Sex in Philadelphia: A Peek at What Really Goes On Behind Closed Doors

How we’re having it, where we’re finding it, and what’s turning us on — and getting us off.

philadelphia-sex-opener

Credit: Kevin Burzynski

In a Philly campus apartment, a student is selling her worn underwear online for weekend spending money. In Center City, a gay man is shaving everything to keep up with the onslaught of hairless, six-packed sex gods on Grindr. And all over the city, people are meeting for steamy sessions of Orgasmic Meditation. (Don’t know what this is? You’re in for a treat.) Welcome to sex in Philly in 2017.

Our always-connected, anything-goes world is changing the way we do it, taking formerly fringe practices mainstream and making it easier than ever for us to get busy. This is what sex in Philly looks like now: how we’re having it, where we’re finding it, and what’s turning us on — and getting us off. Read on. (You know you’re curious.) — Edited by Emily Goulet

Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I’m a Cheating Newlywed

The illicit love story of a South Philly bride. Read more »

Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I’m 77 and Having the Best Sex of My Life

A septuagenarian on getting back in the game. Read more »


Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I’m a Sugar Baby

Collage by Kevin Burzynski

Collage by Kevin Burzynski

It’s not prostitution. It’s just the exchange of time, intimacy and, fine, sometimes sex for money. A 20-something dishes on her fruitful arrangement. Read more »


Philadelphia Sex Diaries: A Secret Dominatrix

A college co-ed on her kinky double life. Read more »

Philadelphia Sex Diaries: A Parent with Three Kids Under Age 11

The honest conversations that one harried (paranoid) pair of parents has between the sheets. Read more »

Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I Am a Reformed Hookup King

One-night stands in Atlantic City. Sex in the Gallery. A former serial dater on his weird, wild journey to monogamy. Read more »


Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I Practice Orgasmic Meditation

Collage by Kevin Burzynski

Collage by Kevin Burzynski

It’s sort of like yoga. Without pants. And with lots of stroking. Read more »


Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I Have to Shave What?!

The rules, rituals and work that go into having a gay sex life. Read more »

Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I’m Crushing the College Sex Scene

Navigating life in the casual-sex lane. Read more »


Philadelphia Sex Diaries: I Was a Sex-Party Devotee

Collage by Kevin Burzynski

Collage by Kevin Burzynski

One man’s memories from the swinging life, in which threesomes and orgies aren’t reserved for porn stars but for married schoolteachers and, yep, suburban soccer moms. Read more »


And More from Our Guide to Sex in Philly …
Condom Kingdom | Photograph by Christopher Leaman

Condom Kingdom | Photograph by Christopher Leaman

Your Shame-Free Guide to the Best Philly Sex Shops

The kinkiest, kitschy-est, most luxe and (cough) most discreet places in which to indulge in racy retail therapy. Read more »

Sex in the City: Philly’s Juiciest Sex Stories

Think Philly only has sex behind closed doors? Think again. From gyms to SEPTA trains, local witnesses to our urban romps spill their most salacious stories. Read more »

Published as “Sex” in the February 2017 issue of Philadelphia magazine.