Advice / Education

Kinkly.com is a webzine/newsletter/advice site that, as the title might imply, goes beyond the standard missionary position sex. It's kind of like Yahoo's "Shine", only for sex. The articles are written by a consortium of sexuality educators and authors. It's very definitely geared towards the average Jane, with articles like "5 Books to Make You Forget 50 Shades of Gray" and "Would You Buy Your Teenage Daughter a Vibrator?" Still, in browsing through the articles the advice is open-minded and sound, and definitely varied. Where else can you find a DIY how-to on building your own sex furniture, a recipe for sexy gingerbread cookies, and a sex terminology guide that rivals the Urban Dictionary? Love where they are going with this, and the content is updated constantly.

Date Reviewed: 2013-05-22
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Sexuality Info, webzines

Ruby Ryder is the author at this website, and she really loves pegging. Her enthusiasm for the subject is infectious, I found myself thinking about broaching the subject with my partner. The website is mostly text-based, although you do find an occasional photo. When I visited, there were four free stories written by Ms. Ryder, along with a F.A.Q. about the subject, and some helpful advice for those new to pegging, or who are just thinking about it, in how to communicate with their partner about this taboo practice. The stories were well-written and arousing, with varying levels of power play. There were also a couple of mp3 files of her reading her stories that were free to download. If you love her writing and want more, you can pay for the rest of her stories. $15 buys you a story a month for one year, with access to 3 stories at any given time, $25 buys you a story a month for a year with access to six stories at a time, and $50 gets you access to all the stories she's written, currently standing at 26. There is also info on the site about pegging classes Ruby has taught, so look there in case there are upcoming classes.

Date Reviewed: 2013-05-01
Cost: Mostly free, pay options Advertising Content: None
Category Listings: Advice / Education, mainstream erotica

Reid Mihalko is a California-based sex-educator and lifestyle coach and self-described "Sex and Relationship Role Model". I had the pleasure of meeting Reid and seeing him present at a conference in early 2012, and his style is absolutely engaging, funny, and accessible. He travels quite a lot, so if you visit his site you'll find a calendar with where you can find him next. From college groups to sex-ed conferences to tantric sex retreats, Reid is very involved in his mission, the #1 tenant of which is "Creating more self-esteem, self-confidence and sexual health for adults in and out of the bedroom." The website has descriptions of lectures, podcasts of interviews Reid has done, a section of recommended reading. Most of his seminars are webcast, so if you can't attend in person you can pay to view the webcast live and to re-watch it for 30 days after. The site has a ton of information to browse through, although most of the free articles were to be found only by clicking different topics in a tag cloud in the navigation menu.

Date Reviewed: 2012-11-29
Cost: Free
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Safer Sex Info, Sexuality Info, Tantra

If you are looking for a good old fashioned web forum to discuss swinging, then this is a wonderful choice! This is an incredibly active forum that discusses topics such as curiosity about swinging, situational help, swinging experiences, how to find folks online, STD/safer sex info, national swinging events lists, relationship issues, and more. A lot of the forum is public, so you can read without becoming a member. The design is uncluttered and simple. A really lovely place to hang out and learn from other swingers! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2012-11-27
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Safer Sex Info, Sexuality Info

Lady Grinning Soul is a surprising, sexy, and transgressive writer that has a lot of free content for the discerning lover of erotica. The stories here are pretty inventive and can go to fairly dark corners of the imagination (like zombie erotica in which someone is devoured). Frankly, I loved it! Some of her work is illustrated with original images, which I personally found super hot. She has one piece about menstruation that I found myself writhing in my seat over...absolutely beautiful! In addition to her self-labeled "smut", she also has plenty of other things available. She has a blog, sex toy reviews, poetry, and articles about sex and society. If you enjoy podcasts, she has one that you can subscribe to through iTunes. There is also a free gallery of nude images that is quirky, unusual, and sensual. When I visited, it appeared that she was planning an advice section (although she lists her credentials as simply being someone who reads other advice columnists). There were no letters in this section when I looked. I have to say that I really enjoyed the intimate and creative energy of this site, and I wanted to spend a whole lot longer here reading these unusual stories. I absolutely adore her imagination! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2012-04-06
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, alternative / sci-fi erotica, Blogs / Journals - Sex, mainstream erotica, Other Web Review sites

This blog had me at the title. I don't know who is writing this, as there is little information about the author. I do know that I like the stuff being posted here. You'll find journal entries about things to discuss before having sex, creating a more "lover friendly" space in your home, flirting with geeks, understanding jealousy, and how to deal with a partner that keeps changing their mind. The blog doesn't have a lot of content, but the content that it does have is pretty fun and solid. I really love that if it discusses concepts from a book, it cites the book at the end of the entry. Bravo! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2012-03-16
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Blogs / Journals - Sex, Sexuality Info

