I have a conflicted relationship to clinical sex definitions. It can be easy to feel as if a definition is an answer. Something fixed, something certain. A label or diagnosis that can feel validating as well as isolating. I tend to stay away from clinical terms like dysfunction, disorder, syndrome. They are tools for a different job, a job I don't do. But these clinical terms, like lingo that only lawyers and doctors understand, have power, and being able to recognize them, understanding the difference between a hacksaw and a wrench, or the sexual equivalents, can be helpful. So for the next little while I'll be blogging a different clinical sex definition each week. This week is one I learned very recently:

Climacturia is a medical term describing orgasm-associated incontinence, or the experience of leaking urine at the moment of orgasm.

While it is a relatively recent term to appear in the medical literature (first appearing around 2005) it is thought to be a relatively common result of radical prostatectomy -- the removal of the prostate as treatment for prostate cancer.

There is variation in how often it happens and how much urine is passed during orgasm. The likelihood of climacturia may relate to the type of procedure and type of cancer, although there isn't a lot of research on the topic.

In a 2006 study of 42 men, two years following radical prostatectomy, 68% reported experiencing climacteria. Forty-eight percent felt that it was a significant bother to them. In a 2007 study of 475 patients, 20% reported climacturia following radical pelvic surgery. Men were more likely to experience it in the first twelve months following surgery than later.

Common ways of dealing with climacturia mentioned in the studies included emptying your bladder before sex and wearing a condom during sex.

Read more - Sex Definitions

Read and Share - How Do You Define Sex?

_Sources:

_{Choi, J.M., Nelson, C.J., Stasi, J., Mulhall, J.P. "Orgasm Associated Incontinence (Climacturia) Following Radical Pelvic Surgery: Rates of Occurrence and Predictors". Journal of Urology Vol. 177 (2007): 2223-2226.}

_{Lee, J. Hersey, K., Lee, C.T., Fleshner, N. "Climacturia Following Radical Prostatectomy: Prevalence and Risk Factors" Journal of Urology Vol. 176 (2006): 2562-2565.}

When most people read the word erection, they probably think of a penis. To be precise, they likely think of a penis that is hard. If you're reading this and thinking about erections you may be thinking about a hard penis. And yet, penile erections, surely the most talked-about erections in the body, are not in fact the only erections we get.

Any part of the body that has erectile tissue can become erect. Erectile tissue, as it sounds, is tissue that can become erect or get hard, usually because blood flows into the tissue and stays there for a period of time, keeping the tissue, and subsequently the body part, erect. Other body parts with erectile tissue include the clitoris, the urethral sponge, and the ears.

In most societies, there is such a focus on the penis itself that most of us (including all of us who have them) don't realize that getting an erection is really a team effort of body and mind. Getting and maintaining an erection is a complex and fluid event (pardon the pun), more like a symphony than a simple tune.

Keep reading - How Erections Work

I don't get USA Today (take that in all its meanings). So I shouldn't be surprised that I hadn't heard about the sexuality insert in the newspaper that went out to readers this past weekend, until I was sent a copy of the pdf in an email from Petra Boynton. The insert (which you can access here) was produced by a company called Mediaplanet in collaboration with Laura Berman, sexual self-help author and host of her own television show on Oprah's new network.

Petra sent the link suggesting it would be interesting to consider what they chose to include and not include in a publication that would be for many, an introduction to the idea of sexual and reproductive health. Which is what I did, and where things got depressing.

Based on what they choose to cover, you'd think that the greatest challenge American women have in terms of sexual and reproductive health is low desire and infertility.  As opposed to, say, lack of access to birth control options, honest and safe abortion counseling and services, lack of support around domestic violence, or the disparities in sexual and reproductive health that run along race and class lines that are literally KILLING women.  I know it would be hard to sit in a chair and smile while talking about most of those topics, but isn't that what Photoshop is for?

It's not that low desire and infertility aren't important topics, ones that have a huge impact on women's experience of sexual and reproductive health. It's just that if you're given an opportunity to address such a broad audience, and this is how you choose to begin the conversation, well, it becomes clear where your priorities are and who you're really interested in talking to. Suggesting that you are starting a national dialogue (as the cover promises) when in fact you're delivering just another piece of advertising nestled into familiar tales about female sexuality, is, to use a word I'm at risk of overusing, disingenuous.

