Last week, I was enjoying a rare afternoon off at home when the phone rang. It was a cold call.

“Hello, am I speaking to Mrs. T-? This is David from Dodgy Computer Services Inc. How are you today?”

Like most people, I’m not a fan of sales calls. Especially when they’re from individuals who might be trying to hack into my PC. But what annoyed me most wasn’t the call itself. It was the way the salesman had addressed me.

I picked up the phone and said, “That’s not me!,” as I often do when callers have the audacity to assume I share my husband’s last name. “Are you telling me my husband is married—to SOMEONE ELSE? Called Mrs. T-? Who lives HERE? Where is she? … //READ MORE

Let’s be honest, we’ve all seen some porn. Some of us won’t admit it, but you can bet that almost every guy and woman you know has at least caught a glimpse of a skin flick. Let’s put it this way: The men are not the only ones with curiosity and a laptop.

I didn’t come into contact with porn until after college, when a boyfriend brought over an adult movie. Before that, the closest I got was sneaking a peek at my mother’s copy of Shirley Conran’s sexy bestseller Lace (Remember, “Which one of you bitches is my mother?”), which describes how a young Middle Eastern prince is sent away to be trained in the art of lovemaking. Since then, I’ve often wondered why all guys aren’t shipped out to learn a few techniques before being unleashed on the female population. Unfortunately, for this vital information most guys must rely on their dads, with their outdated birds-and-bees talks; their friends (God help us for the stuff we learn on the street); plus maybe some well-intended but insufficient sex-ed class. So how can we blame them for turning to the Internet to pick up some skills (as if that’s the only reason they watch)?

The problem is, porn doesn’t teach anyone how to be a good lover. Which may be why, although some women can tolerate watching with their partners, or alone to get turned on, they usually have their share of complaints about adult films. Studies have shown that the viewing of too much porn can desensitize someone enough to make … //READ MORE

Everyone finds themselves confused, at least once or twice in their lives, about matters of the heart. Over the course of the past few months, I’ve had around a dozen conversations with friends and acquaintances—whether they’re married or single, gay or straight, old or young—who suspect they are dating the wrong person, married to the wrong person, or coveting the wrong person. Or sometimes the problem is that they’re with a person at all, when they just want to be alone, or snuggling up to their pet chihuahua watching The Real Housewives.

Of course, the reason the person is “wrong” for them varies. They could have the wrong career, the wrong personality, or the wrong attitude about commitment. They could have incompatible personalities, incompatible work schedules, or incompatible levels of passion. Sometimes wrong just translates to crazy, or not crazy enough. There are many reasons these objects of affection are possibly not the right choice. … //READ MORE

There I was completely naked, face down, hands tied behind my back in a strange man’s bed, having some of the most amazing sex of my life.

Let’s be clear: I’m not just any woman on the prowl. I’m a mother of two, living in a conservative East Coast town. I have a successful career—and a husband with whom I’m deeply in love and in lust. I just happen to like sex with others as well.

And I’m not alone. In his seminal 2013 book What Do Women Want?, Daniel Bergner has my back. “Flagging sex drive is not just an inevitability for women—it is specifically the result of long-term monogamy [and] can be entirely overridden by the appearance of a new sexual partner.” He shatters the myth that men are hornier, citing a study in which women’s lady parts were measured for blood flow as they watched a broad range of porn. And they got off on all of it—even on the footage of apes having sex. … //READ MORE

It had been one of those days that left me physically and emotionally drained. Bone-tired and preparing dinner, I looked over at my girls, 3 and 5, who were parked in front of the TV. It was a welcome respite after they’d spent the previous hour hounding me for more snacks and arguing with each other. My husband, Chris, was stuck in traffic and running late, so I started on the kids’ dinner first.

After the girls ate, I noticed something brown on my shirtsleeve. Had I given either one of them chocolate today? My 3-year-old had needed help wiping when she went earlier. Hmmm…Push that thought aside. When Chris finally walked through the door, he looked exhausted. He’d just spent the past three days working a trade show, where he’d been standing for hours at a time, talking endlessly to customers and taking clients out for late dinners, only to face emails and paperwork when he returned to his hotel room.

For the rest of the evening, we went through the motions of eating, clearing plates, bathing the girls, getting them into their pajamas and helping them brush their teeth. By the time we read them bedtime stories and put out the lights, sleep sounded like a divine idea to both of us too. It’s hard to remember that only a few short years ago, at that time of night we’d probably be hitting the sheets for more interesting reasons than the need for shut-eye. … //READ MORE

When it comes to love, sex, marriage and motherhood, French women say relax. And we Americans should listen, according to Debra Ollivier’s bestseller What French Women Know, a witty examination of the French feminine mystique.

For generations, the world has known that French ladies are sophisticated and confident, sassy and sensual, and can rock a bustier like nobody’s business. But what we may not have noticed, says Ollivier, is that their views on relationships are in some ways strikingly different from American women’s, so much so that French females are able to enjoy life exponentially more than we are. Surprise, surprise.

Now, Ollivier, an American who has lived and raised children in Paris, is not saying French women are perfect. She is simply suggesting that we … //READ MORE