and author of Scream: Chilling Adventures In the Science of Fear, adds that the way our body changes in response to a threat varies between people, and can be different from one scare to the next. “The typical response to threat involves our sympathetic nervous system ramping our body into ‘go’ mode,” she says. This includes increasing respiration and heart rate, sweating, and a host of chemicals — neurotransmitters and hormones — that kick our metabolism into high gear.” Essentially, Kerr says we reprioritize our attention and resources to focus on survival in the here and now. We’re not thinking about the future or ruminating on what we have to do tomorrow.

If that state of mind sounds familiar, it might be because you felt similarly during your last hookup.

For the record, getting turned on in this manner can be pretty confusing. It can be hard to interpret the changes happening in our body, and why we’re feeling them while watching a vampire suck someone’s soul out. “If a scary movie increases general arousal and we’re with someone we find attractive, we can experience a pretty intense high,” Kerr says. “Arousal soup that we’re left to make meaning out of. It’s not misattribution of arousal, or misunderstanding ourselves — it’s just that, in that moment, we’re feeling what I would call sexy scared.” Kerr thinks there should be a word or a concept to describe this unique experience.

Another reason you might want to jump your SO’s bones after watching The Skeleton Key has to do with the fact that experiencing something thrilling or spooky together can be a bonding experience, Kerr says. Research shows we feel more closely bonded to others after going through something stressful (even if it’s at the hands of a fun-scary stressor, such as the plot of The Cabin in the Woods) together.

Richmond adds that when you watch a scary movie with your partner, it might call for a lot of hand-holding, snuggling, and other contact. All this intimate touching can add yet another layer to your lasciviousness, leaving you screaming from more than fright.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Kerr says screenwriters often play into the idea that their viewers might be turned on while watching their film. That’s why spooky movies usually are accompanied by a sex scene or two.

All this is to say: It’s totally normal to get hot during horror movies. Thank goodness spooky season corresponds with cuffing season.

You might be thinking: What’s sexy about a day that claims to honor workers at a time when some feel underpaid and undervalued. If that’s how you feel, and you want take out your frustration, here’s an answer: Sex.

There are all kinds of reasons to hail or hate on Labor Day, but you might as well be orgasming while you’re doing it. To help you close out the summer with a bang, we enlisted the help of Dr. Holly Richmond, PhD, a somatic psychologist and certified sex therapist (CST). Enjoy.

Take the labor out of sex

This holiday is all about taking a break from labor. Kick off the day with positions that don’t involve a lot of work. Richmond recommends the side-lying spoon, during which your partner enters you from behind with their penis or strap-on while spooning you (you might ask for extra clitoral stimulation during this time!). Or, for a truly beachy vibe, you could try the starfish, which is basically missionary, where you lie on your back and relax with your limbs spread.

Do it outside

Richmond says there’s something about a public trust that turns people on — when they can get away with it. She recommends doing it outdoors since the weather’s still beautiful. If you’re traveling, try it on the balcony of your hotel or the porch of your Airbnb. If you want to do it on the beach, just remember to bring a blanket so you don’t get sand in places.

You could also try a pool, hot tub, or the ocean. But Richmond warns that it can be tricky for women to stay naturally lubricated in the water, so you may want to bring along a silicone-based lube.
And don’t forget the golden rule of public sex: “Just don’t do it where you’re gonna get caught, because it’s illegal,” Richmond warns.

Channel sexy seasonal vibes

“Figure out for yourself what’s sexy about summer for you,” Richomond says. Whether that’s your favorite sundress, an ice cold beer, a coconut flavored lotion, or a rosé cocktail, get it in while you still can. Make it part of a date. “Whether you enjoy summer tacos or peach cobbler together, it’s not just about sex,” Richmond says. “It’s about cultivating everything that’s sexy about summer.”

And then, again, get it in while you can.

Hate summer? Bring sweater season into the bedroom early

Maybe you hate the sweating, melting, and chafing that plague you during June, July and August. In that case, use this weekend as an excuse to leave those uncomfortable, sweltering days behind you.
Turn up the air conditioning, light a pumpkin spice candle, and put on nothing but a sweater. Invite your partner to join you as you welcome the wonderland that is fall. “Get a sweater with a fuzzy fabric,” Richmond says. “There’s nothing sexier than wearing a sweater with no bra and a pair of panties.”