Each piece reads like a press release. Viagra, we're told, is a panacea for men (if that's true, how come almost half of them never use it after the first prescription?). Women, we're told, are in control of how much sex happens in the bedroom. Men, we're told, always want sex. Sex, we're told, happens in the bedroom. I could go on, except why waste your time. Just pick up any women's magazine and you'll find the same content, except it might be better written, depending on the writer and editor. Speaking of which, and adding to the waste, there are plenty of great journalists writing about sexual and reproductive health. And most of them could use the work. Couldn't they at least have paid them?

My first response to all of this was to think, well, at least they're providing some information to the audience their advertisers want, rich white women. But it's hardly doing them any good either, and rich white women deserve access to sexual and reproductive health as much as any of us.

I can't decide if my New Years resolution should be to never pick up USA Today, or just to stop opening emails from Petra Boynton.

January 1st isn't the only New Year's Day in my life, and sometimes, just like other holidays, it can feel a bit forced. I know this is true for lots of people who have other calendars and other new years rituals, but I also know that for lots of us, it's hard not to start thinking this time of year about the year that has passed and the year to come.

I don't know how many people include sex in their new years resolutions. They're usually there in mine, when I make them. And so I thought I'd share one way of developing some sexual resolutions if you've never done it before (or even if you have but are looking for new inspiration).

Resolve to Treat Yourself
Particularly in the west, our sexual focus tends to be on being a great lover for someone else. It's all about making your partner go wild in bed, finding their "secret spot", or compromising your own desires to meet their needs. What these prescriptions lack, among other things, is balance. Take a few minutes to think about how you treat yourself sexually. When you think of your own sexual desires, do you judge yourself harshly? Do you feel embarrassed or ashamed about the things you want? Whether or not your sexual interests are something that can or should be played out, they are yours, and they do not make you a bad person.

Think about what you're missing in your life, what you'd like to be experiencing more and less of in 2011. This might be something very specific (like a sexual activity you want to do, or want to stop doing) it might be general (like wanting to feel more, or have more time to daydream and fantasize). Now, write it down. And the next time you're bored, or feeling stuck as to what to do next, find that paper and read what you wrote. It may or may not still be something you want to pursue, but remembering and reading our own desires can be a great kickstart.

Resolve to Treat Others
How do you want to treat others sexually this year? Others might be partners, or strangers, it might be your kids or your parents, whoever you interact with directly, when you interact with them around issues of sex or gender, think about the power you have to choose how you're going to treat them in those interactions. Thinking about this resolution I immediately think of Kate Bornstein's writing and work. One of Kate's prime directives is that we should all try not to be mean. It's not as clear cut a value as it sounds at first, but the questions it begs are, I think, a great way to start being more thoughtful about the way we treat others.

Think about how you'd like to interact with others when it comes to sexuality and gender. Are you someone who feels uncomfortable with the topic and wishes you could be more comfortable? Do you think of yourself as an over sharer? Maybe you'd like to have more patience, or give people a little less of your time. Maybe you want more boundaries, or not so many. Take some time to think about how you'd like your interactions about sex to be different this year, and write down a few sentences or bullet points that describes your wishes for the coming year. Then the next time you're about to go into a social situation where you think to topic, or possibility of, sex is there, pull out the paper and read over what you've written.

Resolve to Communicate about Sex
Thinking back on 2010 what strikes you most about the ways we talked about sex and gender? What do you think of how these topics are discussed in the mainstream media? If you engage in life online (via Facebook, twitter, etc...) how do you feel sexual topics are talked about in those settings?

Whether your sexual conversations are with yourself in the shower, with a family member or partner, with co-workers, or with the general public via a blog, Facebook page, twitter account, or more formalized media outlet, think about what you'd like the sexual conversations in your life to be more and less about, and write it down. Then the next time you're about to start a sexual conversation, refer back to what you wrote. Is the way you're about to start communicating about sex in line with your wishes for the new year?