Free test kits help curb sex disease
Alarm after cases of chlamydia more than double over six years.
O come all ye faithful
We hear plenty about infidelity today, but couples who stick together say monogamy brings emotional and sexual satisfaction. Are we coming to the end of the affair? By Yvonne Roberts.
Is he a man or a mouse?
The loyal man is a British national treasure - just ask Kate Moss and Kate Beckinsale. But some still read new man as doormat... By Liz Hoggard.
Who says women can't be sexy with a five o'clock shadow?
Liz Hoggard: Nobody, but nobody, celebrates the female moustache. Which is strange, really, when well-trimmed body hair has become a minor art form.
As erotic as a paperclip convention
Being interested in sex doesn't make you interesting, if the crowds flocking to the Erotica show in London's Olympia this weekend are anything to go by.
Sex is not just for grown-ups
The age of consent has been set at 16 for the past century. Now, the Government wants to tighten the law. In this provocative and personal argument Miranda Sawyer says the Home Office is wrong: it would be better for everyone if we lowered the age to 12.
Dating and mating for over-35s
Mergers, acquisitions, takeover bids... that's the vocabulary as would-be wives take a business approach to relationships, report Paul Harris in New York and David Smith in London.
Women log on for one-night stands
Thousands visit 'no strings' London sex site.
Net Porn
Decca Aitkenhead: Millions of men log on to adult sex sites every day. With unlimited porn just a click away, cybersex is changing the way men view real women. But what happens to their emotions when the screen shuts down? (30 March 2003)
An A-Z of the British and sex
As a law banning sex in public was unveiled this week, Tom Templeton and Tom Reilly celebrate our quirky relationship with sex. (02 February 2002)
Whose sex life is it anyway?
Carol Sarler: Only a state that likes locking up people would dream up even more sexual offences. (02 February 2002)
Drugs giant says its new pill will pack more punch than rival Viagra
It's already known in France as le weekend drug. A new pill that promises to work wonders for impotent men by giving them a longer-lasting effect will take on the might of Viagra this week. (02 February 2002)
Female sex illness: is it in the head or genes?
Many women lose interest in sex - but the battle now is over whether lucrative drug treatment can help them, reports Jo Revill (5 January 2003).
Talk about it: is FSD an illness or a commercial invention?
Help: how to use the talkboards
Not frigid, just choosy
Cristina Odone: Women will show more interest in sex when men get better in bed (5 January 2003).
There's gold in them there pills...
"Not tonight darling, I've got a headache...' If science has its way, there'll be no more excuses. With the drugs giants vying to develop a Viagra for women, the billion-dollar race is now on to make sexual dysfunction a thing of the past for everyone. Rachel Cooke travels to California and asks whether this obsession to reduce sex to its mechanics will make us forget to listen to our hearts and minds (27 October 2002).
What happened to the romance?
Britain in 2002 is saturated in sex. From Pot Noodle ads to your local Ann Summers, sex is everywhere, all the time, in every variation. Tim Adams surveys a society in thrall to the flesh, opening The Observer's special issue on sex and society today (27 October 2002).
50 years of opening up 1952-2002
Four million of us are sex cheats
More than 4 million husbands and wives across Britain have committed adultery, according to an ICM poll for The Observer. (27 October, 2002)
How do you measure up?
This special Observer sex poll 2002 reveals all.
How far would you go?
Last month a small ad appeared in several publications, ranging from Private Eye to The Times. A confession: it was placed on behalf of The Observer. We wondered how keen the nation was to reveal itself in public... Pretty keen, it seems, from the evidence of the (largely male) contenders. What's become of the reserved British?
The STD nurse
Anita Weston: Syphilis is coming back into the population. We thought it was a dead disease. And we're diagnosing between six and eight new HIV-positives a week.
The male prostitute
Christof: If I've got my phone bill or graduate loan to pay, then I'll call round old clients. It's nice to have a reserve of regulars.
Early learning
Elizabeth Cotton, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, describes the agony of peer pressure, sex education and taking lessons from television...
Prime time
73-year-old Tom Hoyes reveals how much lovemaking keeps him young.
The disabled lover
John Dever: "I've known people who have said, "I wouldn't have thought you were a sexual person." You have to be fairly tough when someonne is being that open about it. It can be quite painful.
The table dancer
Niki Bradshaw: My partner's really supportive. He often comes down to watch me work, and ends up spending money on the other girls!
Porn.com
Images that would once have sparked an obscenity trial are now only a mouse-click away, making hardcore routine and forcing mainstream magazines to adapt or die. As for the new breed of DIY net pornographers, all you need is a camera and a few happy 'swingers' and you're in business. Just ask Janey and Craig of Stoke...
How to corrupt and the changing definition of obscenity...
A date with hate
Justin Webb: If you think there's no better place to be gay than liberal, tolerant Britain, think again. For men in particular, there's no such thing as safe sex - even in the traditional 'pink paradise' of London, homophobes are on the attack.
Just say no
Rebecca Fowler: Everyone wants sex, don't they? It's a basic right - almost a duty. Yet for some, the greatest rebellion is to abstain. Whether for religious or secular reasons, celibacy is a growing trend. But is it just an excuse for opting out of the messy, modern world?
Don't label me
Kate Taylor: We're all free and sometimes easy. Nobody's sexuality is set in stone.
