Sex With Emily - How to Explore Your Sexual Fantasies Without Shame | ft. Sexologist Carol Queen

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

Join the SmartSX Membership : https://sexwithemily.com/smartsx Access exclusive sex coaching, live expert sessions, community building, and tools to enhance your pleasure and relationships with Dr. E...mily Morse. List & Other Sex With Emily Guides: https://sexwithemily.com/guides/ Explore pleasure, deepen connections, and enhance intimacy using these Sex With Emily downloadable guides. SHOP WITH EMILY!: https://bit.ly/3rNSNcZ (free shipping on orders over $99) Want more? Visit the Sex With Emily Website: https://sexwithemily.com/ In this enlightening episode of Sex with Emily, Dr. Emily reunites with the legendary Carol Queen, sexologist, author, and co-founder of the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco. Carol, who's been Good Vibrations' staff sexologist for over 30 years and has been speaking publicly about sexuality for 50 years, returns for an essential conversation about revitalizing routine sex, navigating physical challenges in intimacy, and finding your sexual community. This episode tackles everything from making masturbation part of your self-care routine to creative solutions for mobility challenges in the bedroom. Carol breaks down how sexual discourse has evolved from underground feminist publications to mainstream media, while emphasizing that there's no "normal" sex life everyone must follow. We explore practical techniques for spicing up routine encounters and dive into the importance of finding consensual spaces for all types of sexual expression. We take listener calls from Jess, who wants to elevate his hookup routine with temperature play and atmosphere, Tommy, who's seeking advice on approaching older women, Jake, who's looking for safe spaces to explore exhibitionist fantasies, and John, whose wife's knee problems require creative positioning solutions. Carol's decades of experience shine through as she emphasizes that variety and difference make sexuality beautiful, not something to be ashamed of or conform to arbitrary standards. 0:00 - Introduction 1:20 - Caller Question: Spicing Up Gay Male Hookups & Avoiding Boredom 7:13 - Dating Older Women: How to Start Conversations & Build Confidence 10:05 - Preventing Recurring UTIs: Practical Tips & Product Recommendations 13:45 - Interview with Sexologist Carol Queen: 50 Years of Sexual Liberation 16:15 - How Sexual Discourse Has Changed: From Underground to Mainstream 20:32 - The History of "Pegging" & Educational Porn vs Entertainment 31:14 - Sex Positions for Physical Challenges: Knee Problems & Alternatives 41:03 - Quick Fire Questions with Carol Queen

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Because it's self-care. If we don't think in terms of masturbation is self-care already, I bet a bunch of people have had their minds changed or blown or opened up this year because there's stress everywhere. You're listening to Sex with Emily. I'm Dr. Emily, and I'm here to help you prioritize your pleasure and liberate the conversation around sex. Today, I'm talking with the incredible Carol Queen, author, sexologist, and co-founder of the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco. Carol's been speaking publicly about sexuality for 50 years and has been the staff sexologist at Good Vibrations since 1990. She was actually on one of my very first
Starting point is 00:00:39 podcasts, so having her back feels like coming full circle. We're covering everything from spicing up your sex life when things get routine to navigating physical challenges in the bedroom. Carol and I take calls about dating older women, making oral sex exciting again and dealing with recurring UTIs. We also dive deep into exhibitionist fantasies, sex parties, sex parties, and finding your people in consensual spaces. My intention is to bring you wisdom from someone who's been liberating sexual conversations for decades, reminding you that there's no such thing as a normal sex life you have to follow. Variety and difference are what makes sexuality beautiful.
Starting point is 00:01:16 All right, let's dive in. Let's talk to you just in California. Emily, how are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you? What's going on? My name is Jeff, actually. I talk kind of fast sometimes.
Starting point is 00:01:31 I'm a gay male. Okay. And during this COVID, and actually before the COVID, I had this thing where I liked to, like, suck dick, you know? Yeah. Okay. Makes sense. On brand. The guys like it.
Starting point is 00:01:43 And so I have, like, but I'm getting kind of carried away lately with COVID because I'm like, I have a house by myself. Now, I'm going to gay men have a house and a car and a job. And so I need some help because they come over like two or three times. And I start to get bored. Spice it up a little bit. I need some input. What can I do? Wow. What are you saying? You want to spice up your blow jobs? Well, yeah. I have these guys. There's like five two or three that come up all the time, like consistently. We have sex. We hook up. And it gets more. I get bored easy. Okay. Well, I've got some, I mean, you've come to the right place. Let's make them interesting. Let's make sex interesting. I mean, here's the thing. We all know how to give a blow job, not all of us, but many of us know how to give blow jobs. But you're right, why we keep doing the same things over and over again. So have you ever done anything with like temperature play. Have you ever like used a blindfold on one of them they come in? You blindfold them because when you take away one sense with a blindfold, everything else becomes more heightened. And then you can have like a bowl of ice by the bed. You can have an ice cube in your mouth. And then you could take the ice cube and like drip it over. their body. And, you know, when you put his penis in your mouth, your mouth will be cold.
