It is generally assumed that men DO and women FEEL — the rational, outward, action-led approach to life versus the emotional, inward, introspective one. This assumption has, and alas still does, dominate century-old and endless conversations around the differences between men and women. It is also used in a variety of ways, entering politics, social and cultural debates, being twisted, picked apart, used as a weapon and an excuse by all sides of the male/female divide. Of all

Our body is an amazing machine — intricate, full of metaphorical levers, buttons, pipes, nuts and bolts that work together like clockwork. Pain in a shoulder might be the consequence of a knee injury that causes us to walk with a different stance, which affects our spine and ultimately causes contraction of our shoulder muscles. This applies to muscular issues and to every other component of our body: such is the delicate and complex relationship between our parts. So it shou

Take It With a Pinch of Salt — Just Not Four of Them The taste on your lips is enticing, exciting, almost tingly. Without it, it is boring and bland. You sprinkle it even before knowing you want it, such is the power of habit when it comes to salt. Salt is a flavour enhancer and has been used for centuries as a natural preservative, so we see it on every restaurant table from the upmarket to the greasy spoon down the road without even having to ask for it, and we use it every

Alcohol, as they say, is a 'social lubricant'. In moderation — and I put emphasis on the word moderation — a drink might even decrease cases of ED, though this topic tends to be quite contested. Some compounds in wine and alcohol appear to have lightly positive effects on the cardiovascular system, relaxing the lining of blood vessels that transport blood around the body and to the penis. There are also some anti-inflammatory properties, a link between moderate alcohol consu

We’re Wired for It. That’s Exactly the Problem. As humans we are primed by Nature to seek out sugar, as well as fat. Sugar provides an instant energy boost that would have come in rather handy when being chased by a predator, or for survival in nutrient-poor environments. In our hunting and gathering past — which is, in evolutionary terms, not that long ago — sugar was not readily available. It was only about 150 years ago, with the mass processing of sugar cane and later sug

It is normal for even the most ardent and passionate lover to be tired, stressed, or unwell at times — and therefore not in the most appropriate state of mind for intimacy. These same reasons apply to women and vulva owners and affect their sexual response in a similar way, with two notable differences. The first is that the effects of these stressors are not as visible, since the similar erectile tissue that engorges during male erection is mostly hidden in the female body,

The beauty of medical terminology is that it is factual, clinical and unequivocal — essential for ensuring that what is being researched within the walls where white coats roam with stethoscopes is clearly and unambiguously understood. Erectile Dysfunction, or ED for those in a hurry, is the terminology used by the medical profession to refer to situations where, during a sexual encounter, a penis owner might not become erect at all, might not maintain an erection, or might f

Are the sexual concerns and arousal difficulties you experience always physical in nature? The answer is yes... and no. First things first: if you notice something different in your sexual response, something that feels odd or unusual... don't ignore it. Look into it. You owe it to yourself to take care of project YOU, because if you don't, nobody else will. An erection that's softer than you remember, feeling as if you need more stimulation to respond, experiencing arousal f

And now to Management. In our personal and professional lives, we all know THE MANAGER (capital letters entirely deliberate). The person in control, the one you turn to when you've got 90 seconds before the train leaves and you need telling which platform to leg it to—delivered in that calm, authoritative voice that sorts everything. Your Manager at work, the one you turn to for encouragement or when some unreasonable stakeholder from another department is giving you grief—th

Enter Team Sperm The infrastructure is ready, the Ops teams are watching the screens attentively, raring to go. Management presses the button – Management does love a bit of drama – and a large 'GO' appears on the screen down on the shop floor. From this moment onwards, it's absolute mayhem. What triggered the 'GO' in the first place? Well, we all know Management. Everything and anything sets them off, so a smile, a whiff of perfume, a glimpse of a body part, a passing fantas

What makes this contraption work? Well, the Operations Team, of course. The Operations Team live a pretty simple, relaxed life for the majority of the time—until they're called to the shop floor by Management, after which it's all hands on deck and a flurry of activity. Once there's a green light for 'GO' and the prospect of intercourse, a number of things happen quasi-simultaneously that end with an erect penis and a package of semen ready to travel through it to its destina

So how is this feat of biological engineering made? Infrastructure, Cargo, Management Team Infrastructure The Outside Team is made up of the penis and the scrotal sac that holds the two testes. The Inside Team is rather more complex, but when you put it all together it makes perfect sense—nature excels at this sort of thing. A cross-section of the penis reveals three parallel tissue structures, rather alarmingly named 'corpus cavernosa' and 'corpus spongiosum', which really j

Since knowledge is power, let's get to know the male reproductive organ a little more…intimately, shall we? Time to debunk a few myths that refuse to die. Myth 1: There's a bone in the penis Believe it or not, in this day and age some people still reckon there's an actual bone in there contributing to erections. It doesn't help that we enthusiastically throw around the word 'boner' every time the penis stands to attention, and the tension and contraction felt in the groin cou

Well, this section would have to be split into parts, right? Such is the depth and breadth of the single most important organ in male anatomy, according to every man. Yep, I'm referring to a man's brain... what were you thinking? The brain is the main driver when it comes to penis behaviour, which—surprisingly—is not the steel rod always ready for action that the world of fantasy has led men and women to believe. To be fair, the external male genitalia has always been repres

Spontaneous sex gets hyped like it's the sexual Olympics—but science says the planned stuff can be just as hot, if not hotter. The "real men just pounce" myth? Nah!! Back in your teens and early twenties, your hormones were basically a car alarm going off 24/7—ready to go at the slightest breeze. That so-called "spontaneous" sex was really just your biology ready to hump the sofa. But grown-up sex? That needs a bit more strategy than just showing up. The Myth: Always Ready, A

If one is to take bodice ripping page turners and social media as scientific evidence, then every man is in the midst of a sex frenzy, or he is thinking about it, or he is recovering from glorious sex, rearing to go at it again. If this were true, one might wonder how all these men manage to get through a full day of work, commute, family, friends, sport and all other commitments when their mind's only focus is sex and the glorious Commander stands rigid and ready to fire 24/

This is my new series of shorts on male sexuality entitled M.A.N. UP, or Myths, Anxieties & Nonsense... UnPacked. What's triggered this desire to delve into the complexities surrounding male sexuality now? Well, it's November, and in the UK this means two things for men: Movember and International Men's Day. Movember ( https://uk.movember.com/?home ) is a global movement that started in Australia in the early 2000s. It takes place each November to raise awareness and funds fo