Inspiration, Encouragement & Strength
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Andrea Nemerson
I'm a San Francisco-based sex educator and writer. My sex column has run for 10 years in assorted alternative newsweeklies including The San Francisco Bay Guardian, where I'm currently featured. I'm also a teacher and workshop presenter (on the training staff of San Francisco Sex Information since 1990 and a frequent presenter at other organizations) and, more recently, the mother of extraordinarily charming twins.
Most Recent Articles
Do We Ever Really Get Better At Dating?
Thursday, 14 October 2010 13:03
Yes, that's my big question of the day. Is "dating" such an adolescent preoccupation that we are doomed to recapitulate our own spotty youth every time that phone rings or, worse, doesn't? Is there anything to be learned from the seemingly&
The Top Six Post-Divorce Dating Errors
Tuesday, 14 September 2010 04:35
If we want to get better at something we have to know where we're screwing up, and after kicking this one around a little it appears that the Big Six post-divorce dating errors go something like this, in no particular&
The Condom Conversation
Thursday, 10 June 2010 09:09
So where did we leave the safer-sex discussion? I know I was letting my own probably-too-mixed feelings about defaulting immediately to latex in a new sexual situation flap freely in the breeze, but what about you? Are you a "partner picker," like…
Is Menstrual Suppression Right For You?
Saturday, 17 November 2007 01:30
"The whole gang is going swimming..." the old ads proclaimed, over a black-and-white "before" sketch of poor Janie, in her pleated skirt and saddle shoes, gazing moodily out the window, stuck at home once again because it's one of those days. Of…
Is Menstrual Suppression Harmful?
Sunday, 18 November 2007 23:56
The idea of menstrual suppression offends some women ("what's wrong with women's bodies the way they were meant to be?") and frightens others ("Doesn't that cause cancer?") but women's health professionals are generally pretty blasé about it and…
Having Sex Again With A New Guy For The First Time Since Your Divorce?
Wednesday, 10 November 2010 08:11
In all the years I've been writing passionately as a love and sex advisor, there are two appropriate topics that seem to come up more often than others when it comes to getting back in the dating game after having been out of it&
Sex Diseases: The Other "D" Word
Wednesday, 29 September 2010 09:01
"You pays your money," I said as we discussed taking the occasional foray into un-safer sex now that you might be dating again for the first time, in a long time, since you married, and more importantly, since your&
Why Some Experts Think You Should Date Your Friends Post-Divorce
Wednesday, 17 November 2010 10:44
"Date my friends? What do you mean, 'date my friends?' My friends are married!"True, after you're married, most of your friends end up being other married couples, whether because everybody in your old crowd climbed life' &
Dating Again After Divorce: The Downsides Of Dating Friends
Tuesday, 23 November 2010 14:01
In my last column, I talked about dating friends and why it may feel comfortable. But there are some downsides to friend-dating. "Of course, there are some pitfalls to…
Dating Again Post Divorce With Ten More Pounds And My Saggy Best
Tuesday, 18 January 2011 11:48
"There's no entitlement to a media-approved body at any age or parity," my friend Elise said tartly, when I broached the subject of dating again after time and childbearing have done their stretching and saggy best.She's tart&
Dating Again And Getting Naked With A Stranger
Friday, 07 January 2011 06:50
"How do you feel about exposing the body you have now?" I wrote to a friend we'll call "Charlotte", who's obviously attractive by any conventional measure (adorable, actually) but is in her 40s, divorced with two tween-age kids and&
A Ladies Guide To Condoms
Friday, 04 January 2008 15:45
This time of year, when everything is shopping and shopping guides and guides to shopping guides anyway, why not a shopping guide? I think we've already determined that if you're dating you're using condoms, but which kinds, and why? What makes a …
9 Hot Tips for a Post-Divorce Sex Life Makeover
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 09:18
Sex after divorce can be intimidating: a new partner can mean a new bed, a new body, and new â well â techniques. Usually, though, the hardest part is just becoming psychologically ready to date again after divorce. &
A Ladies Guide To Condoms: Part II
Sunday, 13 January 2008 13:05
So what don't women like in a condom? Bumps and ridges, for one. Anything which might conceivably add stimulation can also add irritation, and those little nipples and pimples have little to offer as far as the good stuff goes, bringing only the…
Is Middle Age Depression Inevitable?
Friday, 23 April 2010 09:19
I recently read a few articles on the inevitability of depression as middle age draws closer. Did you see those stories? They were everywhere, but no need to scramble around for any; they all read pretty much exactly like this one, from
Forget Surviving Divorce... How Did You Make It Through Valentines Day?
Tuesday, 15 February 2011 10:19
A few years back a colleague asked me to come up with slogan for a fundraiser he was organizing, a Valentine's Day reading of stories about awkward sex, disappointing relationships and terrible break-ups called "My Sucky&
The Little Red Flags of Post-Divorce Dating
Friday, 26 April 2013 14:15
In the universe of post-divorce dating, or any dating for that matter, confused signals can occur — all sorts of misfires and miscommunications. Take Aurora's case, for example. When her date signed a very early e-mail with an effusive "I adore…
Friends With What Sort of Benefits?
Thursday, 23 February 2012 07:58
I ran a little piece here not long ago called "In Defense Of The One-Night Stand," making the point that sex, love, and intimacy are three related but disparate states, and that you don't have to have all three in play in order to make a satisfying…