Starting point is 00:02:46 Then there's some incredible warming lubs that we have. There's one by X-Sens. They make some great, it's like temperature. What I'm talking about is like temperature play. Playing with like warming or cooling products. You could also do teasing. You could use a toy. Have you ever used a toy or a cockering? I love cock rings, girl. We love those. Yes. I love cockerings. Is it rolling? Yeah. They're the best. To buy a The vibrating ones are spectacular. Yes. Is they wrong to ask someone, like, say a guy comes over?
Starting point is 00:03:17 And I feel bad, but if I tell, you know, some guys have a little aroma. I'm not going to lie. You know, women do too. But if it gets here and I meet him for the first time, I'm like, hey, buddy, jump in the shower. Is that rude? Well, okay. Hygiene is such an interesting question because this is something that, how do you do it? We all, it's awkward.
Starting point is 00:03:36 We all know what it is. I think that we all know what it means, right? You're like, hey, buddy, jump in the shower. I'll be like, oh, shit. But I think you would say, want to shower. You could say, hey, I haven't showered yet, want to shower together. Because then you guarantee that you're both clean going into it. But it is a little bit awkward.
Starting point is 00:03:53 But I think you also have to be honest. I mean, I think that, especially now with COVID, you could use a COVID excuse. I think you need you to shower. Yeah, but I do think that that's just sort of, you know, one of the best ways I found is like, maybe we should shower first or let shower together or I think it's the way you say it. you could even like kind of like instead of like take a shower you know you could just say like my profile is that okay if I put up my profile online yes yes you could say let's shower together and have a cocktail like let's shower together and hang out do you have a great shower in your in your fancy house I mean you could say like let's shower you could even after the shower what would
Starting point is 00:04:32 be fun is if you shower together you got the candles going and then you could use some like of this warming oil, and then you could, like, lie them down. You could give them a massage, put it all over their body. You know, you could make that part of the ritual, because... Extends. It's E-X-S-E-N-S, and they have this, oh, my God, they had this raspberry-flavored lube that is going to blow your mind, and I never thought I need raspberry lube, but they sent it to me, I'm like, oh, raspberry, it is friggin delicious. They also have eight different, I think it's like eight or nine different flavor, because
Starting point is 00:05:06 they kept pulling them out of the box. I was like, they have coconut oil. They have avocado flavor. They have pinocalada. But they smell amazing and they warm. So here's a cool thing. They're not really oils. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:05:17 I'm just sort of obsessed with that. So they smell great and then you put them in your hands. And so you could also use them as a lube, but they turn into an oily substance, but they don't stain your sheets. Do you know what I mean? Like it's an oil, but not an oil. All I'm telling you is massage is so underrated.
Starting point is 00:05:32 And then if you get something that could kind of make it fun, like oil up his body. and then use a vibrator, right, teasing them. You don't, and a vibrating cock ring doesn't just have to be on the cock, if you will. You could use it all over their body, right? You could tease them. You could kiss them. It's just play with them.
Starting point is 00:05:50 While you're wearing it while you're wearing it. Yes. While you're wearing it, just holding it in your hand. No, well, yes. You could tease it while you're wearing it as well. You could, but you can also just use it your hand and like use it on down their back. Use it all over, like literally tease them with it in your hand and just drag it all over their body. with the oil, with a blindfold.
Starting point is 00:06:11 You could do prostate play. Do you ever do any prostate play? Absolutely. Yeah, there you go, fingers and hands free. Yeah, I mean, do, listen, you know all the things. I think a lot of this stuff about spicing it up or keeping it interesting is atmosphere. And just doing one thing different. And that could be showering together.
Starting point is 00:06:30 It could be a new toy. It could be just something smelling amazing when they come into the room. The bed's made. It's a different location. I love the Vector by Leva. There's a knock on my door right now, believe it or not. Oh, my God, go. Let me know how it goes.
Starting point is 00:06:46 Do you think it's them? Have fun. Now you're, yeah. Yeah, you got it, girl. Thank you. Okay. Of course, I'm here for you, Jeff. Amazing.
Starting point is 00:06:54 All right, I think we all have to spice it up right now. Am I right? Listen, he's just seeing someone three times a week. Jeff's seeing someone and it gets a little dull. How is the sex in your relationship right now? We'll be right back. Okay, we have a question from Tommy 32 in Michigan. I would like to have sex with older women, but don't know how to go about talking with them.
