What are good resources for learning about sexual health?

Planned Parenthood health topics.

Your question is a bit vague. Is your friend having some sort of problem or concern, or does she (I assume she since one of your topics is vaginas) just want some anatomic/physiologic education?

I deal with this a lot in my work. If your friend has something she wants looked at, try google images. Just type in the name of an STD, and prepare to be grossed out.

@shilolo: Both. She has a paranoia that she has some kind of deformity although she knows rationally this is unlikely, so we were trying to find good but varied anatomical information. Both this question and said paranoia arose from an embarrassing problem (highly localized and intense pain during intercourse) and she could not find any useful information by way of google.

@tinyfaery: Grossness abounds. Education seems harder to come by.

@Niki, With respect to pain during intercourse, you (and she) should know that this is a common problem known as dyspareunia. I know this can be a very sensitive subject, but she should talk to her doctor or OB about it. There are a lot of possible causes, and many are treatable. As far as anatomic variation, a quick google images search shows several pictures that she can compare to.

@shilolo: Thanks for the links. My advice was to call her ob (believe it or not, I have no expertise in this region) but I was also surprised at how little legitimate info seems to be out there when I started looking for something useful to tell her. (Like when I was researching delirium’s porn question this morning—also did not find a lot of info). Anyway. Thanks.

http://goaskalice.com is a great site for information about sexual health, sexuality, emotional health, and any other health issues you mighthave questions about. I think it’s backed or maintained by professors and some students at Columbia University. I would definitely check it out if I were you.

@Niki: is the intense pain during intercourse a new thing or has she always suffered from it?

This could be a possible explanation: wiki

@mabd: New, and we discussed that already.

Self exploration.

I would recommend a book called Our Bodies, Ourselves by the Boston Women’s Health Collective. It’s an invaluable women’s health resource, with tons of information. It has good (and varied) anatomical information. However, if your friend is experiencing pain, I would strongly suggest that she see a gynocologist.

Occ: Great ideas. What’s the latest edition of OBO? (I was sorry not to have seen you at the Finkel reunion).

I second occ’s suggestion.. that’s what I was going to say. :) Our Bodies, Ourselves is written by women for women, it’s got loads of information that is invaluable. As a plus, it’s written in a casual, matter-of-fact way, without a lot of grossness (in my opinion)

There are many topics inside that I feel are useful for women.. Sexuality, anatomy, the ranges involved therein, you name it. I once read an older version (circa late ‘70s), but if I’m not mistaken, there are diagrams of the female anatomy in there and I really wouldn’t be surprised if they touched on various female problems, including pain during intercourse.

There are some cheap copies on Amazon, especially if you get one of the older editions.

if your looking to talk to your friend, try www.teenwire.com its more of a website to answer FAQ’s. about topics that come up in the “talk”.
its a great site! check it out.