Free Republic

For many women on birth control, it’s pretty obvious that it has effects beyond simply preventing pregnancy. After all, birth control side effects are common, and some are more obvious than others. On the less obvious front is the possible effect of birth control on mutual attraction. That’s right: hormonal birth control can actually change who you’re attracted to—and who’s attracted to you. Now, before we unpack that mind-blowing assertion, I’m going to tell you a joke. What did the boy monkey say to his three favorite girl monkeys? Nothing; because his three favorite girl monkeys were injected with Depo-Provera....

Mask scolds have been monomaniacal about this virus as if there is no other way to die. What they don’t seem to understand is that this is no way to live.Those of us who are unsettled by mask mandates often cite the loss of freedoms as the reason behind our concerns, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. Mask mandates are not just dehumanizing in the context of today’s society, preventing us from reading the faces of others. There is yet another level of dehumanization. Getting “used to” masks suggests something more spiritually sinister: a Borg-like facelessness...

"The greatest and most challenging test for any man is to romance and pursue the same woman for a lifetime." In my opinion, the best movie about Vietnam is We Were Soldiers starring Mel Gibson. He plays lieutenant colonel Hal Moore who commanded the first major battle of that war known as the Battle of Ia Drang. Surrounded and facing overwhelming odds, Moore and his soldiers withstood the onslaught for a week. One of the things Moore credits as a reason for the success was the love and devotion the soldiers had for one another. However, equally as important, was...

Yitzchak Ben Mocha, an anthropologist with Zürich University, has conducted a study of human procreation habits as part of an effort to understand why humans prefer to mate in private. In his paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, he describes his analysis of other studies that involved human sexual practices, among other things. Anecdotal evidence suggests that human beings generally prefer to mate in private—but why? And why is it so rare? Other than humans, only one other species has demonstrated a preference for privacy during mating: Arabian babblers.

If we’re inclined to glide past the Marxist fingerprints all over America’s current turmoil, assuming its ideas will flare up for a while and then burn out, we’re not paying attention. American institutions have stoked the coals of Karl Marx’s destructive ideology, fanning its flames until his notions have consumed our cultural pillars.Far from being forgotten and irrelevant, Marx’s ideas pervade key institutions, from universities and schools, to mass media and popular entertainment, to major corporations and medicine, to the arts and sciences. They’ve even seeped into many churches and seminaries. Of course, they also define the Democratic Party, Joe...

Kim Thompson clutches a piece of paper in her well-manicured hands. On it she has written the names of boyfriends she met while dating online. She talks me through the list. First, there was complicated Chris, followed by Ben who was a disappointment in bed, and strange Tim who had a habit of talking non-stop about his collection of Hornby toy trains. Then there was the property developer who took her out for dinner, slopped spaghetti down his front and told Kim on their first date how much he liked sex. There are lots of others, too, whom she came...

The HGTV show House Hunters featured its first “Throuple”, or polyamorous couple, on its show Wednesday night. A “Throuple” is a relationship made up of three people. In this case, two women and a man named Lori, Geli, and Brian. The couple has two children, who are biologically related to Brian and Lori. In the episode, the trio describes their ideal home as one that has a three-car garage, a master bedroom that fits three people, and room for the two children. While looking at a house’s kitchen, Lori remarked on its size as a “couple’s kitchen, not a throuple’s...

Urban slang defines a person being "woke" or "wokeness" as someone being cognizant of "social justice." Social justice, in this worldview, encompasses racism, feminism, gender fluidity, inequality, and "undocumented visitors" (illegal aliens). The very word connotes a superior state of being in which any opposing opinion is perceived as a personal affront, or even attack, and triggers the necessity for safe spaces. Opposing viewpoints are bludgeoned on college campuses and in the mainstream media as racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, gun-toting, and Bible-thumping idiocies. Oh, the elitism — and blindness! The woke are really the unwoke — those with no sense...

Common life events that can cause homelessness You’ve heard it before: the root cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. That’s still true. However, anyone can become homeless. Setting aside the structural factors and systemic failures, here are the most common individual causes of homelessness. Because this is a more personal look at the subject, I’ve included examples of someone who became homeless in these various ways. Eviction or Foreclosure Unsurprisingly, losing your home can result in homelessness. It did for William when he lost his Detroit home to foreclosure in 2007 while undergoing treatment for colon cancer....