Starting point is 00:07:23 So much easier these days. Just start talking them. That's how all great relationships start, Tommy. If you find someone that you're interested in, I think you strike up a conversation. What's your intent for wanting to have sex with an older woman? Is it to get experience? Are you looking for a relationship? A lot of us just, we are not clear
Starting point is 00:07:42 what we actually want from relationships. And I don't think that finding someone to have sex with or to date is any different than if she was your age or she wasn't your age. It's the practice of communicating. I think a lot of us think it's like this whole secret, like what do I do? What do I say? And I think the more planned we are,
Starting point is 00:08:00 we try to think about like, what's my pickup line? And what are we going to say? It's like, be yourself and just strike up a conversation. see where someone's at. And if you've never done this before, and I have this sense that people, you know, who kind of grew up with cell phones and kind of being on their phones and being on laptops, it's less comfortable, perhaps, to actually approach someone and to initiate a conversation. But it is a practice, and the more you practice it, the easier it'll get. And my suggestion for everybody who is looking to date someone right now who's single is to, it is National Singles Day. is to practice just talking to people when you're out. Even people you don't want to sleep with. Just conversation, having it. I mean, the people are really good at conversations
Starting point is 00:08:47 typically had a life where they were, maybe they were in a family where they're always talking, or they were in a job where they always had to communicate, and they had practice, right? We don't come out of the womb being excellent communicators. But it sort of takes some of the fear out of it when you just kind of practice talking to people that you don't even find attractive.
Starting point is 00:09:02 You just kind of work there to say, notice something, And a great tip for talking to people. Observe something in the room that's commonality and then ask a questions. So if you're like standing at the coffee shop, Tommy, you see a woman that you're interested or, you know, you could just say, oh, wow, look, they got the pumpkin spice back. Latte's here. I love them. Have you had the pumpkin spice latte?
Starting point is 00:09:25 I mean, that's just kind of like, observe something going on the room, ask a question. You could even observe and say, I love them. I've been kind down the days. Are you into, what are you going to get? I mean, it's really just that. Like, that's your commonality. You're in line. You're waiting to have coffee.
Starting point is 00:09:39 And you ask a question. And you engage. It's all practice. And it's all, like, letting go of fears. And you know how you get rid of fears is you just kind of move through it? Try the things that you think you can't do. Because if we're not growing in life,
Starting point is 00:09:54 if we're not, like, challenging ourselves and growing and trying new things, we're dying. It's true. Can't think of a better way to say it. We got a few questions. you know I love trends and questions and emails. We've got a few of these today, so I'm just going to, let's cover it all. Madison says, hey, Dr. Emily, I seem to get a lot of UTIs, urinary tract infections.
Starting point is 00:10:15 Any tips on how to prevent from getting them? So this is a really common question and a common recurrence for so many women who just get UTIs over and over again and we just don't know why. There are a few things that you can do to avoid this because really it's, It's essentially when bacteria finds their way into the urinary tract. That's how you get a UTI. And then once the bacteria gets into the urethra, it travels up the tract and then it can multiply. And then you get this like inflammatory response in your body.
Starting point is 00:10:51 You can go into your kidneys. The higher that it moves up, the more severe the infection becomes. I can tell you once this happened to me and I ended up in the hospital when I was like 20 and I was an intern in D.C. for the summer and I stupidly, I don't remember what I did. That was stupid. I probably didn't, I probably didn't like pee after sex or it was like with a new partner. And I kept, I got to work. I got to work. And then what happens if they're untreated, if you don't treat a UTI, you can actually get an infection and end up in the hospital. This happens to women all the time. So making sure that you get checked out by your gynecologist, you know, get a pap smear twice a year is very, very helpful.
Starting point is 00:11:34 they keep happening. There's this really cool company that I've recently heard of that actually would be awesome for you. And that is Eukora. And I was like, why didn't I think of this? So, look this out. You should, oh, another thing, this is another stupid. Okay, this happened to me twice. I'll admit. This happened to me with another guy I was dating and he was like, you know, I don't think you should take, because you also, the other thing that happened is you have to go to antibiotics. But when you go into antibiotics, it's like then your immune system down, you got to keep taking antibiotics. And he was like super healthy. He was like a, I don't remember like a vegan, didn't believe it. He was like Eastern medicine. He's like, you should just drink a lot
Starting point is 00:12:15 of cranberry juice. Emily, drink a ton of cranberry juice. And I was like, oh, okay. And it got worse. You can't just drink cranberry juice to get rid of a UTI. But it helps to regularly drink cranberry juice. So this, this company, Ukora, check this out. It's UQO-R-A. And they've products and supplements that you could take daily or as needed to essentially help flesh out your urinary tract. And each of their products, they support you in different ways. So there's one that's like, and it tastes really good. It's like this one tastes like pink lemonade and you could drink it every day. There's other ones that they have like supplements that are really good for probiotics.
