Sexual Health Alliance

1 In 5 Women Can Do It Hands-Free! 🧠

There’s a name for it: syntribation.

Syntribation involves intentionally contracting muscles in the core, pelvis, or thighs to create s//xual aro//sal (and for some people, climax) without direct gen/tal touch.

Despite receiving relatively little attention in modern s//xuality research, a large U.S. study suggests it may be far more common than many realize. Among 3,423 adults surveyed, about 20% of women and 15% of men reported practicing syntribation within the previous month.

But one of the most interesting findings wasn’t simply how many people did it. Many participants who reported syntribation didn’t identify what they were doing as mast//rbation when asked broader questions.

That points to a bigger challenge in s//xuality research: the words researchers use can shape the behaviors people report.

If one person interprets “self-pleasure” as gen/tal touch while another includes fantasy, erot/c media, muscle contractions, or partnered stimulation, a single survey question may be measuring very different experiences across different people.

Human s//xuality rarely fits neatly into one definition, and research becomes more useful when our questions make room for that complexity.

Want to deepen your understanding of s//xuality and turn that curiosity into professional training? take our 30-second "QUIZ" to learn which SHA Certification is right for YOU!

3,500-Year-Old Skeletons Just Complicated The History Of Syphilis 🦴

For decades, evidence that an ancient infection passed from mother to child has been treated as a strong clue for congenital syphilis. But skeletal remains from Vietnam suggest that clue may not be as definitive as researchers once thought.

Scientists examined 309 individuals from 16 archaeological sites and identified three young people, dating back at least 3,500 years, with dental and skeletal abnormalities consistent with congenital treponematosis.

The important distinction: treponematosis isn’t synonymous with syphilis. It includes several related diseases, including venereal syphilis, yaws, and endemic syphilis, which can leave similar traces in bones and teeth.
In this case, the broader archaeological pattern pointed more closely toward a non-venereal treponemal disease such as yaws—even though the young individuals also showed evidence consistent with transmission from mother to child.

If diseases like yaws could also be transmitted congenitally, then congenital infection alone may not be the “smoking gun” for ancient syphilis that researchers once assumed.

That doesn’t rewrite the history of syphilis overnight. It does remind us that reconstructing the history of disease often means working with imperfect clues—and being willing to reconsider what those clues actually tell us.

Curious where deeper study of s//xual health could take your work? Take our 30-second QUIZ to learn which SHA Certification fits you.

Men May Think About Submission More Positively Than We Assume

S//xual desire doesn’t always follow the roles people are taught to expect.

In a study of 1,400 adults in Spain, researchers examined thoughts involving dominance and submission—not only how often they occurred, but whether participants experienced those thoughts as pleasurable or unwanted.

Men reported pleasurable submissive thoughts more frequently than women, even while also reporting more positive thoughts involving dominance. Thoughts of submission also showed a stronger association with men’s self-reported aro//sal than women’s.

That complicates the familiar stereotype that men naturally want control while women naturally want to surrender it.

One possible explanation proposed by the researchers is that fantasy can create space outside traditional gender expectations. Men are often expected to remain assertive, strong, and in control; imagining submission may offer a private context where those expectations temporarily fall away.

None of this means we can predict what an individual wants based on gender. It suggests the opposite: private desire can be far more varied than traditional scripts allow.

Men’s s//xual health is about more than performance. It also means making room for desire, fantasy, pleasure, and the freedom to understand what someone actually enjoys.

Want to explore male s//xual health beyond the usual conversations? Get this 76-page "MALE" S//xual Health & Functioning Guide today!

Are More People Staying With Someone They Don’t Actually Love?

“Settling” in a relationship is a loaded idea, and a recent survey found that about 1 in 3 U.S. adults believed they had settled for their current partner.

But that number doesn’t tell us why someone stays, whether they’re unhappy, or whether love is absent.

Relationship research paints a much more complicated picture. People can simultaneously have meaningful reasons to stay and meaningful reasons to leave. Satisfaction matters, but so can emotional intimacy, commitment, fear of being alone, concern for a partner, perceived alternatives, and everything already invested in a shared life.

As relationships become more intertwined through routines, finances, housing, family, pets, and social networks, leaving can also become increasingly complicated. Continuing a relationship and actively choosing it aren’t necessarily the same thing.

So rather than asking only, “Do they love their partner?” it may be more useful to ask what combination of attachment, investment, satisfaction, responsibility, fear, and care is shaping the decision to stay.

Interested in understanding relationships, intimacy, and human s//xuality at a deeper level? Take our 30-second QUIZ to help you discover which SHA certification path may fit your goals.

Why Do Some People Like Being Watched

For some people, being watched can add an entirely different layer to intimacy.

In consensual adult contexts, exhibitionism can involve ar//sal connected to being seen, displaying yourself, or being observed during intimate activity. The appeal can come from heightened attention, validation, vulnerability, performance, or simply the thrill of doing something that normally feels private.

And sometimes, the fantasy is the point. Someone can find the idea of having an audience exciting without ever wanting to make it a reality. Fantasies can tell us something about what captures our attention without becoming instructions for what we need to do.

What matters is the distinction between consensual exploration and nonconsensual exposure. Everyone involved, including anyone watching, needs to understand what is happening and willingly agree to participate.

Curious about your own wants, boundaries, or fantasies? Our Yes/No/Maybe "CHECKLIST" is a practical tool for exploring intimacy and new experiences through better communication.