S Nicole Lane

Whether it's big, small, or just the right size, the penis carries a lot of weight when it comes to a person’s confidence in their sexual ability. Worries about having an adequate penis size is common. In one study, 68.3% of 200 men said they had concerns about their penis size.1 Societal pressures and inaccurate portrayal in the media generate unrealistic expectations about penis size, which drive anxiety and dissatisfaction.
Penis size generally does not affect sexual function, but those wh...

Smegma is a natural secretion from the oil glands around the genitals. It is found under the foreskin of a penis or under the folds of the vagina. It has a thick consistency and may appear white in color. It is also associated with an unpleasant odor. Smegma is, however, normal and not a sign of a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
Smegma is a natural lubricant that keeps the skin around the genitals moist. It becomes problematic when it is allowed to build up as a result of poor hygiene.
Th...

Rimming, also known as analingus, is a form of oral sex that involves kissing, licking, sucking, and other ways of stimulating a sexual partner's anus and the surrounding anatomy. The action is called “rimming” because the rim of the anus is the main area where a person uses their mouth and tongue to pleasure a partner. However, rimming does not only have to take place on the outer edges of the anus—all parts of the anus can be stimulated for sexual pleasure. It can be enjoyed by all genders ...

Garfield Park-based gallery Goldfinch opened “Play the Fool,” a solo show with works by Em Kettner in late October. I traveled to the gallery earlier last week to examine the works that sit, live, and perform on the shelves and walls of the gallery. With the recent stay-at-home advisory in place, the entire exhibition is also viewable on the Goldfinch website with extensive documentation. Kettner’s charms and cabinet curiosities can be seen as characters in a larger story or narrative that we...

In Latin, Cito, Longe, Tarde, translates into “leave quickly, go far away, and come back slowly.” Influential medical figures Hippocrates and Galen first coined this phrase, which later influenced the public during the plague that took over Asia, Europe, and areas of Africa in the mid-1300s. Cited as the most devastating pandemic in history, the plague (also known as the Black Death), killed millions of people worldwide. The plague not only killed half of China’s population and a third of Eur...

My clock says it's a few minutes before 6 AM. I said I would arrive at 5:30 but I miscalculated my morning and now I'm late. It's also cooler than I expected for a July morning. I dig for a sweater as I remember to also grab my mask. I walk along the cool grass of the park towards the south side of the Point, a man-made peninsula that curves into Lake Michigan in the Hyde Park neighborhood. The wind whips as I walk up to a group of seven to ten people all congregating on the rocks. A few dive...

My nightstand is a graveyard of books left open and abandoned. It isn't their fault really. It's hard to slow down a racing mind, especially one that works in media, reading words all day long. Before quarantine, I would read on the bus or before a meeting, or on my lunch break. My home is my office now and that means I work late into the night—there isn't a clear line of when to "clock out." Books have subsequently taken a back seat.
But I read Golem Girl—swiftly—in a week.
Riva Lehrer, arti...

Libido is sexual appetite or drive. A person's libido is motivated by brain function, hormones, and learned behavior, regardless of their sex, and tends to fluctuate according to mental state, hormonal shifts, and stress; some medications can affect sexual appetite as well.
Understanding Libido
When a person's libido is high, they're more likely to desire sexual intimacy and to seek it out with a partner or through masturbation. This is healthy and normal, but an overly high libido that inter...

Precum is a fluid produced by the male reproductive tract during sexual stimulation before climax. It exits the urethra and is often found on the tip of the penis during sexual arousal.1 It is a clear lubricant that prepares the urethra for the climax and looks similar to semen.
Precum is different from ejaculate, which is a white substance that comes out of the penis during a climax and contains sperm in a fertile person. If the urethra is lubricated, the sperm can more easily be ejected.
Pr...

Premature ejaculation (PE), sometimes known as rapid ejaculation, is when a person involuntarily orgasms and ejaculates before they are ready during sexual activity. Premature ejaculation may occur during foreplay, intercourse, or other forms of sexual activity.
Approximately 4% to 39% of men will experience premature ejaculation during their lifetime.1 It is a very common sexual dysfunction. However, if it happens frequently, it may become a larger psychological problem.
The stigma surroundi...

Maddie Fischer
"Swinging is like any other social activity, just dialed up to 11," says Andrew*, 41. He and his wife first began swinging shortly after they began exploring nonmonogamy in 2018. Before the pandemic, the couple would frequent a western-suburb location every two months.
Swinger parties usually have a set of rules, require an ID, cost some money, and take place in hotels or private homes. Some clubs and parties have been occurring for years, while others are simply pop-ups. But t...

For the more than 34 million Americans with diabetes, checking blood sugar levels, staying physically active and understanding the health risks can mean major adjustments in lifestyle, livelihood and overall well being.
The constant worries about health and unwanted complications, while juggling frequent doctors’ appointments and myriad prescriptions, can take a toll and ultimately may lead to “diabetes distress.”
Such distress is common, affecting up to 50% of people with diabetes in any giv...

Chicago’s artist-run spaces are key players in the creative ecosystem. They stretch down all avenues in the city and beyond into the sprawling suburbs. Whether they are found in old storefronts, auto shops, backyards, or basements, some hold their space for decades while others reconstruct or retire.
Succumbing to the rise of rent and the heavy financial responsibilities that come with running an alternative venue can play a large role in the changing of spaces or changing of hands. Artist-ru...

Gwendolyn Zabicki began thinking up the exhibition “Fête Galante” while in Paris in 2016 after seeing Antoine Watteau’s Pilgrimage to Cythera at the Louvre. The paintings in that part of the museum are “joyful and beautiful and the first group of paintings in the museum that felt really modern to me,” says Zabicki. After visiting the museum, she began to read up on the artist Watteau and the fête galante. In Pilgrimage to Cythera, figures dressed in lavish clothing are celebrating love, as ma...

I used to spend my Saturday nights under the bask of the disco ball, twirling in an underground space, or drenched in sweat swigging my cocktail by the DJ booth. I’m a self-proclaimed club girl. Slipping into a latex dress and dancing until 6 A.M. seems foreign to me now, as it’s been over six months since I last left a club setting. No resident DJs, no covers, no fishnet tights. In the early days of the pandemic, I watched a lot of livestream DJ sessions. Dancing alone in my living room, my ...