Tag: Love

Sex Edition (2022)

The Rise and Fall of the Pill

Words by: Amelia Swan
Art by: Jessica La

“I think you should go on the pill.”

It seemed like an odd thing to say to me at 15. With a curly bob and a generous spread of bulging pimples, I was in the low-risk category for an unplanned teenage pregnancy. But still, here I was watching my GP write me a script for Femme-Tab ED 20/100.That story was the same for my sister a few years later, who was also put on the pill to help with her skin. Then a friend. And then another. It seemed every second girl was on the pill before they left high school, and almost all of us had an alternative reason for being on it rather than preventing pregnancy.

… The Rise and Fall of the Pill
Sex Edition (2022)

Sexual Desire Does Not Expire

Words by: Juliette Capomolla
Art by: Shreya Mishra

I think it’s safe to say that we’d all be horrified if sex wasn’t a part of our futures. The thought that, at the ripe old age of 65, I might no longer be having sex, makes me shudder.  We twentysomethings are expected to be crazed hornbags (sorry, I hate that expression too) and a lot of the time, we sure as hell live up to it. But do we really want to get shacked up, be intimate for mere procreation purposes, create a sex schedule (read: only Wednesday nights at 9pm) and then eventually just never have sex again? Dearest reader, I know our answers are both a firm no. 

… Sexual Desire Does Not Expire
Sex Edition (2022)

Into the Camp: A Journey

Words by: Zayan Ismail
Art by: Therese Dias

Much had changed when the world witnessed the closing of the early noughties. It was an era of anticipation for transformation. On the internet, in music, on television: the zeitgeist  of the 2010s ushered in something different — something reminiscent of love, transformation and yearning for tolerance and acceptance. I saw it first on MTV. Gaga, in a bright blue swimsuit and a blond bob singing ‘Poker Face’. The theatrics of ‘Paparazzi’, and then came ‘The Fame’, in which she coins the famous line “obsessively opposed to the typical”. I saw the outlandish outfits, chiffon and latex, shades and long trains — how camp and how strange. I was thoroughly intrigued. With ‘Born This Way’, I began to realise  my uniqueness and accept that it was in many ways, totally okay. 

… Into the Camp: A Journey
Sex Edition (2022)

The STIs Have It

Words by: Ruby Ellam

There are some things that are way more embarrassing than having an STI. Like shitting your pants twice. Thankfully, Azithromycin, a common antibiotic used to treat chlamydia, exists just to remind us how much worse it can get. Azithromycin causes side effects in about 1 in 100 people including diarrhoea, vomiting and thrush. And like Lady Gaga says, there could be 100 people in the room, but only one (me) will shit their pants after getting chlamydia. 

… The STIs Have It
Sex Edition (2022)

Toxic School Culture: Up in Flames

Words by: Emma Sudano 
Art by: Gabrielle Poh

I remember clearly when the Year 12s of a nearby all-boys school sprawled sexist comments across their school uniforms. Or when boys in my year created a ‘Holy Trinity’ of the ugliest girls at my school. Or nicknamed girls a ‘bike’ based on their weight or looks. I remember when boys I was forced to go to school events with proudly shared a video titled “Jordan Peterson destroys triggered feminist” on social media. For so long, there has been denial of a clear cultural problem in all-boys schools that is obvious from every angle. 

… Toxic School Culture: Up in Flames
Sex Edition (2022)

Fake It ’Til You Make It 

Writer: Surbhi
Artist: Mon Ouk

My first experience with a fake orgasm was watching a moaning Meg Ryan, aka Sally, throwing her head back in a New York deli and chanting “yes, yes, yes!”. The first time I pulled a Sally myself was a few years back, under the expectant gaze of a partner who asked if I had finished after a few minutes of rock ‘n’ roll, and I giggled awkwardly and nodded. 

… Fake It ’Til You Make It 
Sex Edition (2022)

Anatomy Class

Writer: Alice Wright
Artist: Emilia Bajer

When it comes to sex, we all know what feels good. What belongs where for things to *happen*, however we want it done. But is that all we know when it comes to our sexual organs, or our bodies in general? 

Australia is finally playing catch-up on sex education in schools, and we’re starting to learn the ins and outs of our bodies and minds. But I’ve finished school, and a while ago now. I definitely wasn’t taught a lot about my anatomy then — so how and why should I learn it now?

… Anatomy Class
Sex Edition (2022)

The Four Horsemen of the Sexpocalypse

Writer: Lydia Strohfeldt
Artist: Naiya Sornratanachai

I’ve always envisioned the end of the world to be incredibly sexy: me, smoky-eyed and sweaty against an incandescent background, wrapped in the arms of someone resembling Adam Driver. This rugged lover uses their last moments of life to finally admit the clitoris is, in fact, the powerhouse of the orgasmic cell, and not something they saw on PornHub that “worked for their ex”. As I whimsically exhale a super-profound quote from Audre Lorde, an array of erotic catastrophes sprawl across the land: volcanic eruptions, earth-shattering trembles — the whole world collapses into an exhausted abyss. 

