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sex

What is sex anyway?

The fundamentals about sex - why we do it and what’s it for you.

Authored by Thomas Andrew Porteus, MBCSOriginally published 8 Dec 2025

Meets Patient’s editorial guidelines

In this series:Coming, ready or notLust or bustVictims and villainsMe-topia The Big O... Oh No! The arousal paradoxA dangerous liaison? Losing it!

Sex is everywhere, right? Clare and Janet kick off the season by discussing the fundamentals about sex… why do we do it and what is it for?!

What's Sex Anyway?

This podcast contains explicit language and content of a sexual nature.

In the opening episode of the series, Clare and Janet dive straight into one of the biggest questions of all: what is sex anyway?

Drawing on years of experience as sex and relationship therapists, they explore why we have sex, what it means to different people and how our early beliefs, cultural messages and personal histories shape the way we understand intimacy. From “proper sex” myths to the pressure to be “normal”, they unpack the expectations that so often fuel anxiety, misunderstanding and relationship conflict.

Clare and Janet also talk openly about communication, mismatched desires, pleasure, fantasy, solo sex, and the many ways people connect physically and emotionally. They challenge the idea that sex has a single definition - instead encouraging listeners to think about what sex means to them, at different stages of life and in different contexts.

This first episode sets up the series with a simple but powerful idea: there’s no “right way” to do sex - only the way that’s true to you.

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About the authorView full bio

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Thomas Andrew Porteus, MBCS

HealthTech

MBCS

Thomas writes to inform, inspire, and equip practice leaders and health professionals navigating change, drawing on two decades of hands-on work across the UK health system.

Article history

The information on this page is peer reviewed by qualified clinicians.

Article also available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, and Swedish.

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