Transience is the very essence of the entertainment business, unpredictability its warp and weft. Early this month, the market research and data analytics firm YouGov published the results of a startling poll. According to interviews with 1,254 adult Americans, 30 percent of millennials have no best friends, 27 percent have no close friends and 22 percent have no friends at all. Not surprisingly, the report named them “the loneliest generation.” But loneliness is all around and perhaps nowhere more profoundly than in Hollywood. Here’s what surprised me: that the statistics weren’t worse, for older people as well as millennials. Look...

In American culture, we believe that men can never be entirely trusted in the realm of the physical. We collectively suspect that, given the opportunity, men will collapse into the sexual at a moment’s notice. That men don’t know how to physically connect otherwise. That men can’t control themselves. That men are dogs. There is no corresponding narrative about women. And where does this leave men? Physically and emotionally isolated. Cut off from the deeply human physical contact that is proven to reduce stress, encourage self esteem and create community. Instead, we walk in the vast crowds of our cities...

“My boyfriend can’t get over how many people I’ve slept with. I shouldn’t have told him, but he pressed me for the info. He was 'nerdy’ for most of high school and college, and just started coming into his own in his mid to late 20s. I have been dating consistently for years, and have had my fair share of hookups and relationships. And while I don’t think my number is crazy at all, he can’t deal with the discrepancy. We’ve been dating for two years and we’re serious. I don’t want to break up. How can I handle this?”...

When did the Friendzone become such a terrible place to live? In the wake of the Santa Barbara shootings, the unpleasant underbelly of the pickup artist community (PUA), involuntary celibates (incels), and other unhealthy refuges for lonely men have drawn scrutiny and condemnation. They describe themselves as exiles; in the case of the Isla Vista shooter, he decided to destroy the world he couldn’t enter, instead of building something new outside it. Their sense of exclusion is exacerbated by the stories we tell about sex as a prize you can earn and the tendency of the media to shame sexual...

Lonely millennials, you are not alone! A new survey found that over half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 do not have a romantic partner. In spite of the recent rise of dating apps, more young people than ever remain single, according to data released by the General Social Survey from researchers at the University of Chicago.

It is no secret having children can have a big impact on a couple’s relationship. And one Australian mum, Mel Watts, has touched hearts with an extremely “raw and honest” Facebook post about how her ten year relationship is no longer what it once was. “Husband. Wife. Roommates? If someone told me years ago that my relationship would one day change, I would have laughed and said no way,” she began in a Facebook post

Guidance about the compulsory lessons from age five is published tomorrow The lessons mean pupils will be taught about gay and transgender relationships Parents' rights to remove children from sex education aged 15 is also planned Primary school children from the age of five are to be taught about gay and transgender relationships as part of compulsory lessons. Guidance about the new lessons, which will be rolled out nationally next year, will be published tomorrow. It will also outline plans to withdraw parents' rights to remove their children from sex education aged 15 from 2020. New curriculum will bring an...

I Want Kids But My Husband Is Twice My Age MARRIED Melinda and Larry Mikla have an unconventional age gap in their relationship - of 30 years. The lovestruck pair get stares everywhere they go, from passers-by who think they are dad and daughter, or worse, a granddaughter and her grandpa. The pair met when retired police officer Larry was the first responder to a minor traffic incident involving Mindy’s car in Ohio, USA, in August 2012. Now the couple are trying for a baby, but don’t know if it will be possible due to Larry having a vasectomy 18...

The ABC is being slammed, yet again. This time for their most recent episode of Q&A, where sexologist Nikki Goldstein suggested socially inept people could benefit from sex bots. “I feel like there are people who really do struggle to have these intimate connections,” Goldstein said. “I’ve interviewed people before that go to brothels, and they feel that the only way they can have this girlfriend experience is to be paying for it. They don’t necessarily want to be there.” “Now when I think of sex robots and where we’re going with A.I. technology, I feel like that’s the perfect...

Azusa Pacific University's Board of Trustees has reinstated a ban on amorous LGBT relationships after the Christian university had announced that it was going to lift its ban on same-sex relationships among students. In a statement on Friday, the board said that officials never got approval to remove language from the student standards of conduct that prohibited same-sex relationships. The board also said they were standing firm in their convictions and will never "capitulate to outside pressures, be they legal, political, or social." "Last week, reports circulated about a change to the undergraduate student standards of conduct. That action concerning...

Dear Abby, My husband hasn't worked for the last 14 years. All he does is get dressed in the morning and hop in his fancy car to visit his cronies. I know he's cheated on me many times with young girls who could be his granddaughters. I know this because he brags about this to me. He smokes fancy cigars and drinks the most expensive liquor day and night. We sleep in separate beds because he tells me he knows I`m a lesbian and besides that, my varicose veins and fat behind turns him off. Should I clobber him with...