Dear Dr. Jenni, I read your column last week on hormones. I am 48 and nearing menopause. I am very worried about this stage in my life. I have many friends that take hormones and other friends who balk at hormones. There seems to be many paths, and I’m not sure which one to take. —Puzzled with Perimenopause

Dear Dr. Jenni, I am a single woman in my early 40s and have put on a lot of weight in the past 10 years. It incrementally increased over time. Now I find that by Boulder’s standards, I am obese. You can imagine that I am struggling with body image issues. However, when alone, I find myself incredibly horny. I also masturbate daily and orgasm very easily. The odd part is that when I do date men, I find that I am unable to get turned on sufficiently and unable to orgasm. Is this purely psychological, or is there something biological having to do with my weight? —Worried about Weight

Dear Dr. Jenni, My son is 6 and has put on his older sister’s dresses and shoes. Recently he got into my make-up. Part of me feels like this is typical, developmental exploration, but my husband adamantly disagrees. We are nervous about what is going on, and what to do. —Bizarre Behavior?

My daughter is 12 years old, and my gynecologist suggested I give her the HPV vaccine. I know that this is probably the right thing to do, yet I’m not sure if it’s really needed. I don’t want to give her an extraneous vaccine if she doesn’t need it, especially if it might make her sexually active. —Worried Mom

you to better empathize with your husbands situation. Like you, he may be reconstructing what his masculinity means, post-cancer. Many men associate a robust erection with strong, potent manhood. However, a man is more than just his penis. Human beings are sexual inside and out, head to toe, in mind, body and spirit.

My husband is a war veteran. He is a different man now since returning from Iraq. I believe he experienced some very traumatizing events, as he is closed off and very depressed. I think he has a brain injury too. We haven’t had sex since he returned eight months ago. He has zero interest, and when I initiate, he seems to be somewhere else as I touch him. How can we reclaim the intimacy we once had?

I’m 78, and my wife has Alzheimer’s. It’s gotten severe over the past five years, and our sex life has fully disappeared. I feel such sadness and yearning. I can’t ask her to fulfill my sexual needs, and I’m starting to think that at 78, maybe I shouldn’t have any.

Dear Dr. Jenni, I just had twin boys. I read your column every week, so I thought I’d ask a question about my sons. It seems like many of the questions are from people who are semi-clueless or struggle with sexuality. I want to prevent this from happening to my sons. What would you suggest I do to raise them in the healthiest way possible in regards to sexuality?

I’m a straight male and I love having sex, but I can’t do it with my eyes open. When I open my eyes and look at the other person, I feel overwhelmed and wig out. My two last partners pointed this out, and I’m curious if something is wrong with me.

When cultivating initiation fantasies, write down how you would like your partner to invite you to sex. Give yourself permission to dream into this exercise. You may look to Hollywood for fantasies about being ravished against the wall, tearing clothes off one another.