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Now we have another thing to celebrate: International Clitoris Awareness Week!

Say what? First of all, yay for someone finally not being afraid to say clitoris. And second, yay for a whole week dedicated to a great part of the body!

This is the first ever Clitoris Awareness Week, and it’s about time. The people behind this brilliant idea are Clitoraid, an organization that celebrates sexual freedom and helps victims of female genital mutilation.

Clitoraid spokeswoman, Nadine Gary, stated “Clitoraid is proud to announce its first annual International Clitoris Awareness Week, May 6 to May 12.” Gary and the rest of the Clitoraid group have worked for years repairing clitorises and helping victims. In her statement, she revealed that they are opening “the world’s first Clitoral Restoration Hospital” on October 8th.

She told the Huffington Post, “We’ve noticed that the clitoris has not gotten its spot in the limelight. It makes people feel uncomfortable. For this week, we don’t want to focus on genital mutilation.”

International Clitoris Awareness Week will be held during the first full week of May, which is National Masturbation Month. Gary says that masturbation is something that will be addressed during ICAW, “We want to point it out and talk about it. Maybe some women will go to masturbation seminars.” Obviously, we’re all for masturbation here at Gurl! Self love is very important.

So how can you celebrate? Gary says “Whether through educational lectures, art exhibits, songs and dance, or a ‘girl’s night’ of sharing, each woman can celebrate sexual beauty the way she chooses.” Clitoraid is will be hosting events in the Las Vegas area where they’re based, but you can celebrate any way you want! Gather your friends for a girls’ night and talk openly about sex and masturbation. Or spend some time to explore your sexuality on your own!

I’m so thrilled that this week is happening, even if it’s starting on a small scale. Why shouldn’t we talk about clitorises? Why shouldn’t we talk about vaginas? Why shouldn’t we talk about masturbation and sex?

The more we talk about these things, the less power the stigmas have. Every woman should feel comfortable expressing (or not expressing) her sexuality ,and talking about your clitoris is just one of the ways you can do that. It’s an amazing part of your body, and you should celebrate it!

This week, show your clitoris some love!

What do you think about International Clitoris Awareness Week? Are you afraid to talk about your clitoris? Tell us in the comments!
 

And let’s stop being embarrassed about our periods too

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She’s totally cool with self-exploration, but doesn’t really talk about her experiences as much as some of her peers. Well, she wanted a chance to defend her side of the story and show that thought she may not be someone who talks a lot about it, that definitely doesn’t mean she thinks there’s anything wrong with it. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! Take a look:

My friends are all super open when it comes to talking about their bodies, including masturbation.

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I am a little bit more on the quieter side.

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I guess I’m just not as forward when it comes to talking about… you know, private stuff you do.

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But even still, I know that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it!

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It’s nothing to be ashamed of and there are a whole bunch of reasons to masturbate!

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Okay if I’m being totally honest, at first, maybe thinking about doing it made me a little nervous.

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If you’re taking care of business all by yourself, that means you don’t have to worry about some stressful things

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And there’s not really a wrong way to do it, so nothing really to worry about there!

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It’s okay to do if you’re single or in a relationship. Everyone deserves to focus on themselves sometimes!

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Oh, but one thing: you probably want to make sure you have privacy when you do it.

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I mean, it’s never happened to me, but I feel like getting caught would be mortifying.

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So to sum it all up, while at first I felt like I was weird for not being as open as my friends about masturbation…

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…I realized it’s my body, my business.

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As long as I know it’s okay and what works for me, that’s really all that matters!

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Do you talk about masturbation with your friends? Tell us in the comments.

Can Masturbating Too Much Ruin Your Relationship?

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We’re always talking about the benefits of masturbation on Gurl, because… hey, masturbation is awesome! I don’t think it’s too hard to agree with that. But is there such a thing as overdoing it when it comes to masturbation? In fact – can masturbating too much actually ruin your relationship? A new study says, yeah, it’s possible.

Relax, relax. I’m not taking this study seriously and you probably shouldn’t either. Well actually, if you’re legitimately addicted to masturbation, you should take it seriously because then, yeah, your addiction is probably ruining your relationship. But if you’re just a girl who enjoys having a little fun on her own every once in a while (or everyday, whatever), you probably don’t have anything to worry about.

Why? Well, this study that says too much masturbating can possibly ruin your relationship is a study that was done on people who are legit addicted to masturbation. You can see how that may cause a problem.

Apparently, the survey was done to increase tolerance of excessive masturbation, because although it’s a serious issue, I guess not many people take it very seriously. I can see how it may come off as just plain creepy or as a lame excuse to some people, but guys, this is a real thing and really can cause some big problems in a relationship.