Try a cooling lube

While the weather is still warm enough, try a cooling lube, such as Kama Sutra Intensifying Cooling Gel, which might make you feel like your vagina just had a breath mint. If you’re feeling creative and picnics turn you on, you could also try a watermelon flavored lube.

Popsicle play

Since the weather will ostensibly still be warm enough to melt a popsicle on your partner, give it a shot. But do not put the popsicle inside of you, because the added sugar flavoring could lead to an infection, which would not be a very sweet way to spend the weekend.

Glow up

If you’re a “summer rave” kind of person, incorporate any glow sticks left over from the 4th of July into a sex session. Turn off all the lights (and maybe play a Kygo song?) and pulse to the music.
You’ll come back to work on Tuesday with a glow only you and your partner can explain.

“Most women, at one time or another, have faked it,” Ryan tells him.

“Well, they haven’t faked it with me.” Crystal says.

She proceeds to fake an intense and convincing orgasm. A diner patron in a Yankees hat turns around with his mouth agape as Ryan screams “Yes, yes, yes.” She’s ooooh-ing and banging on the table one moment, and the next she stops and takes a bite with her fork triumphantly.

The scene will make you cackle — but it’s more significant than simply comedy. It was a major cultural moment for women and sexuality. It brought to the forefront that fact that many women weren’t actually achieving pleasure from sex, says Holly Richmond, Ph.D., a somatic psychologist, certified sex therapist, and a member of the K-Y educational board.

That was a lovely wake up call for the world that women weren’t orgasming, especially from penetration alone,” Richmond says. “Harry Met Sally and Sex and The City did so much for women’s sexual empowerment, talking about the orgasm gap, so there could be more scientific-based research on the subject.”

Have things gotten better since 1989, when Harry Met Sally came out?

Richmond says that only about 25 percent of women can achieve orgasm from intercourse alone. However, she says that in today’s world, women have a slightly easier time achieving an actual orgasm, because they’re more likely to ask for what they want than they were 30 years ago when the movie came out. Richmond notes that studies also show that women having sex with another woman or nonbinary people don’t fake it as much.

However, faking it is still pretty common.

Why do people fake it?

“Most women can’t orgasm from penetration alone,” Richmond says. “They need direct clitoral stimulation. But, to ask for what they want can be scary, because we’re culturally conditioned to please our partners. But, by using our voices — saying, ‘can we switch positions or take a break?’ It’s amazing how quickly the learning curve can happen. Most partners are very receptive, and want to honestly know what makes the other person feel good.”

Gigi Engle, certified sex coach, sexologist, and intimacy expert at SKYN, says that women often fake it because they don’t have the language to explain what they need from their partner.

“We worry about bruising an ego and causing distress in our relationships by speaking up for ourselves,” Engle says. “We wind up playing ourselves, in the end, because you end up in a fake orgasm loop. Your partner is in the dark; they think they’re doing all the right things due to the faking. Meanwhile, faking an orgasm can lead to resentment, sexual frustration, and other bigger issues in relationships.”

She says it’s important to note that some women experience anorgasmia, which is the inability to orgasm. But this is pretty rare. “Most of the time women don’t orgasm because they aren’t being properly stimulated,” Engle says.

How can you tell if someone is faking it?

“A lot of women have learned to be really good actresses to hold up cultural standards,” Richmond says. Still, there are a few signs you might look out for if you’re curious about whether or not your partner is faking it.

One sign might be if a woman is orgasming from penetrative sex alone and it’s happening fast. “Research shows it takes 20 minutes on average to reach peak arousal for a woman,” Richmond says. “Not to say it can’t happen faster or take longer.”

If you really think your partner might not be feeling all the feels, Richmond recommends gazing into each others eyes and paying attention to your partner’s body language. “Looking in each others eyes during sex gives you a lot of information,” Richmond says.

She also notes that if a penis or a finger is inside is inside a woman, you can sometimes feel the vaginal wall contracting when an orgasm is taking place. “There are mini spasms of the vaginal wall, and if you’re attuned enough, you can feel it,” she explains. “You can also sometimes feel contractions in male bodies.” But not everyone will be able to feel these small convulsions, so don’t jump to conclusions. Just know that it’s important to communicate openly and make sure every person feels comfortable and has a good time during sex.

If you do suspect that your partner is faking it, Richmond says you should never accuse them. “I wouldn’t say ‘are you faking it?’ I’d say: ‘I’m curious about when you feel the most turned on.’” Richmond says. This isn’t as confrontational, but is a nice way to start the conversation so that you can both achieve pleasure.

