Foreskin may be the only uncharted territory Americans have no desire to conquer. In our country, circumcision is common enough that a foreskin-free penis is the expectation, but elsewhere, that’s hardly the case. Though it remains the most common elective operation globally, the majority of men in the world don’t undergo it. Surprised? Dismayed? Completely alarmed that you can no longer take a European lover?

Don’t be.

The ever-proper Charlotte York may have once compared an uncut penis to a shar pei, but there’s no reason why you should be repulsed by foreskin.

Countless girlfriends of mine cringe at the thought of penises au natural, but my own varied sexual experiences have familiarized me with the lesser known peen and I’m on a mission to demystify it. Here’s some good news to start: uncut penises are pretty much the same as their counterparts. And yet, Americans and those with less colorful sexual pasts continue to treat foreskin as something of an anomaly and even a defect. I’ve isolated foreskinphobia into a few easily identifiable (and refutable) myths:

Foreskin is dirty. Female anatomy doesn’t exactly have the best reputation as far as smell is concerned, but it’d be ludicrous if a guy refused to sleep with me because he questioned my ability to clean myself. Since one would hope most men have mastered basic hygiene by the time they’re sexually active, concerns over cleanliness (or lack thereof) are mostly overblown or based on myths. An uncut penis is no dirtier than the alternative. If anything, guys with foreskin learn more about hygiene at an earlier age and are taught to be conscientious about cleaning themselves. And if hygiene really is an issue? Blame the man, not the foreskin. It’s not like his penis is actively opposing a shower.

Foreskin is ugly. This is a completely subjective opinion, so I can’t exactly debunk it, but attractiveness of genitalia is really in the eye/mouth/hand of the beholder. I’m personally indifferent to how penises look. An erect penis is far more aesthetically pleasing than a thumb, for example, but I’d still rather look into my boyfriend’s eyes than in his pants.   Ultimately, though, we shouldn’t subject our partners’ genitalia to our visual preferences. After all, as much as I like my own vagina, I don’t expect anyone else to be enthralled by it, nor do I think I should be judged on the basis of its appearance. If the presence of some extra skin is enough to dissuade you from ever pursuing a sexual relationship with a guy, then god forbid he actually have a physical defect, like an entire extra toe.

Foreskin puts you at risk for STIs. Some studies have shown a significant reduction in HIV transmission rates among circumcised men. So why isn’t the global medical community suggesting that men get snipped en masse?  For starters, these studies were done in extremely high-risk areas in Africa. Research in developed countries, such as Australia, has shown no difference in HIV transmission rates. Further, though the men in these studies were less likely to get HIV, their partners weren’t. Circumcision only improves the odds for the penetrative partners while those being penetrated (whether they were male or female) experienced the same rates of infection as partners of uncircumcised men. But more importantly, just because a guy has been circumcised doesn’t mean that you should forgo a condom. Ultimately, prevention of STIs depends on personal responsibility, not a decades’ old decision made by your partner’s parents.

All of the above seems pretty obvious, yet an American cultural bias against foreskin persists. The most feasible explanation, in my opinion,  is probably the following:

Foreskin is foreign. I mean that literally and figuratively. In the rest of the world, uncut is the norm. The great majority of European boys get to keep their foreskin. In the U.K., only 4 percent are circumcised every year. Even our northern neighbor, Canada, frowns upon the practice. (The Canadian Pediatric Society has stated officially that it doesn’t recommend routine circumcision unrelated to religious or cultural practices). The story’s quite different in the States, where 83 percent of American male infants born in the 1980s  — the majority of my sexual history — were circumcised. (That rate has declined to 55 percent in recent years.)

These seemingly meaningless numbers are actually quite significant. They mean that uncut penises remain foreign entities for many Americans. So perhaps what really bothers us is not hygiene, disease, or aesthetic underappreciation but rather, a lack of familiarity. Given how intimidated some of my friends are when face-to-face with a penis, it’s no surprise that they’re aghast upon encountering one that looks unlike all others before it.

Just remember: a penis is still a penis and friction is still your ally. Sure, your handjob or blowjob technique may have to undergo slight adjustments, but the end goal (and the way to reach it) remains the same. A couple inches of skin shouldn’t stand in the way of anyone’s pleasure, including your own.