Do you have to worry about it? Probably not. If you’re masturbating multiple times a day every day, if you’d constantly rather play with yourself than hook up with someone else, if you feel like you can’t go a few hours without pleasuring yourself… then yeah, maybe you have an issue.

But if you’re just taking some time to masturbate every day? No worries! As we’ve said before, masturbating is fun and harmless. It’s a great way to get in touch with your sexuality, to figure out what you really like, to get in a better mood or to feel relaxed after a stressful day. Did I mention that it’s fun?

In conclusion, masturbating is not going to ruin your relationship. Like all great things, too much of it will cause problems (life is unfair). But as long as you’re not obsessed with masturbation, you should be fine. In fact, I’m encouraging you to masturbate, whether you’re in a relationship or not. I’m not trying to be creepy – it’s good for you!

Has masturbation ever ruined any of your relationships? Do you know anyone who is addicted to masturbation? Do you think you do it too much? Tell me in the comments!

Why one girl used to be terrified of masturbation

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We write about a whole lot of stuff here, but one topic that never fails to get a conversation going is masturbation. So naturally, when we went mining through the things you have said in the past, we found some wise and honest words from you on that very topic that we wanted to share. These are some of the best things that you have said about masturbation. Take a look!

From “Why Masturbate? Five Reasons To Use Your Five Fingers!”

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From “The Complete Guide To Masturbation”

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From “Why Masturbate? Five Reasons To Use Your Five Fingers!”

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From “The Complete Guide To Masturbation”

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From “Survey Says: Are You Down With Self-Exploration?”

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From “Survey: All About Masturbation”

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From “50 Cent Teachers Us About Masturbation”

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From “Top Ten Reasons To Masturbate”

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From “Survey Says: Are You Down With Self-Exploration?”

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Do you have your own thoughts on masturbation to share? Tell us in the comments. 

10 Songs About Vaginas You Should Listen To Right Now

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If you’ve ever wondered how to orgasm, don’t worry: you’re totally not alone. It’s really easy for guys to get off, but unfortunately, it’s not so simple for us girls. Things down there are a little bit more complicated. So, how do you have an orgasm? We might not be able to tell you exactly what to do, but we can give you some tips that will definitely help you out. Ready to orgasm? Check out our tips:

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Relax!

The number one secret to having an orgasm? Five little letters: R-E-L-A-X. If you're stressed about having one or not having one, um, you're probably not going to have one. Thinking about it or worrying about it isn't going to help. So just take a deep breath, calm down and enjoy whatever is happening - if you orgasm, awesome! If you don't, there's always next time.

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Set The Mood

In order to relax or get in the mood, you might need to change up some of your surroundings. If nice lingerie gets you in the mood, put some on. If you want a more romantic atmosphere, light some candles and put on some soft music. Want some serious alone time? Go in the bath. Until you can learn to tune out the distractions around you, make your environment super relaxing.

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Explore Down There

And I don't mean masturbate (yet). There's a lot going on down there, and you should get to know your body. Sit in front of a mirror and check out what's happening. The fastest way to masturbate is by stimulating your clitoris, so try to figure out where that is. But I wouldn't bother looking for the elusive G-spot. Just focus on figuring out what's what and where everything is.

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Be Willing To Experiment

Sometimes the first thing we try when attempting to masturbate won't work. If you haven't been able to masturbate through fingering or intercourse, don't feel like you're weird. Just be open to trying new things - look into sex toys, maybe watch porn or think about different techniques. The same things don't always work for everyone, so be open to the possibility that you might need to experiment a little.

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Masturbate

Okay, now you can masturbate. Exploring your own sexuality is one of the best ways to figure out how to orgasm. Masturbating is great for so many reasons - it's healthy, it will make you feel good and it will teach you more about yourself, just to name a few. Don't forget to relax and enjoy yourself - it may take a while before you get into the right groove.

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Do Kegels

Yes, you can do exercises for your vagina. Kegels will strengthen your vaginal muscles and can make it easier for you to orgasm. Do them by tightening and then relaxing your vaginal muscles (think about what you do when you really have to pee). You can do these anywhere at any time without anyone noticing.

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Don't Fake It!

When you're with a partner and you feel like the big O just isn't going to happen, don't resort to faking it. First of all, if he finds out, he'll be really hurt. Second of all, that's not going to help you in the future - if a guy thinks he's doing the right thing (but he's actually not), he's just going to do it again. Instead, instruct him on what to do. Believe it or not, guys love the advice.