Starting point is 00:12:59 There's one that they have with that you can promote your vaginal. micro biome. So they have you on this like regimen and they send it to you. You can just order it online. Because I know that there's so many of us who who kind of worry about our vaginal health, but we're like, oh God, I want to go to the doctor. I don't want to take time. And so remember this. Even if you empty your bladder before sex or after sex, shower before and after, you can still keep getting UTIs. So if you take supplements like Yukora, I mean, check it out. think it'll help you out. You can find more at ucora.com. UQO-R-A. All right, we're going to take a quick break and we come back. I'll be talking to Carol Queen. So stick around. After 20 years of
Starting point is 00:13:46 helping people have better sex, I realize something. The real magic happens when you feel safe, informed, and confident in your own body. That's why I created SmartSX, a private, sex positive community where we explore desires, build confidence, and feel more connected in our bodies and relationships. Whether you're single, partnered, or just curious, smart sX is like your VIP clubhouse. You'll get live workshops with me and other experts, full access to our event library, and a safe space to ask the questions you've never felt comfortable asking anywhere else. And trust me, amazing sex isn't just about technique. It's about feeling empowered, informed, and truly connected.
Starting point is 00:14:26 Inside SmartSX, you'll learn to communicate like a pro, discover what really turns you on, and even score exclusive perks and giveaways, yes, from books and toys to some of my favorite games for couples. Your pleasure is worth prioritizing. Join us at sex withemly.com slash smartSX. That's sex with Emily.com slash smart the letter as the letter X. I'll see you inside. Hello, Carol Queen. Thanks for joining me. Emily, we were at your kitchen table all the way back then or your dining room table or whatever table it was. I only had one table. We were actually going through because we had our 15-year university thinking about those early shows. And I was thinking about the last time I saw you
Starting point is 00:15:04 was at the Vibrator Museum, at the Good Vibes in San Francisco. You took us on a tour. That was fun. And isn't that a wonderful room full of antique vibrators? What could be better? You can't believe the vibrators in there. You're like, it looks like a mixer, like a mixing bowl. I just remember that. Anyway, that was the last time I saw you, Carol. How are you doing? How have you been I am doing okay, instead of running around the world and talking about sex wherever I can, I hop on Zoom relatively frequently to talk about sex in various contexts and mostly stay in my apartment, working from home. And I thought, oh, I'm going to have so much free time.
Starting point is 00:15:43 I'll start my memoir. I'll start, I'm taking some notes that's about all I've found time for what on earth is going on here. I thought I was going to have hours and hours of extra time. I know. Same. Why is it? Especially now, people need more information about sex and communication and relationships. We know that sex toy sales have been on the rise. I can't stop seeing reports about that. We're all home. Might as well be masturbating. Thank goodness for those of us who need the relaxation, who need to keep their jobs selling people sex toys and all of the other people
Starting point is 00:16:20 who are going to benefit from people being a little more relaxed, a little more at least, because it's self-care. If we don't think in terms of masturbation is self-care already, I bet a bunch of people have had their minds changed or blown or opened up this year because there's stress everywhere, even if people feel pretty safe, it's still stressy. It's still stressful. People who have never experienced anxiety before are now experiencing it. So it's just like they don't know what. And they've never had any mental health challenges. So not saying masturbation is a cure for everything, but you can get that little serotonin, dopamine, you know, oxytocin rush, which is a good cocktail. It's not a bad idea to find out what are the things in your life that give you pleasure and relaxation. And masturbation happens to put both of those things together for most people. So exactly. They really do. Carol, you've been talking about this for 45 years. But in some way, ways, I've found that things haven't changed that much. I don't know, Carol, like as far as people still, you know, shameful about masturbation and that we still can't talk about it in
Starting point is 00:17:29 certain places, but what do you see as some changes? What's been the most remarkable to you or interesting to you right now since you've started? I know that's a long journey, but I'm curious. It's a long journey. And let me just clarify for people who may not know much about my history that I started out as a young person trying to figure out about sexuality as well. one does, unless one waits until they're old to do that, which also happens. Whenever you do, it's a good time to start, I guess. And I started my first year of college, I guess, or second, one of the first gay youth groups in the nation along with a couple of my young gay male friends. So I started doing LGBT panels and things when I was very young and doing various kinds of organizing.
Starting point is 00:18:16 So the really huge difference is that it is mainstream news now. It is part of what we're talking about all the time in almost all venues. Even the venues that are cranky about these things are talking about them. And it came out of the subcultural self-published feminist drag that you had to get at the feminist cafe situation into the Washington Post in the New York Times and the Atlantic and all of the, you know, all of the media names that we've known for a whole lives. Right. That's the biggest, biggest difference is that we're more open now culturally to all the changes that are
Starting point is 00:18:55 happening and people are more willing to talk about these things, yeah. And I think I'm also saying we know as a culture now that this is not sort of side material. This isn't underground. I mean, many people still have to live underground. I don't mean that. But the discourse is, oh, this has been going on for decades. This is part of what. we have to grapple with as a culture. And that's one of the things that brings these various
Starting point is 00:19:22 reckonings together in my mind, right? Because they're not the same thing. But the fact that we have to have reckonings. That's how we wake up, right? I guess that's how we wake up and how we make change. Now, what about in this sex space? I mean, I, or maybe it's just the shame and the embarrassment that we're still not teaching sex ed in schools. People aren't as comfortable talking about it. I mean, I think there are more resources now, but the information isn't accurate. And then there's more porn, so then that gets confusing. There's more porn. Certainly the availability and sort of mainstreaming of porn, that's made a jump, too.