… The Four Horsemen of the Sexpocalypse
Sex Edition (2022)

Lights Off, Please

Writer: Angel Tully
Artist: Stephanie Wong

Imagine this: you and your partner are in the moment, you’re kissing, hands are all over the place, the mood is intensifying, you’re both getting hot and sweaty, they pull you on top of them and suddenly a switch flicks… do I look like I have a double chin from this angle? We have all been there, whether it’s a double chin, stomach rolls, an embarrassing sex noise or maybe even the classic case of feeling a bit unco. Feeling self-conscious is natural, but we don’t have to let it get into our heads or stop us from getting and giving head. Here are my top tips for feeling hot in the bedroom, and leaving those insecurities on the floor with the clothes you just took off. 

… Lights Off, Please
Sex Edition (2022)

When Kink Becomes Kinkless

Writer: Victoria Loizides
Artist: Griffin McGrath

It’s about to get saucy. 

So, you’ve made it back to your place, and staggering behind you is your date, so close that even the jimmying of the key in the lock of your front door won’t blur the sound of their heavy breath. You’ve just come back from a pool bar (the universal symbol that almost promises a sexy time). They won twice, and you, once. Sparks fly. 

… When Kink Becomes Kinkless
Sex Edition (2022)

Picking Up the Pieces

Writer: Gabriela Fannia
Artist: Fletcher Aldous

If you’d ask anyone what ‘love’ is, you’ll mostly get positive, cute-yet-cringy definitions of it. But ask someone who just went through a major breakup, and they would give you a whole new set of gut-wrenching definitions of ‘love’. No matter how long, how serious, or how intimate the relationship is, a heartbreak is still a heartbreak. The level of ‘pain’ is (arguably) relative, but that’s not the point here. The point is, it is something we would choose not to go through if we had an option at all. In extreme cases, many don’t believe in love anymore, just as darkness is the absence of light, that solitary feeling after a breakup is the absence of love. 

… Picking Up the Pieces
Sex Edition (2022)

PSA: Vibrators are in, and so is loving yourself 

Writer: Marla Sommer
Artist: Rini Pradhan

Once, I saw this TikTok that summed up some desires we all feel at one point or another. It made me realise that many of us are in the same position. That position, my friend, is not the infamous 69 or the fabled “committed relationship” — it’s the single life. But all of this shouldn’t matter because what you don’t see is the sheer power every individual has to live out this desire for themselves. And it has a name: 

M-a-s-t-u-r-b-a-t-i-o-n. 

… PSA: Vibrators are in, and so is loving yourself 
2021 Edition

A Rainbow Façade

Words by: Simone Kealy

When I scroll through Instagram and TikTok during pride month and see all the ads from companies, changing their logos to rainbow, I cannot help but cringe. When I was younger and did not know better, I thought companies acknowledging the queer community was a step in the right direction. Surely it was, especially after decades, even centuries, of discrimination against the LGBTIQ+ community perpetuated by companies and society alike. Little did I realise the insidious nature of businesses donning the rainbow colours of the pride flag. Now, it makes my blood boil.

… A Rainbow Façade
2021 Edition

Sliding Doors 

Words by: Dilshi Perera 
Art by: Mei Li Tan

I remember laying in my bed one Sunday evening, in a cloud of nostalgia and feels after I stumbled across the latest Tiktok trend — the one where people look into the camera and name a certain phrase or habit that they do because somebody in their life, present or past, once did it. Not only was this the most poetic, heart-warming and wholesome content I had ever witnessed on the platform (and I may or may not have shed a few tears), but it really brings you back to the simple things in life.

… Sliding Doors 
2021 Edition

Bennifer

Words by: Alice Wright
Art by: Marissa Hor

You definitely did not hear it here first: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez (Bennifer) are back together. The ‘it’ couple of the early 2000s have found their way back into each other’s arms and it’s all pop culture fanatics, like myself, can talk about. 

… Bennifer
Uncategorized

Who is That Girl?

Words by: Maya
Art by: Jessica La

There’s a new trend going around, and if you’re addicted to TikTok like me, you’ve probably seen at least one video about becoming “that girl”. Basically, it’s where influencers — generally White, skinny girls — make TikToks about becoming the best version of themselves by sharing aesthetically pleasing moments from their day. This often includes a 5am wakeup to watch the sunrise, followed by morning meditation, a perfect piece of avocado toast, a 5km run and a green juice smoothie — all before 10am. For some, this might seem like a perfectly harmless trend designed to improve your life, but for others, it can be incredibly toxic. 

… Who is That Girl?