And it involves a cellular.

Yes, the topic is taboo and everyone feels all weird about it, but phone sex is a great way to stay close in a relationship even when you’re miles apart.

While some may be too shy to start talking dirty over the phone lines, I have a few tips to keep in mind when trying out phone sex.

First off, relax!! (Editor’s Note: A glass of wine may help…) Phone sex is something to have fun with, not get all worried about. If you’re nervous, just try thinking of what would happen if your partner was actually there. Take a deep breath and ask something general such as, “What would you do to me if you were here?” This might be easier to say then just asking “Wanna have phone sex?” because you end up taking the pressure off of yourself to start the convo, making him answer first instead.

Okay, now that you’re nice and relaxed, it’s time to get frisky on the phone. Phone sex is a great way to open up intimate conversation with your boy and say things you might not be brave enough to say to his face. If you’re too shy to start talking dirty, get him to open up first. When you see how eager he is to participate, you’ll soon be able to let loose. Don’t worry about sounding stupid or fake; the deeper you get into the conversation, the more you’ll ease up. The first time I tried phone sex with my boyfriend, I let him do most of the talking because I was too nervous about sounding dumb. Now that we’re more comfortable with each other, we can let our imaginations run wild.

Another way to start having phone sex is to remind your guy of a previous sexual encounter. Remember when Big used to call Carrie to “reminisce”? This eliminates any potential awkwardness, and when you two talk about past things you’ve done, it is easy to steer the conversation to things you’d like to do in the future. This gets the conversation flowing, which will instantly make you wonder what you were so worried about.

The next time you and your honey are separated, a good dose of phone sex will have you feeling closer than ever. My boyfriend and I have used phone sex as a way to learn each other’s turn-ons and to build anticipation when we’re not together. And believe me, nothing is hotter then finally reuniting and acting out those conversations!

So, give it a shot; just make sure to hold out for someone you trust and care about. This is a very intimate situation and one that shouldn’t be shared with just anyone.

Would you try phone sex? Why or why not?

I remember the first time I slept at my ex’s apartment. He ran out to get some pizza and I asked if I could use his computer to check my email.

“Yeah, just don’t look at my browsing history, k?”

Right – because you can tell a girl that and expect her not to wonder why on earth you would make that request!

He wasn’t out of the room for 30 seconds before I did just that. And the first site on the list? MamaLovesC*ck.com.

For real.

It was at that moment that I began to wonder just how prominent porn was in guys’ lives. I mean, I always knew they looked at it, but how often? For how long? And why, especially when they have a girlfriend spending the freaking night?

I asked a close friend for the answers. What did I find out? More than I ever wanted to know.

But no. He was actually wearing those floppy, knit caps to make a fashion statement (while also covering up his dirty, greasy hair).

Just like many major trends this season, the Beret is one I just don’t know about. The hats are cute – no doubt about that – but do girls in LA really need to wear a knit hat in the summer? And don’t those things give off more of a “I was too lazy to wash my hair” vibe than anything else?

What do you think? Do you love or hate the beret?

Saturday night: You’re at a frat party. You just won three consecutive games of beer pong. You don’t think twice about drinking your cups, despite the fact that you’ve seen the ball land in other peoples’ used cups, roll along the basement floor, and watched the ball pass between thirty-something unwashed hands.

What gives?!?

Obviously, beer pong isn’t the most sanitary party game out there. But you have the “water cup,” right? That cup of tepid, dirty water is totes gonna disinfect that old, recycled ping pong ball (that was most likely found under someone’s bed 10 minutes before party time). Or not.

Some microbiology students at George Washington University decided to test exactly how detrimental to your health beer pong can be. If you like beer pong, you may want to skip this article.

After a somewhat mild night of beer pong, consisting of eight students and thirty beers, the budding scientists collected samples from each of the beer pong cups and the water cup. What’d they find? A haven for germs. Bacteria from the E. Coli, salmonella, and pneumonia families were present in every single test tube containing samples from the game. Oh, and that water cup that everyone used to clean the balls? That was the most infected, and housed the most bacteria growth over night.

This study centered on beer pong only, but what about other potentially sickening games? When’s the last time you did a kegstand, putting your mouth on the tap that’s been who-knows-where after a dozen other people slurped down a few seconds worth of brew? How about the time you stood in for flip cup, and rotated through other peoples’ cups round after round?