This podcast is hosted by Fetish Photographer Dirk Hooper and Professional Dominatrix Princess Zoe. It covers BDSM lifestyle, fetish events, kinky art, adult reviews, and much more. They also interview interesting personalities like the founder of Skin Two and porn star Buck Angel. You can subscribe via iTunes, or surf their archive online. The organization of the site is pretty nifty, with brief blurbs about the subject matter and links to news articles that they discuss. There is also a nice review and photography section! I found the podcast to be a lot of fun. - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2012-03-16
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Internet Radio Podcasts, Other Web Review sites, Sexuality Info

Lilly is a gorgeous curvy femme that self-identifies as a pansexual queer. Her blog is a cool mixture of toy reviews, advice, photos, real life experiences, and erotic fiction. The entries are well written, and usually center around sexuality and blogging. I especially recommend her "Sex Toy Care and Cleaning Guide", as it is particularly succinct and helpful. She has a very upfront disclosure on her site, which I personally appreciate, and she doesn't simply love all of the toys she reviews. I liked that, and I took her reviews a lot more seriously. Creative, savvy, and sexy! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2012-01-08
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Blogs / Journals - Sex, mainstream erotica

This is a blog by Master Michael Samadhi and his slave/wife Serafina. It is still relatively young, but I felt that the level of conversation and original pictures really warranted a review. The couple enjoys Tantra and BDSM, and they definitely communicate about their lives in a very real (and sometimes quite raw and vulnerable) way. They have BDSM and kink articles about things like Darlex and Hepatitis. Michael shares assignments that he has written for his partner. The review section is a breath of fresh air, since it deals with things like collars and EMT scissors. I didn't see any standard "sex toy" reviews, but loved reading over scene music recommendations and experiences with hemp rope suppliers. Here is a sample of the sort of thing you'll read from Michael: "If a slave is somebody who has been totally devalued, I'd not want to command them, I'd want to shelter and protect them until they felt valued and human. My style of domination isn't depersonalizing, in fact quite the opposite, it's expressed by continually pushing for growth, empowerment, and enlightenment within the rituals and devotions of submission." I don't know about you, but I find that pretty darn hot. A nice start to a thoughtful and interesting blog! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-12-22
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, BDSM Resources, Blogs / Journals - BDSM Dominant, Blogs / Journals - BDSM Submissive, Blogs / Journals - Couples, Blogs / Journals - Sex, D / S, Safer Sex Info, Sexuality Info, Tantra

Bebe St. Croix self-describes as a "sex coach" and offers advice about sex to those that write to her. This blog style advice/erotica site features articles on how women may be more sexy to men, how to give oral sex to a man, why men like mail order brides, and such. There are also a few pieces of erotic fiction about a character named "Victoria". The stories are of medium length and fit well within the idea of mainstream erotica. They are definitely worth a read! The advice and sex coaching services? Well, there is no information given about Ms. St. Croix's education or background as a coach. So, I find the whole idea highly suspect. The advice doled out on the site is often the propagation of hegemonic heterosexual roles as often spoon fed to us in western media. Wear the highest heels? Grow your hair long? Be submissive? Remember to swallow? All men want oral sex? This advice is sometimes dangerous (as in the case of promoting unsafe sexual practices), and is at best not particularly educational. Please understand that all of these types of sexual expression and preference are valid to think/feel/pursue in consensual relationships, but promoting them as educational materials distributed by a professional is not acceptable. An example? Even a paraprofessional counselor should be able to understand what is problematic about telling people that an intrinsic part of a person's gender identity is the acceptance of a certain type of sexual act. Our gender is not defined by the sex we must accept or enjoy. Period. So, I recommend this site to story hunters, but not so much for information seekers. - Vamp » More Info!

Date Reviewed: 2011-12-07
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, mainstream erotica, Sexuality Info

This site is still pretty young, but it looks promising! It is a webzine written by Katie, who is a self-described queer woman from the UK. She says that she started the site out of, "...[A] desire for more blogs based in the UK, discussing sexual politics and reviewing toys and events for 'grown-ups' which can be found on our fair isles, such that we don’t need to sell our limbs to pay for the shipping costs or air fares." The site discusses politics, gender, identity issues (including body image), and kink. There is a nifty DIY (do it yourself) kink area that explains how to make your own rubber flogger from bicycle inner tubes, and I'll enjoy seeing more projects added here in the future. There is also a review section that currently has a couple of toy, event, and movie reviews. I hope this place really picks up steam, as it looks like it could be really good with just a bit more content! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-10-26
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Other Web Review sites, Sexuality Info, webzines

