I was recently asked about equality in sexual relationships and how you can make your relationships really equal. I share a few thoughts below.

Equality may seem like a reasonable goal when it comes to sexual relationships, but you likely want to be flexible with regard to your definition of equality.

You don’t want equality to necessarily refer to sameness. For example, you can achieve relative equality even if one person has more orgasms. Similarly, if you go down on your partner or initiate sex more often, these may not be signs of inequality, but simply indications of personal preference. It can certainly be problematic when one person is disproportionately tasked with initiating sex, but in some cases this works for both partners and is equally fulfilling.

You likely don’t want equality to be measured by keeping score of sexual advances or efforts. Oftentimes our perception of what we give versus what we take is biased — especially when we are keeping score or...

Karen B.K. Chan, joins Jess and Brandon on the podcast to discuss rejection. How can we manage rejection? And when we feel rejected, how can we embrace it? How do we develop resilience and emotional literacy and to navigate uncomfortable social situations. Listen now and learn more!

The following is a rough transcript of the introduction to this podcast:

When was the last time you felt rejected — in work, socially, or otherwise?

I feel rejected often because I talk to strangers so often. The other day I was walking down the street and I said good afternoon to a woman and she didn’t reply. The way I read the situation was that she looked up at me, mouth agape and then averted her gaze. I felt as though she was irritated with me and though that may have not been the case - she may have been shy or felt threatened or simply didn't know what to say, but I remember feeling irritated. But I was only irritated because I felt rejected.

I also feel rejected when I try to make...

Meet Dr. Wendasha Jenkins Hall. She is this week's Sexuality Superhero. Dr. Wendasha's mission is to help provide more concrete, science-based sexual health knowledge to those with limited resources. She offers a variety of sexuality consultation services, educational workshops and sex education programming to her clients. She aims to empower, inspire and transform these individuals into their best sexual selves. Read about her background and work below.

1. How did you find yourself working in sexuality?

I started this journey when I was 16 years old. At that time, I was trained as a HIV/AIDS peer educator by the local AIDS service organization in my hometown, Tallahassee, FL. That experience got my feet wet, but I was completely thrown in the ocean when I started grad school in Baltimore at Morgan State University. At the time I was on the path to becoming a mass communication/intellectual property lawyer, but I was assigned a graduate assistantship in the University’s...

Julie Peters, author of Want: 8 Steps to Recovering Desire, Passion, and Pleasure After Sexual Assault, shares her insights regarding recovery and the return to desire, sexuality, trust, and pleasure after assault. Her approach is grounded in gratitude, mindfulness and pleasure and is relevant to survivors of all genders as well as the general population.

This podcast is brought to you by Desire Resorts.

If you’ve got questions or topic suggestions for the podcast, submit them here. As well, you can now record your messages for us! Please record your message/question in a quiet room and use your phone’s headphones with a built-in mic if possible.

And be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music & Stitcher!

Rough Transcript:

This is a computer-generated rough transcript, so please excuse any typos. This podcast is an informational conversation and is not a substitute for medical, health...

Good morning! Earlier today, I joined Cheryl Hickey and Jeff McArthur on The Morning Show to talk about the Marriage Pact — an app designed to help students find a backup plan in case they don’t find a forever partner in time to align with their life goals.

Check out the summary and video below.

Important note: Of course, not everyone wants one forever partner, so check out last week’s podcast on Toxic Monogamy and our recent interview on Consensual Non-monogamy if you want to consider alternative approaches to relationships.

1. What is the marriage pact?

The Marriage Pact is a multi-year study out of Stanford designed to match people up in stable partnerships using economic theory and cutting-edge computer science. But it’s not designed to help you find the one — its goal is to help you find a backup plan. The program analyzes core values as opposed to interests and attraction (which can change) and since it was designed for college students, they...

Loveline's host, Dr. Chris Donaghue joins Jess and Brandon to share insights from his latest book, Rebel Love: Break The Rules, Destroy Toxic Habits and Have the Best Sex of Your Life. They discuss porn addiction, solo-sexuality,  body image, toxic masculinity, the drawbacks of monogamy and the habits we need to break to tap into authentic sexuality.

Thank you to We-Vibe and Womanizer for bringing Dr. Donaghue to Toronto!

If you’ve got questions or topic suggestions for the podcast, submit them here. As well, you can now record your messages for us! Please record your message/question in a quiet room and use your phone’s headphones with a built-in mic if possible.

And be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music & Stitcher!

Rough Transcript:

This is a computer-generated rough transcript, so please excuse any typos. This podcast is an informational conversation and is not a substitute for...

One in five Canadians reports being lonely and research suggests that loneliness plagues Torontonians and folks in big cities across the nation. Loneliness not only affects our quality of life, but is associated with higher rates of depression and anxiety which are tied to physical health issues including heart disease and high blood pressure.

If you’re looking to spark new relationships — intimate or platonic — in Toronto, there is no better time to get started than the present. Jess joined Jennifer Valentyne on Global News Morning Toronto to share five ways to find love and friendship in the city.

Check out the summary and video below and make a commitment to trying one of these approaches today:

Why is it so hard to meet new people in big cities?

The density of our living conditions leads to anonymity as the norm. We don’t take the time to get to know people because we’re surrounded by so many folks that we’re never ever alone. Think about...

Check out this week's Sexuality Superhero! Meet Karen Kaz Lucas. Using her influence from her entertaining days, Kaz started The Spread podcast. Finding that sexual health resources were limited in Kenya, her goal was to create a safe digital space where sex education, sexual identities and inclusivity are thoroughly understood. Read her feature below.

How did you find yourself working in sexuality?

I stumbled into this field out of the important things, passion and need. In Kenya there is a huge gap in the sex education industry and so many people are operating from a point of fear. I am using predominantly digital spaces to help everyone recreate their own sexual stories and not based on those told to them from fundamentalist perspectives.

What is the best part of the job?

Learning. Everyday I get to learn something new. I am open to the endless possibilities and I get to meet and interact with so many people across the world and discuss how...

In this episode, we talk about a fight we had the other day and our top three strategies for resolving conflict in our marriage. We also discuss Airpod sex, Canadian open relationships & millennial marriage with reference to two recent studies.

***Please find a rough version of this transcript below.***

Welcome!

We had a short fight about pretty much nothing last weekend and it reminded me that I had committed to talking about how we resolve arguments, so today we’ll be talking about our arguments and how we resolve them.

But first. A new study suggests that 20 percent of people with AirPods wear them during sex…

And a Canadian study is on my radar today too. Researchers from the University of British Columbia looked at data from a nationally representative survey of about 2,000 Canadian adults. They found that four per cent of those in relationships reported being in an open relationship, while 20 percent reported having been in an open relationship in the past....

Gossip and trash talking in the workplace…sometimes it bonds employees but is it ever worth it? What should you do if you know that you are the subject of it? How do you stop trash talking and gossiping if you’ve developed a bad habit of it? Plus strategies for encouraging co-workers to tone it down. We all know how contagious and toxic it can be, so Jess sat down to discuss with Jeff and Carolyn on The Morning Show.

Check out the summary and video below.

We all gossip from time to time, so what is it’s appeal?

Gossip can be damaging, but research suggests that it can also produce personal and group benefits. For example, some folks report that it eases anxiety to talk about a negative interaction or observation as a means of warning others. Research at Stanford University suggests that when you learn about potentially negative behaviour from others, you can avoid negative interaction and foster collaboration with those...