Portal:Human sexuality/Featured picture/Archive

August 2006 – January 2007 Peter Fendi - Austrian Painter, 1796-1842, a pioneer in the field of chromolithography.

January 2007 – June 2007 A condom is a form of external birth control which can also prevent the spread of some sexually transmitted diseases.

June 2007 – July 2007 A "condom" placed on the obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires as part of AIDS awareness

July 2007 – April 2008 A man's erect penis.

April 2008 – May 2008 Annie Sprinkle,a former prostitute, stripper and porn film star is now a sex educator. Here she is posing in the role of a "Neo Sacred Prostitute".

May 2008 – June 2008 A model in latex fetish fashion tied to a St Andrew's Cross. This is a piece of bondage apparatus that might be found or in a BDSM dungeon at a fetish club or a private play party.

June 2008 – July 2008 Erotica, erotic art or pornography by Martin van Maele depicting a lesbian couple indulging in foot fetishism. This form of sexual fetishism may be more common at times when sexually transmitted diseases are prevalent. In the scene shown there appears also to be an element of erotic humiliation.

July 2008 – August 2008 A HIV particle, the cause of AIDS, budding from a human immune cell.

August 2008 – October 2008 Muzi Mei, a young Chinese sex columnist, whose work along with that of her friend Tang Jiali (a dancer who published a book of nude photographs of herself) , reflects a partial sexual liberalization in the People's Republic of China.

October 2008 – November 2008 Close fitting Zentai suits which cover the whole body were originally developed for dance, but have acquired other uses including sexually fetishistic ones.

November 2008 – December 2008 This woman is wearing an animal hood as part of human animal roleplay. It is also a bondage hood that has been locked in place and cannot be removed by the wearer.

December 2008 – January 2009 Isis performing fellatio on her husband Osiris to bring him back to life. This ancient Egyptian papyrus shows a positive connection between their religion and sexuality.

January 2009 – February 2009 Kaposi’s sarcoma in a patient with AIDS. This AIDS defining clinical condition occurs because HIV destroys your immune system allowing other diseases to move in. HIV infection is avoided by practicing safe sex.

February 2009 – March 2009 Valentine's Day produces many humorous depictions of love. For those with problems sex therapy or relationship counseling may help.

March 2009 – April 2009 X-ray of the abdomen with a vibrator, a sort of sex toy usually used for masturbation in the vagina of a woman, but here seen in the rectum of a man. The absence of a battery means that the vibrator is not operating.

April 2009 – May 2009 Tickle torture may be a form of actual torture by means of tickling, but here it is an act of consensual BDSM sensation play, possibly associated with tickling fetishism.

May 2009 – June 2009 This sequence of male nude photographs was not intended as either art or pornography, but was taken by Eadweard Muybridge to illustrate human movement.

June 2009 – July 2009 A cameltoe is the outline of a woman's genitals seen through her clothing. The bulge of the mons pubis split by the cleft of venus form the shape of a camel's toe. This fashion faux pas can be a fetish and is the subject of some pornography.

July 2009 – October2009 AIDS orphans: a little girl with a baby on her back because their parents are both dead of AIDS: a common sight in Malawi, (a country in southern Africa) where this picture was taken.

October 2009 – November2009 A chastity belt on a man. The device prevents access to the penis, to stop sexual intercourse and possibly also masturbation. It is used as part of BDSM play, particularly for erotic sexual denial.

November 2009 – February2010 Randy Tobias, former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, gets publicly tested for HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia in an effort to reduce the procedure's stigma.

February2010 – March2010 "Saucy" postcard from 1907 with the sort of humour now associated with Valentine's Day. This carries an early example of a safe sex message.

March2010 – May2010 Merkins were originally worn by prostitutes to hide the signs of syphilis or having shaved their genitals to avoid pubic lice. Now, along with pasties they are often used in the ironic striptease of neo-burlesque.

May2010 – July2010 Putting on a condom, one of the most important safe sex precautions. Note (1) the condom is held the right way round (so that it can be rolled down) before it is put on. Also (4) the bubble at the end is pinched and held: the bubble is to hold semen, if it is already full of air the man's ejaculation can cause the condom to break.