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Just Be Confident

This pretty much goes hand-in-hand with relaxing. Maybe you're not orgasming because you're worried about what you'll look like, what you'll say or basically just what will happen. But don't worry about that. Who cares what your O face looks like? Who cares what kind of noises you make? If you're with a dude, he'll be so thrilled you're into it, he won't care. And if you're by yourself, whatever! The orgasm is worth it.

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Do you ever have trouble having an orgasm? Do you think these tips are helpful? What would you like to add? Do you have any other sex questions? Tell me in the comments.

How do I get my guy to last longer in bed?

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I never realized just how much I love Anna Kendrick until yesterday, when she put up what might be The Greatest Tweet Of All Time. And yes, it needs to be capitalized – it was that great.

So what exactly did Anna say that inspired over 20,000 RT’s and a nice spot on the Google trends list? This little gem: “Ugh – NEVER going to a Ryan Gosling movie in a theater again. Apparently masturbating in the back row is still considered “inappropriate”.”

UM. Guys. This made me laugh out loud and then favorite it and retweet it and then gush to all of my coworkers and friends about how amazing Anna Kendrick is. Seriously, what celebs ever tweet legitimately funny statements like that? They’re usually just like, “I love my fans” (Justin Bieber), “I had SUCH a hard workout today!” (Kim Kardashian) or they just tweet things that are obviously sponsored (Selena Gomez… I mean Selena Gomez’s publicist).

I mean, it’s not like I really think Anna was sitting in the back of a movie theater doing the deed by herself (that would be insane and also I feel like illegal?), but still. Celebs (especially the ladies) rarely talk about masturbation because it’s a generally taboo subject. It’s pretty cool to see one female celeb joking about it like it’s no big deal. It’s like, hello, women masturbate too! And who cares? We all do it. And let’s face it, a lot of us probably do it to Ryan Gosling because… look at him. Just look at him.

Anyway, do yourself a favor and get more acquainted with Anna. Her tweets are almost always this hilarious and sometimes I read them and I’m like, “What?! I was just thinking that! God, we have so much in common.” and it’s fun. She says things like this: “Right now I am watching Hulu on my laptop even though I have the same show on my DVR… but my remote is over there.” (That’s basically my life) and also like this:

So basically in my dreams we’re going to be BFF forever and forever and ever. Okay, bye, going to procrastinate working and look up Anna Kendrick interviews on YouTube all day!

Are you a fan of Anna Kendrick? Who is your favorite celebrity to follow on Twitter? Do you think her tweet was as awesome as I do? Tell me in the comments!

Is Taylor Swift secretly a mean girl? One girl says yes

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Masturbation may not be something that you chat about with all of your friends, but let’s face it: it’s a normal thing that most people participate in on a regular basis. Masturbating is nothing to be ashamed of and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to pleasure yourself… but still, we all seem a little afraid to open up about it.

Whether or not you’re one of those people who can talk about masturbating like it’s no big deal or someone who keeps that bit of personal stuff private, take this survey. No one has to know which answers are yours! Just copy and paste the questions into the comments and start getting personal.

1. First things first: do you masturbate?

2. How often do you masturbate?

3. When did you first start masturbating?

4. If you have never done it, why not?

5. Did you ever feel afraid to pleasure yourself?

6. What is your preferred method of masturbation?

7. Do you talk about masturbating with your friends?

8. Has anyone ever caught you in the act?

9. Have you ever caught anyone else in the act?

10. Would you ever masturbate in front of a boyfriend or girlfriend?

11. Does talking about masturbation make you uncomfortable?

12. In your opinion, how much is too much when it comes to masturbation?

13. Where are you usually when you masturbate?

14. Would you ever consider masturbation a form of cheating?

15. Have you ever seen porn movies?

16. Would you get offended if a friend talked to you about masturbating?

17. How would you feel if you found out your crush thought about you when masturbating?

18. Has anyone ever told you that masturbation is wrong?

19. What would you do if someone caught you masturbating?

20. Would you ever do it in front of a pet?

Take more fun surveys here!

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Up until I was about 12-years-old, I was terrified to masturbate. And to have sex. And to have oral sex. And even to just touch a guy on a body part that wasn’t usually visible. It wasn’t because I was worried about doing something wrong or getting hurt or embarrassing myself. No, it was because I was scared that I was going to get damned to hell by God and Jesus themselves, because that’s what my 7th grade teacher told me.