Starting point is 00:19:58 Although for a minute in the 70s, it looked like it was going to be that moment, right? And then it wasn't, but now it sort of is, only there's still plenty of anti-porn people. And I mean, I think the fact that porn has stepped up this way is fascinating, but I always want to remind people that it's not documentary. film. We're not watching Richard Attenborough Bird movies here. We're not watching sex ed here. We're watching constructed,
Starting point is 00:20:24 designed, directed, scripted entertainment, even if it doesn't really look like it is. Wait, you just made me think about something because you've done so many things. I was going to name all your books here and things, but I just had to flash and tell me if I'm correct. We talked about educational. No, porn is not
Starting point is 00:20:40 where people should be learning how to have sex play by play. But Didn't you create bend over boyfriend? Yes. I want to differentiate between porn and explicit sex education material. And there's an overlap of course. Right. And I call that ex-ed for short.
Starting point is 00:21:00 I think I invented that. X-ed. Carol's invented a lot of things. But speaking of a word that didn't exist when we made bend over boyfriend, which was an educational, explicit movie about women giving men anal pleasure with strap-ons. Some of the people there will go, that's kind of binary in the way that you're talking.
Starting point is 00:21:21 And yes, we did this in the 90s, and the non-binary discourse had not stepped up to the point that it is now. And I'm so glad that we don't only have two to choose from. That's not very many, honestly. Exactly. But the word that I'm thinking of here is pegging. So it was a movie about pegging. But the term pegging didn't exist yet.
Starting point is 00:21:41 In the 90s. Right. That's right. Because Dan's sad. His team of people who read his column did this. He did this, let's make a name for this sex act. Here's a sex act. He doesn't have a name. You have to describe it in a phrase.
Starting point is 00:21:56 Can't have that. Let's make a name. And Pegging was what they came up with. So now we've all adopted that. Oh, I realize that was Dan Savage. With Dan and his merry readers who were very creative in terms of the language. So that came directly out of our experience. good vibrations in the 90s. Can we still see bend over boyfriend? Because I still sometimes was
Starting point is 00:22:18 recommending it up until recently, but I mean, that was so advanced that you at the time were like, and this is how you wear a strap on him. And because people would come into good vibrations and say that they were interested in doing this. And many of them thought they had invented the idea and others were like, my boyfriend is bi and he wants to do this. Not that all the bi boyfriends want to do this, but some might and some of the heterosexual. And, you know, sexual orientation and the sex acts you desire are not, there's not a straight line between them necessarily, right? So we would, we would describe and talk and so talk all around. And the idea was that watching the sex acts as we talked about them and gave information would be a way for people to really wrap their
Starting point is 00:23:00 brain around how to do it themselves. And we could get into all of the, you know, the specific sex ed stuff. You've got to have lube. You've got to relax. Here's how to clean. Here's how to choose the right size, all of the things, right? Because there are a lot of moving parts to doing any new sex thing, especially something like pegging. I know I just said don't watch porn for sex ed, but the point is porn might cut some corners. Porn is performed by professional athletes of sex who know, or mostly, or often, who know the way to do what they need to do what they need to depict to make it hot and exciting. And we actually mostly used amateurs in Bendover Boyfriend,
Starting point is 00:23:50 but they were people who really wanted to learn and enlighten other people. One couple had never done it before. And another one wasn't even a couple, but they were pretty frisky, and they knew that they could make it happen. And so they did. And so it was a way to take a kind of sexuality that wasn't much discussed, that there wasn't a book about, there wasn't a whole lot of information about it anywhere. So that if somebody wanted to do it, they had a bit of a climb.
Starting point is 00:24:20 They had a hunt that they had to go on to figure out how to find a person who wanted to do it with them, how to talk about it, how to do it, how to do it safely, how to do it pleasurably, all the things that, you know, many of your listeners have had their own, you know, sexual mountains to climb, even if it wasn't that one. Right. But that is a mountain, a change I've seen, Carol, have you seen this too, that I feel like it used to be that men who identified as straight, like it was a hurdle. We'd have like, maybe try it your prostate, try it out.
Starting point is 00:24:48 But then they were like, nope, but I have felt a shift in the last five years where I think that straight men are more open to it. Sister gender men are like saying, yes, I want to try it. They're coming to me. It's not like their girlfriend's coming or whoever. They actually are, I get it, and I want to try it. So that kind of delights me, that they're like, okay, I get it. It's very delightful for a couple of reasons.
