Let's Talk About Sex: Be Your Own Valentine

Well, aunties, we've come to that point in our episodic relationship where the conversation turns to love and sex. 'Tis the season for roses and boxed chocolates after all.

Red and pink pile-up aside, Valentine's Day does present an excellent opportunity for me to ask a trio of esteemed folks about engaging in "those" types of discussions with the younger set.

This auntie chat has tons of advice and resources from wise adults that I wish I'd had access to when I was growing up: Karen Yates is a somatic sex educator and host of the podcast Wild & Sublime; triple-threat Andrea Fellows Fineberg is a librettist, director of community engagement at Santa Fe Opera as well as host of Key Change, one of the organziation's podcasts; and Helen King is a New Zeland-based podcast editor and host of The C Word Radio.

I'm thrilled that our understanding of consent has expanded and that those lessons are shared earlier now (yay!). On the flip side, body shame and fear of nonbinary expressions of gender persists (boo!). So, how should aunties proceed?

With love, of course, that's our superpower!

Clear-eyed honesty, too, when it comes to any topic––but especially love and sex-–is also one of our superpowers (we've so many!). However, a question submitted to the "Ask Aunties" segment of this episode tests the possible limits of auntie honesty. My guests provide the most thoughtful (and honest!) answers, as you'd expect.

Ultimately, we aunties are at our best when we're present for conversations about sex and love, vulnerable in answering, and as joyfully curious about the topic as those asking the questions.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The Simpsons Valentine's clip - You choo-choo-choose me

Julián is a Mermaid - Jessica Love

Scarleteen: Sex Education For the Real World

S.E.X: The All-You-Need-To-Know Sexuality Guide To Get You Through Your Teens And Twenties - Heather Corinna

To Raise a Boy: Classrooms, Locker Rooms, Bedrooms, and the Hidden Struggles of American Boyhood - Emma Brown

Bookshop.org (gift shopping that supports indie bookstores AND Improve With Auntie)

CONNECT WITH OUR GUESTS

Karen Yates

The Wild & Sublime Podcast – Wild & Sublime

Andrea Fellows Fineberg

Podcasts | Santa Fe Opera

Helen King

Cancer Support | The C Word Radio

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