Let me explain: Up until high school began, I was a Catholic school kid. I wore a uniform to school every day, had nuns as teachers, got detention if I chewed gum and took a daily religion class, where I learned all about Catholicism. In sixth grade, we got The Talk. My class was split until a girl group and a boy group and hearded into the auditorium, where they showed us “naked” pictures of girls and boys and explained how sex and the reproductive system worked.

After drilling it into our heads that sex was something only married couples did only when they wanted to have babies, our teachers warned us never to have premarital sex unless we wanted to go to hell and have God hate us. After our school Talk, my teacher encouraged our parents to have The Talk at home too, so that my school didn’t have to deal with it (I’m guessing). When my parents approached me, I cried hysterically the entire time and then locked myself in my room to pray because I didn’t want to go to hell.

In 7th grade, my teacher, an extremely strict and old nun, talked to us more about sexuality. She loved to scream to get her point across and obviously I was so scared of her I couldn’t look her in the eye. On the day she told us about masturbation, she slammed her religion textbook shut and stood in front of us angrily. According to her, masturbation was a sin that was not to be tolerated. She told us that masturbation was basically a one-way ticket to purgatory, where we would have to sit and make our sins right before we could enter heaven. Purgatory was not good, she said. She said that if we failed to right our sins, we would end up stuck in purgatory forever, or we would end up in hell. Then she yelled at us a lot about why we should never consider masturbating or having sex, unless we wanted God to look down on us in anger.

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I was terrified. The boys in my class who were already chock full of hormones were shaking a little bit (except for the rebels – they were like, whatever man). I couldn’t help but wonder how God would know we were masturbating. Was he watching all of us? How did he do it? Did he make a a list of all the times that we had touched ourselves? If I went to purgatory, would I ever end up in heaven? My teacher had succeeded in freaking me the heck out.

For a little while, I was scared of anything sexual because I really didn’t want to go to hell. But then I switched over to public school for high school, and things started to change. In health class, I learned more about masturbation and sex, facts that I had never once heard in Catholic school. I heard my peers talk about that kind of stuff like it was no big deal. No one ever said that doing it was a sin – in fact, all everyone seemed to talk about was how great it was. I thought, if everyone is doing it, then does that mean everyone is going to purgatory? I decided that that wasn’t possible.

Once, I let someone in on my fears. I admitted to my first boyfriend that masturbation kind of freaked me out. After he practically died of shock, he sputtered out, “but why?!” I told him that I didn’t want to go to hell and all of that good stuff. At first, I thought he was going to laugh, but instead he just gave me a really weird look and asked me why I would think that. When I told him what my old school taught me, he shook his head and said, “Dude, that is so wrong.” 

After a while, I stopped being so afraid. I learned that while Catholicism is against masturbation, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world is. Now, I have nothing against people who stick strictly to Catholicism. That’s your belief and your choice and I’m not going to judge you for it. But here’s the thing: I don’t think masturbation is wrong. What do I think is wrong? The fact that my school scared the crap out of a bunch of innocent young teens who were trying to figure out all of this sexual stuff on their own. Making yourself feel good is healthy, normal and completely acceptable. I still call myself a Catholic, but I have to say I’m glad I stopped going to Catholic school and stopped being afraid of everything that had to do with sex.

Can you relate to this story? Does your religion tell you that masturbating and sex is wrong? Do you think that’s true? Tell me in the comments.

How to masturbate the right way your first time

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What’s going on down there, girl? | Source: ShutterStock

How much vaginal discharge is normal?

ChickRx expert Dr. Diana Hoppe, Ob/Gyn and Sexual Health Expert says:

The amount of vaginal discharge that is “normal” varies. Like anything that goes on with your body, “normal” changes from person to person.

Also, with vaginal discharge, what’s normal for you will vary depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle. Right after your period, there probably won’t be much discharge. At mid-cycle, around 14 days from the first day of your period, there may be quite a bit of thin, string-like, egg-white textured discharge. This is right around when you’re ovulating, which is when your egg is released.

At around day 21, the discharge will become thicker and less in amount. It will be white and mucusy. And then around day 28, you’ll get your period which should be bright to deep red discharge that can be thin or thicker and will likely have some clots.

Vaginal discharge is totally normal and means that your vagina is healthy. If you notice, I didn’t focus on amount of discharge above, but color and consistency. That’s what you should be focusing on when it comes to discharge and wondering if it’s “normal” or not.

If any discharge you have seems off color, has a funky smell or feels different that your typical vaginal discharge, head on over to a doctor. Chances are it’s not a big deal and if it is something, it can be fixed pretty easily. Going to a doctor when in doubt is always a good idea.

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Ask an expert: How should I masturbate?

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