We put our mouths everywhere when there’s cheap beer involved (and some of us really put our mouths everywhere), but we’re super cautious about where we place our ASS when we’re in a public place? Just some food for thought.

Not that you have to quit beer pong — hell, no! To be just a tad cleaner, change out the water cups and beer pong balls throughout the night, and keep your own beer cup to drink out of after the ball hits (just dump the shot’s worth of beer into your own cup).

Alcohol is bad enough for your immune system; don’t give germs a better opportunity to take up residence in your body.

Do you like brushing your teeth with toilet bowl water?

Because if like most people, you keep your tooth brush on the bathroom sink — that’s essentially what you’re doing.

Yummy.

After coming across the article “The 16 worse places to stash your stuff” in Prevention magazine, I felt enlightened and educated. But mostly I felt nauseas . Apparently, when you flush, the 3.2 million microbes per square inch of germy-gunk in your toilet bowl is propelled as far as 6 feet, settling on the floor, the sink… and your toothbrush.

Fix it: Keep your toothbrush in a cabinet

Some other tidbits to keep you healthier, slimmer and not so icky.

The worst place to set your handbag: the kitchen counter

Typing the words Marc Jacobs handbag and gross in the same sentence makes me shudder… but between lecture halls, bars, restaurant floors, airports and restroom stalls, that treasured tote of yours has more than its share of icky-icky stuff on it. Including… fecal bacteria.

Fix it: Put your bag in a drawer or on a chair, anywhere except where food is prepared or eaten.

The worst place for your sneakers and flip-flops: in the bedroom closet

Traipsing through your apartment in shoes you wear outside does more than just make your carpets dirty. According to a study, lawn chemicals tracked inside a house remained there for a full week. Shoes also carry in pollen and other allergens.

Fix it: Keep your shoes in a basket by the door. If your pumps stay off the lawn, you can keep them on in the apt— otherwise, carry them.

The worst place to cool leftovers: in the refrigerator

We all know the song… “When you’re walking down the hall and your teacher saw it all- diarrhea…” so unless you want to be stuck at home all weekend begging for Imodium A-D, let your leftovers cool to room temp before sticking them in the fridge. It can take a long time for the temperature in the middle of a big container of hot leftovers to drop, creating bacteria ready for you to consume when you come home ready for some late-night muchies.

Fix it: You can safely leave food to cool on the counter for up to an hour after cooking,. Or divvy up hot food into smaller containers and then refrigerate — it’ll cool faster.

The worst stall to pick in a public restroom: the one in the middle

The center stall has more bacteria than those on either side. You won’t catch an STD from a toilet seat, but you can get a whole slew of germs if you touch a dirty toilet handle and then neglect to wash your hands thoroughly.

The worst place for a workout reminder: stuck on your post-it and picture covered fridge

A visual nudge can help — but only if you notice it- which you are most likely not going to do when you’re reaching for the ice cream and your fridge is covered with pics from last months bar crawl.

Fix It: Put your note near a decision point. Set an alarm on your phone 30 minutes before you want to workout that says “change for the gym now!” or keep your workout DVDs near on your coffee table.

“Just remember: The boost you get from a reminder is usually short-term, so change the visuals often.”

The worst place to stand during your first few fitness classes: front and center

You might think that you’d want to be near the mirrors so you can check your form (or check out the cute instructor) but your sweat sesh will be more motivating if you can’t see yourself. By not being able to see yourself in the mirror, you won’t be nervous about what you look like or what others think of you when you are rocking out to those 1980′s Jams. The Result? a hardcore workout.

The worst place to keep medicine: the medicine cabinet

Your bathroom gets hot and steamy which is great for shaving your legs, or even getting the wrinkles out of the dress you want to wear tonight. But it’s not uncommon for your steamy bathroom to reach 100°F — well above the recommended storage temperatures for many common drugs.

Fix It: Store your meds (including Birth Control) in a cool, dry place, like in your dresser.

The worst place to set fruit before washing it: the kitchen sink

You may associate the sink with soap and water… but of everywhere in your house/apartment- the kitchen sink sees the most bacteria. (Even more than the toilet)

Fix it: Don’t set fruit in the sink and if a blueberry falls into the sink while washing, throw it away.

