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Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Illustration Rachel Choi

Ring, ring: Vibrate(r) on, earbuds in, getting off

By Mariyam Quaisar, Managing Editor / January 31, 2024

Opinion editors are not responsible for agreeing or disagreeing with their writers but rather elevate each individual’s specific voice. Alrighty folks,...

Illustration by Rachel Choi

Prioritize aftercare as much as your orgasm

By Mariyam Quaisar, Content Managing Editor / December 7, 2022

What do you do after having sex? Cuddle with your partner, turn away and take a nap, or worse, wipe the remnants and just scroll on your phone? The emotional...

Illustration by Rachel Choi

Dracula on the streets, Frankenstein’s monster in the sheets

By Mariyam Quaisar, Content Managing Editor / October 26, 2022

Halloween brings out an aspect of peoples’ creative side that can be easily transferred to a steamy bedroom. Oct. 31 is the day to dress up in scary,...

It’s ok to put your orgasm first

It’s ok to put your orgasm first

By Mariyam Quaisar / January 26, 2022

The other night, I came to the realization that every time I’ve ever told a guy that I orgasmed, it’s been a lie. While these lies were never meant...

Don’t let the media affect your confidence in the bedroom

Don’t let the media affect your confidence in the bedroom

By Mariyam Quaisar / January 20, 2022

Finding and exuding confidence can be difficult due to certain societal standards and pressures that have rudely established what it means to be “attractive.”...

It’s OK to get attached after sex

It’s OK to get attached after sex

By Mariyam Quaisar / November 18, 2021

Losing one’s virginity is usually a powerful moment in one’s life, and it often results in feeling a strong connection to whomever they lost it to....

Super stoked to get super soaked;  We should all buy a vibrator

Super stoked to get super soaked; We should all buy a vibrator

By Mariyam Quaisar / November 4, 2021

Sept. 26. That’s the day my life changed, the day I met the best friend any girl could ever ask for.  From that first day I met him, Gavin has been...

He’s got spunk: 'COVID fatigue, sex fatigue'

He’s got spunk: ‘COVID fatigue, sex fatigue’

By Gary Sowder, Columnist / March 13, 2021

As we reach the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdowns, the morale of the world is in a downward spiral—a spiral only exacerbated by this year’s...

He's Got Spunk: He texts me, he texts me not

He’s Got Spunk: He texts me, he texts me not

By Gary Sowder / December 15, 2020

Much like everyone in my generation, I use dating apps. Tinder, Grindr, and Hinge are currently downloaded on my phone. And despite the desperation that...

He's Got Spunk- 'The Ick'

He’s Got Spunk- ‘The Ick’

By Gary Sowder / October 21, 2020

Temperatures have started to dip below the sixties. The leaves in the Common are fluttering off the trees. The pumpkin spice latte is back. It’s...

A poster within Little Building asking students to practice safe sex.

Go solo or go home: The only way to have sex during a pandemic

By Mariyam Quaisar / October 8, 2020

“If you’re not going to wear a mask, at least wear a condom,” posters around Emerson dorm buildings read. However, safe sex means a lot more than...

Gary Sowder writes about love and sex.

‘On the DL’: The sexual politics of sleeping with closeted guys

By Gary Sowder / October 1, 2020

My mom lives in Westchester County, New York, a place that is most known for being the home of the Clintons', and the last place Robert Durst’s wife...

Gary Sowder - Graphic by Ally Rzesa / Beacon Staff

It’s okay to have bad sex (and tell all your friends about it)

By Gary Sowder / November 10, 2019

“Alright,” I said, hurling my tacos into a garbage can. “I’m going to go have sex with him.”  “What?” my friend Nicole asked.  It...

Gary Sowder - Graphic by Ally Rzesa / Beacon Staff

Don’t call me by my body count

By Gary Sowder / October 25, 2019

My evening started like any other Thursday night—meaning it started at the Tam. It was early September, and I wore my nicest H&M button-up—okay,...

Gary Sowder - Graphic by Ally Rzesa / Beacon Staff

How I fell in love with the guy who choked me

By Gary Sowder / September 25, 2019

One night last semester I popped some melatonin, cranked the air conditioning, and loaded up my essential oil diffuser with a hefty amount of lavender,...

Allison Hagan. Graphic by Ally Rzesa

Adult content bans hurt dignified businesses

By Allison Hagan / January 23, 2019

In eighth grade, I followed my first porn blog on Tumblr using my family’s computer. One late night scrolling through black-and-white GIFs of straight...

Sex Column: Living up to rainbow flags and #MeToo pins

Sex Column: Living up to rainbow flags and #MeToo pins

By Kyle Labe / January 31, 2018

It happened at a typical Allston house party, where the jungle juice costs two dollars and half-inflated balloons litter the floor. Without warning, a...