Starting point is 00:25:08 One, if somebody's got a pleasure part on their body, it makes sense that they would want to figure out whether it's fun. I mean, they don't have to. If it's not, you don't do it again. And someone's sexual orientation doesn't equal the kind of sex acts that they will want to do. I think our culture has done a little growing as far as understanding that in the last, say, 10 to 20 years. There's a real sense that I notice of people. understanding. And maybe partly it's sort of the challenges of non-binary communities, helping people think outside the box. Maybe it's just much greater discourse that more people
Starting point is 00:25:51 can hear about sexual orientation issues and, you know, marriage equality. And there's so many different things that have gotten more high profile and acceptable to talk about and think about. In the old days at good vibes, when we talk to people about this, sometimes it was men who knew about prostate pleasure, who were hoping that they could convince girlfriends to go there with them. Sometimes it was women who were like, they need to know what it's like to be penetrated. And I don't know who can argue with that. It's interesting to know what it's like to have that kind of experience of someone sliding into your body and know whether it's always awesome, whether it's sometimes challenging, whether, no, I don't want anybody coming in here. I mean, because that's
Starting point is 00:26:44 part of the assumptions that we've had to overcome too, right, is these gendered ideas about what is normal, what is the way that all men are, all women are, you can't make those kinds of judgments and anybody who thinks you can is not living in the 21st century yet. Exactly. Exactly. It's exactly right. Carol, you know, we've got some calls coming in and I want to answer because I love that you're here because you don't have one. You have two sexologists here to help you. And this next question, I would love to get your take on this. Let's talk to Jake 25 in Ohio. Hi, Jake. Thanks for calling. I just want to call because I have this fetish or fantasy. I'm just, I'm in the masturbating in public, and I'm just wanting the safe spot to maybe do it in.
Starting point is 00:27:31 Even though it's illegal, but we can, Carol, what would be a safe spot for him to master? I don't know why I thought Carol would be good at this. I mean, not that we can say, because it is illegal, but like I say, I mean, in your car maybe with the, well, let's brainstorm. So, so there's, so there's two, there's two real challenges. And one is, where will you not get caught because public showing yourself off is pretty much illegal almost everywhere and where can you do this where the people who might get a glimpse of you consent to do that so my initial thought is swingers parties sex clubs sort of sexualized environments i don't know if there are still any glory hole type sex shops around where you
Starting point is 00:28:18 are in oh yeah jakes in Ohio yeah but i don't know if they are still open because it's been a minute since I've been to Ohio. But I might have committed a sexual crime in Ohio. Everyone there wanted to see the demonstration. I don't want to give the wrong impression. How did I know that you committed some sexual deviants in your day? How did I add some sexual deviant? You know, I think that probably wasn't legal to do. And so we jumped in the rental car and just floored it. Is there like a sex toy shop in your area? I mean, nothing's open. I would find, like, a meetup or go on, like, what are the sites right now, like, FetLife, or try to find a local party where you can go with other like-minded people.
Starting point is 00:29:04 Because I can't really tell me. My biggest thing is, I like to, you know, have, it might sound weird. I like to have people watch. It's not weird at all. As long as the people want to watch, it's a fabulous form of exhibitionism. I wrote a whole book about it. You did tell him, what book is that? Exhibitionism for the shy.
Starting point is 00:29:22 and it's a thrill to be watched, right? So there's the two kinds of exhibitionists, the kind that everybody thinks like, oh, we got to lock them up, are the ones who want to shock and freak other people out, make them scared, make them, what, what? I don't want to look at that thing, and I don't want to see anybody's hand moving on it either.
Starting point is 00:29:45 That's non-consensual, right? And then there's the people who sort of sit with their chin on their hand, like we used to watch TV, right? And go, you know, go a little slower, go a little faster. And who like to watch? And they're the voyeurs. So Jake, what you've got to find is voyeurs. And again, I think that in the Swinger sex club world,
Starting point is 00:30:11 if you can find any of those kinds of venues, do you still find Swingers via the Lifestyle org? I think you do. Maybe Lifestyle. There's like Cassidy's another one. There's a fat life. I would try to find some parties on there, Jake, that you could go to, meet with like-minded people. Hashtag open actually is a free app. Hashtag open is all genders. You just use the hashtag of what you're looking for. So you could go there, Jake, and say, hashtag public masturbation. Good luck finding the right people because it's really a delightful kind of sexual play. It's especially relevant right now. in the era of COVID, when we're not supposed to be right on top of each other, breathing each other's air, right?
Starting point is 00:30:59 But if you're across the room from each other, that's a little different and could be safer. If you find a safe place to do it outside, all the more so, I do wish you the best because it's true that this is not the sort of thing that you want to get busted doing, but if you can find the right way to find the right people and you can have a lot of fun. Yeah, find your people, Jay. I think you can find them, and he just takes one party where you meet people and you like the, then you'll be invited to other parties. You just, every town has their people.
Starting point is 00:31:30 So you just got to find your people, and I think that would be very satisfying to you, you know? Yeah, I just, I've been to jail once over it already. I just don't want to go again. That's why you've got to find your people in a consensual atmosphere, okay? Okay, Jake, check out those sites that I talked about. Go to my website. We've got a lot of different sites on there that you could find. We can put it at the show notes.