The Sexperience website (from the Sex Education Show on Channel 4 in the UK) is a fabulous educational site based on shared personal experiences! You can look at the interactive Sexperience 1000 survey, which is the data from 1000 UK citizens who were asked about their sexual experiences and health. The graphics used to explain the data are brilliant, and allow for you to visually sort by things like gender or age. You can also decide to follow a specific responder, looking at all of their answers individually. The rest of the site has videos on topics such as orgasm, STIs, and pregnancy. The content is fairly pansexual, so if you search for videos about body confidence you'll get a mixture of gay and heterosexual responses. An excellent resource for folks wanting to hear personal stories about sexuality! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-09-14
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Safer Sex Info, Sexuality Info, Streaming Video, Uncategorizable

Skin Two started out in a cellar in Soho, London in 1983. It has grown through the years to become a legend of fetish fashion and style, and the organizer of one of the most famous fetish events in the world the "Skin Two Rubber Ball Weekend". This site is the online version of their magazine, and offers lots of free (fiction and nonfiction) writing as well as tons of art. There is also a forum that allows you to network with other readers and discuss things like clubs and BDSM. Some famous bloggers such as Patrick Califia can also be found here. There are plenty of links to places that sell their clothing line, movies, and give info about upcoming events as well. A lot of free content from a legend in the business! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-09-13
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, alternative / sci-fi erotica, BDSM Art, BDSM Fiction, BDSM Resources, Blogs / Journals - Sex, Books / Zines, Latex / PVC / Rubber, Sexuality Info

One of my favorite sex toy stores is Babeland, so I was delighted to discover that a bunch of the mothers who work for the infamously sex positive and women-friendly boutique had gotten together to start a blog about love, sex, and parenting. There are about ten writers here at the moment, and you can search the entries by listed topics. The blog also covers in store events that are relevant to pregnant women (such as classes on sex during and after pregnancy). The blog is fairly new, but there is already quite a bit here. The owners of Babeland (Rachel Venning and Claire Cavanah) are both contributing authors. - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-09-01
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Blogs / Journals - Sex, Safer Sex Info, Sexuality Info

Are you curious about swinging? Are you part of a couple that swings, and you've hit a snag? Do you wish you could talk to a couple of experienced swingers about it? Great! This site is a free advice and opinion blog written by Miranda and Aarron, a couple with a lot of experience that they'd love to share with others. The content is nicely organized, and there is a search function. These folks don't claim to be medical or psychological experts, but they are a couple who have navigated swinging together and found solutions to issues. I found the direct and honest answers here very refreshing, and enjoyed reading things from both of their perspectives. Well done! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-08-10
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Blogs / Journals - Couples, Sexuality Info

Respectful, loving, joyful, smart, charming, and sexy! This site is still extremely young, but I love the direction that it is going. I always think that the best porn is the stuff that I watch and then wish that I could participate in, and this site definitely struck me that way. The two stars are Maggie and Ned Mayhem, which you may have heard of before. Maggie self-identifies as a queer kinky switch that has worked with really cool folks like Two Knotty Boys and Kink.com. She has also been involved in a lot of sex positive work, such as HIV testing and counseling. Ned has worked with folks like Kink.com as well, and runs an an open source science project measuring physiological responses to arousal and orgasm. He is also a PhD candidate in experimental physics at UC Berkeley. This site is free to read and look over, and it acts as a transparent preview for the paid content. You can register here for free, and then purchase individual movies or photo sets (which typically run around $3). You can also decided to be a big spender (the better deal), and get the whole shebang for $8/month. At the moment, if you pay for all the content available there is a small handful of streaming and downloadable (mp4) movies that run about ten minutes long. There is also a picture gallery of Maggie that is available in high resolution and zipped. Mixed in with their own content, they do have blog entries about work that they are doing with other sites (most of which will allow you to purchase their particular movie or gallery separately). I wasn't totally wild about it being mixed in with their other content, but it was plainly labeled and nice to see where I could find more content with these stars if I wanted. In addition to the homemade porn showing things like strap-on sex and Ned using a vibrator on his cock while getting a handjob from Maggie, you'll also find the ultra cool Encyclopedia Mayhem. It includes tutorials on things like how to be a cis-gendered woman and pee standing up and how to construct a hitachi wand rope harness. There are also interviews, stories, behind the scenes info, event reports, and even really personal home video of vacations. I'm incredibly excited about this section of their site, because I felt that it was a bit like getting to know them. If you are looking for toy reviews that include demonstrations, then this site may do that soon. At the moment they only have one real review, but it is graphic and wonderful. There is a live show area that broadcasts using skinvideo cams, and they apparently announce live shows via twitter. There is no schedule posted. There are links to a forum (that is currently too new to have much content), and a free tumblr blog of photos and movies. Ned and Maggie say that they want to make, "...[P]orn that could get people off without perpetuating racism or homophobia – porn that shows the world that making sexy videos is not synonymous with exploitation." I think that they are managing that, and I can't wait to see what this place looks like in a year! An exciting new project, and well worth the time to check out. - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-08-04
Cost: See Above Advertising Content: Medium (see above)
Category Listings: Advice / Education, BDSM / Fetish Video, Blogs / Journals - Couples, D / S, Downloadable Video, Female Bondage, Female Domination, Sex Positive Goddesses, Sexuality Info, Streaming Video