Ultimately, it’s about mutual respect, listening to your needs and your partner’s — and having bomb sex and finishing When Harry Met Sally while cuddling after.

By Kasandra Brabaw

Most of the time after we finish having sex, my girlfriend and I cuddle in bed. But sometimes, as I lay my head on her shoulder and wrap my arm around her chest, our post-coital cuddle is disturbed when Meredith’s whole body shakes with a fresh wave of pleasure. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, her orgasm“aftershocks” come a couple minutes after the main event is done. Sometimes these mini orgasms — at least, we think they’re mini orgasms — happen when Meredith remembers a particularly hot moment. But sometimes they happen for no reason at all.

As much as I’d like to believe that I have magical sex superpowers that create orgasm aftershocks, many other people experience them. Some studies say that about 15% of women have multiple orgasms, some of which feel like one big orgasm with a few smaller aftershocks. But what are they really? According to Holly Richmond, PhD, a somatic psychologist and certified sex therapist (CST), what some people call “aftershocks” are involuntary muscle contractions that happen after an orgasm — just like an orgasm itself is an involuntary contraction of your pelvic floor muscles. The muscle contractions come from the clitoral legs (did you know a clitoris looks like a turkey’s wishbone?), so that’s why they feel so good — and that’s about as much as science has told us.

“What we’ve studied with aftershocks is: Are they part of the conclusion of the orgasm? Are they the tail end of the orgasm? Or are they themselves a form of multiple orgasm?” Dr. Richmond says. No study has come up with a conclusive answer to those questions, but Dr. Richmond is of the mindset that it doesn’t really matter. Whether you consider these extra waves of pleasure as the tail-end of one super long orgasm or a form of multiple orgasms, in the end it doesn’t matter. Because no matter what they are, they (probably) feel good.

So Dr. Richmond would rather we focus on how aftershocks feel, rather than what they are. “I love research and I love data, but the downside of that is that people can get too in their heads,” she says. Women especially tend to focus too much on what’s happening during sex — or if they’re doing it “right” — rather than how sex feels. “I’m telling my clients all the time to get out of your head and into your body,” Dr. Richmond says. “Thinking too much about exactly what’s happening is not keeping us in our bodies.”

Moral of the story: It doesn’t matter what orgasm “aftershocks” are, as long as they make you feel good.

By Kasandra Brabaw

Temperature play might sound kind of intense, but working hot and cold into your sex life is actually pretty easy. All you need to get started is a bowl of ice or a glass of hot water. But why play with temperature at all? Besides the obviously sexy thought of rolling an ice cube around your lips and then down your partner’s body, what does adding heat or cold to your sex life actually do? It’s all about the psychology of it.

“When temperature play is negotiated and consented to, the brain starts preparing for a sexy and exciting experience, and basically puts nerve endings in the body — erogenous zones, but also everywhere else — on high alert for new sensations,” says Dulcinea Pitagora, a sex therapist known as the Kink Doctor.

Of course, not everyone is going to be interested in temperature play. And if you’re not into it, don’t feel like you have to be, says Holly Richmond, PhD, a somatic psychologist and certified sex therapist (CST). Temperature play can be fun, but not wanting to play with ice or heat doesn’t make you boring in bed. “My husband absolutely detests cold,” Dr. Richmond says. So he wouldn’t find it sexy if she pulled out a bowl full of ice, and that’s totally fine.

If you are intrigued, using cold or heat can be a fun way to mix up your usual sex routine. Pro tip: Consider blindfolding the partner on the receiving end of the temperature play. Restricting their sense of sight can make the feelings of hot and cold more intense.But like many kinks, temperature play can range from harmless to potentially dangerous. So if you’re a beginner, start slowly. You don’t want to dive in with the more edgy forms of temperature play like fire play or branding, Pitagora says. Instead, try the tips listed below.

By Kasandra Brabaw

It’s been almost a year since #MeToo first started trending on Twitter, and the viral hashtag is still spawning off-shoots. Most recently, #HimToo was trending Monday night. But while #MeToo is an empowering hashtag meant to support sexual assault survivors, #HimToo calls their stories into question. The hashtag was used throughout Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing and maybe even before then, but it started trending after a mom used it to explain that her son, a gentleman and USO award-winner who graduated number one in his Navy boot camp class, is terrified to date thanks to the “current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists.”