Starting point is 00:31:49 I think we have a blog about how to find a third. and that has all the websites in it. But you can find your people. I don't want you to go to jail either. Thanks, Jake. I appreciate you. Thanks for calling. Carol, you want to hang out for a second.
Starting point is 00:32:00 We're going to take a quick break. There'll be more sex with Emily. Thanks to everyone for supporting our sponsors. You know, we'll only work with sponsors that we enjoy ourselves. And I hope you do too. Let's talk to John 54 in Virginia. Hi, Dr. Emily. Hello.
Starting point is 00:32:20 My wife can't. no longer get on top because of issues with her knees and arthritis. And that was the position she always was in that she could have an orgasm with. And now she, you know, can't do that. And just trying to figure out other positions besides missionary that we could do. Yeah, that's a really good question. I'm trying to think so her knees, she just can't be on her knees at all. No, not at all.
Starting point is 00:32:48 I'm trying to think if she was on top. I'm thinking about like a sex swing or something. thing she could do or like she could maybe use some sex furniture yeah face-to-face in a sturdy chair maybe I mean if you're going to do a for any kind of furniture situation you got to really make sure it's not rickety you got to make sure you're not going to all you know tumble down or not small you're not like you or anything yeah but if the reason that she gets off that way is that she's able to move her body uh because sometimes that's the the reason specifically Sometimes it's somebody can't concentrate and, you know, focus with someone's weight on them.
Starting point is 00:33:27 But sometimes it's because it's easier for her to move her pelvis. And I wonder if there are maybe. Plotoral stimulation. Yeah. I wonder if there are any side to side positions that you two could try. There's a position where you sit on the bed and then she sits on your lap facing you so that you can get inside of her. but she doesn't have to bend her knees. She can just sort of wrap them around the small of your back.
Starting point is 00:33:55 That might work. Yep. Okay. And you could move her back and forth, too, if she can't really move as much in that position. Right. Or grab the midboard of the bed as long as it's sturdy. Again, the furniture has to be sturdy.
Starting point is 00:34:06 I've broken so many beds. So many beds. In Sanford, I remember having this like a Kia bed and it would break. I love the positions where one partner's on the bed and one partner's standing. Those are great positions. Yeah. And see, the other thing is we finally don't have kids in the house, so it's kind of nice to be able to be somewhat spontaneous. Okay, great.
Starting point is 00:34:27 So let's think of what else. I mean, I said sex swing just because I don't know, I was thinking about elevation, but I wonder if she'd still get the leverage from that. And then even like something like the Liberator, that would still hurt her knee. I'm thinking about like elevation sex furniture. So I like the idea of on the bed or using a chair because then she could also, if you're on like a big comfy chair or the couch even, the edge of the couch, she could use leverage. She could put her hands on the armrest and then behind it and kind of move herself back and forth, but her legs could still be out.
Starting point is 00:34:58 Like if she's long ways on the couch, modified spooning position or the modified spoon position, Carol, we were saying something where she's laying down, but, you know, you wonder, but that wouldn't really hit her clitoris. If you're lying on your sides facing each other. Oh, yes. have your leg over the other, and that way you can sort of use your leg to thrust together, but she would also have some of her own ability to thrust her pelvis, as would you. You might try that, too.
Starting point is 00:35:33 Sometimes it's a little hard to stay on your sides, and it's a, you know, you tend to fall in there the other, but you could give it a try. It could be funny. You could give it the old college try. Yeah, I would, I would recommend that as well. and there are some great position books. My friend L. Chase wrote a book called Curvy Girl Sex. And she's got some really interesting sex positions in that book for people who have just different challenges around positions. And they're incredible. I recommend it to so many people. And they really enjoy it. So check that out, John. See how those work. I'll let you know. You're my go-to podcast when I drive because I drive a lot with work sometimes. I'm so glad. Thank you, John. So good to hear from you. And thanks for listening. and for calling. So appreciate you. Carol, looking at your face, like trying to figure it out,
Starting point is 00:36:21 like a mathematician, like her brain's going to all the positions and, like, what does she know? She's got lots of knowledge in that brain. Carol, you've done so much, written so many books. You've been speaking. You've been really, you've made such a huge difference in the Lansing. You paved the way for me to be able to do what I do. Thank you for that. I'm grateful for you, really, truly and truly. So let's talk about, so since you've amazingly, you've been in good Vibrations for 30 years, you're still, I don't know what you do, your staff sexologist. You do, I feel like you want it. Company historian and curator of the Anticabibrator Museum.
Starting point is 00:36:54 That's it. Okay. Company historian, sorry, I didn't mean to, I just feel like Carol is good. To me, when I think of good vibrations, I think of Carol, so it's hard to sort of delineate that. But I'm curious about, is there anything new you got, you know, or anything fun with toys right now? You know, we have our subscription box from good vibrations.