The fact that we haven't posted this review sooner is a testament to the size of the Jane's Guide queue. Sarah Sloane is one of the east coast's top BDSM, Sexuality, and Relationship educators. She has taught hundreds of classes, writes a "Dear Sarah" column, blogs for MyPleasure, is featured in SexIs Magazine, and is the Contributing Editor for Tristan Taormino's newsletter The Double T. This site is primarily a personal blog, but it also lists the classes that she currently teaches (along with a description of what to expect from each of them). There are also links to media interviews, podcasts, and some of her free online writing such as "10 Things You Didn't Know About the Prostate." If you aren't already familiar with Sarah, this is a great crash course. I think you'll particularly appreciate her materials if you are interested in polyamory and BDSM. - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-08-02
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, BDSM Resources, Blogs / Journals - Sex, D / S, Sado-masochism (S/M), Sex Positive Goddesses, Sexuality Info

This is a great little site for those interested in swinging, polyamory, open relationships, and such. There is a library of articles such as "Poly Living- Children and Living Arrangements for the Polyamorous" and "Nervous Newbies- Playing with Brand New Swingers." There is also a fair share of humor, advice, and fiction. One of the things that really makes this place shine, however, is the podcast. There are currently around 30 episodes available on various topics, and they are very well done. When I visited, I listened in on an interview with Tristan Taormino that was pretty nifty! There is a very small (and honest) review section, and a list of Kasidie's swinger parties as well. I liked the energy here, which seemed to really be a lot about fun (and not so much about politics). Definitely recommended, and 100% free! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-08-02
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Internet Radio Podcasts, Other Web Review sites, Sexuality Info

Dr. Ruth Neustifter (or "Dr. Ruthie") is a published author, presenter, activist, university instructor, and relationship coach. She holds a doctoral degree in Child & Family Development with specializations in Couples and Family Therapy and Qualitative Research. So, she really knows her stuff. This site consists of a blog that discusses various sexuality issues, such as "Pussy Cosmetics and Vagina Myths". She also posts video blogs like the highly instructional "How-To Video: Loving Your G-Spot". I found these videos to be very well done! They are educational without being overly technical or clinical. There are also some video reviews of products that are supplied by places like Babeland. Those reviews seemed pretty thorough, and I appreciated that she pointed out things like glycerin content and latex friendliness. There are some really nice free pdf files available in the resource section that deal with vibes, lubes, anal toys, fantasy development, and coaching. She also does relationship coaching consultations over the phone or skype, and runs a group for sex-positive professionals as well. A great resource for responsible sexual health and sensuality information! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-06-02
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Blogs / Journals - Sex, Other Web Review sites, Safer Sex Info, Sex Positive Goddesses, Sexuality Info, Streaming Video

If we had a "Sex Positive God" category, then this man would be in it! He holds a doctorate in Adult Sexuality Education, and is also certified as a Sexuality Educator by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists. As a trained sexologist he currently oversees all of the Good Vibrations sex education projects, gives tons of workshops, and offers personal consultations (at his physical location of San Francisco or over the phone). His website serves primarily as a blog in which he discusses human sexuality, and how it overlaps with other tricky bits of socially constructed experience such as race and gender. So, you won't see a bunch of remedial essays describing what a penis is or how to give a blow job. What you will get a lot of are great little gems like "STIs Don't Make You Dirty" and "Sexwork is to Trafficking as Sex is to Rape". If you are looking for something beyond how-to articles, then you will be immensely pleased by the level of academic discourse here. A wonderful resource, and a great read! - Vamp

Date Reviewed: 2011-05-15
Cost: Free Advertising Content: Low
Category Listings: Advice / Education, Blogs / Journals - Sex, Safer Sex Info, Sex Work Info, Sexuality Info