It softens when it no longer has a job. Many people come to me carrying shame — but not always the kind they expect. Yes, sometimes there is shame about sex. About desire. About touching their own body. But more often, the shame lives somewhere less obvious. Shame about wanting a different kind of relationship — one that may or may not include their current partner, even though they’re deeply unhappy. Shame about feeling anger when their needs aren’t met. Shame about longing for a life, a...

Issue Sixteen: Power Isn’t the Problem. Unconsciousness Is. I went on a date that taught me more about power than most conversations ever have. We were sitting in a crowded pub. Loud. Tight. The kind of place where you have to lean in just to hear someone speak. He leaned closer and said, half-smiling: "I can't hear you. Use your Domme voice." I didn’t flinch. I didn’t raise my voice. I looked him in the eye and said, calm and steady: "I don't need to raise my voice to dominate someone."...

Issue Fifteen: What is your body telling you? For a long time, I thought desire was supposed to be obvious. That you knew  what — or who — you wanted. That desire announced itself clearly: lightning bolt, butterflies, fantasy, longing — neatly labeled and self-explanatory. But the truth is, desire is rarely that tidy. It doesn’t always arrive with certainty. Sometimes it arrives as unease. As exhaustion. As tension you can’t name. As the impulse to step back — or the quiet ache to move...