The worst place to use earbuds or headphones: on an airplane, train, or subway

Studies show that if your jamming to Kanye in a noisy environment, you probably crank the volume too high. A Harvard study found that in reasonably quiet surroundings, music remained at a lower level- but when background noise was added — 80 percent of those in the study boosted the volume as high as 89 decibels, a level that risks long-term hearing damage.

Fix It: Invest in a pair of noise-canceling headphones —Two good options: Sony MDR-EX51LP ($40; sonystyle.com) and Etymotic Research ER-6i ($149; etymotic.com).

Your future children will thank you.

The worst place for your TV: wherever you dine

Think you can watch the latest episode of Celebrity Rehab or the Hills and still eat a normal portion? Think again. Watching TV while munching will keep you from noticing how much you are truly eating.

Fix It: Don’t eat in front of the TV!

*For the full list of the 16 Worst Places to Stash your Stuff, Click Here

That’s up to you to decide.

And if you decide you’d rather receive pleasure from something that looks like an octopus at ” a rave,” or you’d like to get down in the bath tub with your bath time playmate…You have that option as well.

There’s somewhat of a stigma when it comes to women masturbating. It’s rarely talked about among friends, it isn’t as expected, if you will, as it would be if it were a man. So the fact that distributors are now creating vibrators that can easily be disguised as lipstick, comes as no surprise.

But can you imagine if you whipped lipstick out your purse for your Grandmother to borrow and her lips started vibrating?? Oh my. It may be tricky, but you have to be diligent about hiding it in the right place.

What happened to the love for the good old fashioned “Rabbit” that we all bought in MASS, after it’s appearance on Sex and the City?

Personally, the idea of using a cell phone disquised as a vibrator just doesn’t hit “the spot.” No pun intended.

We’ve gotten so “creative” in fact that we now have: I Rub My Wormmie, The Naughty Gnome (a smurf look alike giving me an orgasm? I don’t think so.), I Rub My Fishie (bulging fish eyes to replace “balls,” something about that does not turn me on.) and last but SURELY not least, The Penguin.

Now, like I said, we all have our “something,” but I look at this and wonder why they’re making sex for women look like a playpen for five year olds?

How about the good-ol’-fasioned-penis shape? Is this too much for us ladies to handle….have we been taught that it’s that “dirty” to use toys, so we need to disguise what they really are?

I’d LOVE to know what you think. About vibrators, women’s sexuality…you know, the good stuff!

You didn’t think we’d forgotten about Zac, did you?

We certainly didn’t. And with the big news of HSM3 hitting the Disney-fied airwaves in the near future, we just had to point out a few things:

As it stands, it seems like there’s a whole bunch of girls out there who are holding out for Mr. Efron, and while we shouldn’t judge these feelings some of you are harboring for the guy, we can giggle a little bit when we see him in outfits like these.

And also, he’s a guy known for starring in musicals. Not promising, ladies.

Nonetheless, until Zac decides where he stands personally, we al know where he stands professionally. His cash-cow High School Music is officially in production and Zac and his Hollywood Hipster-Gone-Soft self is pumped! Get it?

We have nothing against the guy. Really, nothing! We just don’t like fakers. Or liars.

On a more serious note, however, it will be interesting to see just what route HSM3 will take. Will Vanessa’s part be shrunk down to a cameo-sized tidbit? Will it be “The Zac Show”? Will Ashley Tisdale even bother to show up? Only time will tell!

Anyway…he’s probably not straight, girls. There I said it. Maybe it’s time to get over it?

UT – Austin surveyed 52 men who were asked to test the scent of 18 worn t-shirts worn by women in various phases of their menstrual cycle. Almost all of the guys in the experiment, 1 guy was gay – so his doesn’t really count, found the shirts worn during the girl’s period to be the most enticing.

Sadly, this is when a woman is least fertile…therefore, least likely to get pregnant.

But, when Aunt Flow comes over to stay no one is really excited to jump into bed anyway…

So, other than all those religious fundementalists who think womens’ ovulation is dirty and unnatural, every other man thinks it is when we are at our sexiest.

The question is, how eager are WE to have sex during our period?