Starting point is 00:37:12 You can find it on our website, sex with Emily. which has been a really fun thing to kind of curate that box every month for people to get it four times a year. And you just get like it's a sex shows up in a box, like sex ideas. And it's kind of fun to curate that. Is there anything that you're into right now, something new that's sort of fun? They're like, oh, wow, they think of it. I never thought they'd think of this. What will they think of next? I know that's one of the wonderful things about being in a place like this for 30 years is you see some shifts in technology and so forth. So what I'm excited about right now. These are, these are just new in the last month or so as a little three item line
Starting point is 00:37:51 called cute little fuckers. And new little fuckers are designed by non-binary and queer people, but they're designed for everyone and anyone who wants to get a vibrating gizmo that's cute and put it on their body somewhere and see how they like it. So that includes most people, except the people who don't like vibration, right? Of whom there are some. And or maybe they have on the right vibrator yet, I don't know. And no pressure to vibrate, but cute little fuckers has three different ones. One looks like they're so cute. So a lot of non-binary-ish toys that have been designed so far have been a little austere and they're, you know, like they're gray or they're tope colored sometimes. They want to avoid the pink and blue business, a boy and girl and all of that.
Starting point is 00:38:42 well cute little fuckers just pick some different colors than that and they made them cute and bright they're adorable one of them looks like a little starfish and you can put it on the clitoris and vulva you can stroke a penis with it or whatever you've got whatever you call it basically it doesn't matter if you've got the the body parts that we have gendered names for or maybe you do so that's a cute one and then there's one that looks like three little sea monsters stuck together that i'm pretty sure could be used as a dildo if somebody wanted to do that. Multi-use. Cute little sea monsters.
Starting point is 00:39:17 Yeah, I love this. See, okay, see, this is what's so cool that I love toys that are dust. You don't even have to name the body, like just vibrations feel can feel great everywhere. And so why do we have to decide this is for any gender? Then you get one toy, you can share it, get a bunch, play around with it. I think this is great. That's great innovation. So, Carol, essentially, you were there when the talks happened about creating masturbation
Starting point is 00:39:39 month. I wish we had social media, then we could have, like, documented that moment, because that was a big moment. We were trying to make sure that Clinton firing Surgeon General, Joycell, and elders for saying one tiny, sensible thing about masturbation did not go unchallenged. We were like, this is outrageous. So that's what made us created in the first place. That's right. Something to the effect of, yeah, one, masturbation should be taught in schools, and then he did not appointer. It was something to that effect and good for good vibrations for doing that. And she didn't mean we should teach them to masturbate. She meant we should teach them there is a thing. Yeah, we should give them a sex education that's accurate. So, okay, so Carol,
Starting point is 00:40:20 let's talk about these CDC's guidelines right now for COVID, you know, wear masks, you know, avoid exchanging, you know, kissing, and glory holes. At the height of the AIDS epidemic, everybody in the U.S. got a Surgeon General's brochure from C. Everett Coop that said all kinds of things. So this is actually not all that new. When the CDC and the health departments have to step up and talk about sex, they will do so as we see this time. Yeah, glory holes. Some people may not even know what glory holes are. Let's tell them. That is a wall with a hole in it. And you can put your body part through the hole. Often it will be a penis, but you could put a hand through there and reach for somebody else's genitals, whatever they might be. And you can
Starting point is 00:41:09 and do all kinds of things through a glory hole. And there's a wall in the way so you're not breathing each other's air. And that's what makes it a safe thing for COVID. Now, of course, people can mask up real well. And if people are like, I could never have sex with a mask. Just pretend you're being kinky. Pretend you're doing it on purpose. Plenty of people do wild things when they have sex.
Starting point is 00:41:32 This is really unusual. Let's try it. It might be fun. So you don't want to get face to face. and breathe in the exhale, even though it's such a sexy, intimate thing to do, right now it's not safe. So we either put a wall in the way or we mask up real good, of course, making sure we wash up when we're done. It's not a normal time in our room. It could be just an ultimate thing you haven't tried. So much about sex is variety in trying something new. So why not try that if you
Starting point is 00:42:01 want to have safe sex? Carol, we're coming to the end here. I got to ask you our five quickie questions we ask all of our guests. What is your biggest turn on? On brains. I'm one of those sapiosexuals. Big is turn off. People being really pushy about assuming they know what the right thing to do is and knowing what I want, which they might not know. What makes good sex? Wanting to be there in communication. Something you would tell your younger self about sex. It gets better. What's the number one thing you wish everyone knew about sex? that there is no such thing as a normal sex life that you have to follow or you're abnormal. There is variety and difference.
Starting point is 00:42:48 I love it. Thank you so much, Dr. Carol Queen, for being here. That's it for today's episode. Thank you so much for listening to Sex with Emily. And if you love the show, please like, subscribe, and leave a review wherever you get your podcast. And hey, share this with a friend or a partner. It might just spark something.
Starting point is 00:43:10 It usually does. You can find me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and X. It's all at Sex with Emily. Oh, and I've been told I give really good email. So sign up at sex withemly.com for free guides and articles and more ways to prioritize your pleasure.

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