Turns out your sex-education courses were unsurprisingly lacking.
It was repressed and disjointed and sometimes just plain wrong (to my very religious sex-ed instructor in seventh grade: telling boys they’re still virgins as long as they only ever have sex with their wives is weird). And even in the Internet age, useful information about sex continues to prove difficult to find.
So we welcome O.school with pleasure.
The site was recently launched by Andrea Barrica, a VC/entrepreneur who was raised in a religious household. As she notes, she could never find reliable sexual information online, so she wanted to offer a mainstream web space “between Planned Parenthood and Pornhub” — something both unfiltered and non-judgmental for “all bodies and sexualties.”
Here, the sexual wisdom is dispensed from a variety of “pleasure professionals”: cheeky name aside, these are qualified gynecologists, dating coaches, sex educators and therapists. They offer useful info for adults on general sexual health (penis/vagina anatomy, unwanted pain during sex), along with dispelling commonly-held sexual myths and tackling subjects that should be mandatory for all age groups.
“We generally get less questions about sexual technique, and more questions about communication,” Barrica tells us. “Like, how do I talk to my partner of 15 years about exploring XYZ? Is it normal to like XYZ? We also get basic questions about anatomy and masturbation as part of healing from sexual trauma. We also get a LOT of questions about pubic hair.”
It can be serious. But it can also fun, with tips helpful to all sexualities and proclivities.
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Besides an array of bedroom how-tos, some O.school resources available now:
O.school Originals: Videos with custom animations, listicles and gifs exploring the basics (“Hello Clitoris”) and imparting much-needed knowledge (“Orgasm Gap”).
Live Streams: Scheduled talks on a wide array of topics (“Christianity and Sexuality,” “Buttstravaganza”) where you can ask experts questions and interact with sex-positive people. Replays are also available on demand.
Plus, the site offers a weekly newsletter and a chat option.
Now go out there and show the world what you’ve learned. And keep learning. As Barrica notes: “We want to help people on a life-long journey of exploring and uncovering new dimensions of their sexuality.”
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