Health & Wellness

What Every Sexually Active Person Needs to Know, According to ‘We Met At Acme’

October 22, 2025

If you’ve ever wondered why your body betrays you every time you get a UTI, or why talking about sex still feels weird even though we all have it, same. Between half-assed sex ed, bad information on TikTok, and partners who still think “aftercare” means an Uber home, no wonder we’re all confused.

On We Met at Acme, host Lindsey Metselaar sits down with Jamie Norwood, co-founder of Winx Health, to talk about the realities of sex nobody actually teaches you—like how infections really happen and why women are still too embarrassed to talk about pleasure. Whether you’re newly single, in a long-term thing, or just trying to not end up at urgent care again, this one’s for you.

Your recurring infections might actually be his fault

Nearly 60 percent of women will get a UTI at least once, and up to one in three will deal with them repeatedly. And for a lot of us, it’s not because we’re “bad at hygiene.” Sometimes, it’s because he isn’t good at it. When men don’t wash properly (or at all), bacteria and sweat can hang around down there and end up in your body during sex. That bacteria disrupts your vaginal microbiome, and before you know it, you’re on antibiotics sipping cranberry juice.

But it’s not always about hygiene. Sometimes it’s literal chemistry. “There was just a study that confirmed that men can pass BV to female partners,” says Norwood. For years, doctors brushed off the idea that bacterial vaginosis was sexually transmitted. Now research confirms what women have been saying forever—it is. When a partner’s fluids mix with yours, it can throw off your vaginal pH and create the perfect environment for infection.

And sometimes, your body’s just waving a big red flag. “I honestly think my body was trying to tell me this is not the person for you,” says Metselaar. Turns out, she might be right. Studies show your vaginal microbiome reacts differently to different partners. In other words, one guy’s chemistry might balance perfectly with yours, while another’s can send you into infection city.

Of course, your situationship isn’t the only culprit. “I honestly think those UTIs from that time in my life were from hot yoga,” Norwood says. Sweat, friction, tight leggings, and staying in damp clothes too long can all mess with your pH resulting in a full-blown infection that has nothing to do with sex—and everything to do with heat and bacteria.

If UTIs keep coming back, don’t just treat the symptoms and move on. Ask your doctor if your partner should get tested or treated too, especially if you keep passing infections back and forth. Make sure you’re peeing after sex, washing with gentle, unscented products, and swapping out sweaty clothes right after workouts. And while you’re at it, have the hygiene talk. It’s cringe for a minute, but less embarrassing than making eye contact with your pharmacist for the third time this month.

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Nobody taught you how to talk about sex

For most of us, “sex ed” was a slideshow of STIs and an awkward banana demo. That’s it. No one taught us what healthy communication looks like, how to ask for what we want, or that pleasure is even part of the equation. In fact, 97 percent of teens technically “received sex education,” but research shows most of it was abstinence-focused and skipped over consent, anatomy, and vaginal health entirely. So we grew up knowing how to avoid pregnancy, but not how to actually talk about sex.

“I didn’t have a vocabulary for talking about sex and vaginal health,” Norwood says. “All I remember from sex ed is learning about STIs…I didn’t learn about vaginal health, didn’t learn about consent or pleasure.” Metselaar adds, “I went to all-girls schools my whole life…the topic of sex was never once brought up.”

That silence doesn’t just disappear when you turn 18. It follows you into relationships. Norwood admits, “I have girlfriends even now that won’t have sex when they’re on their periods or don’t talk openly about what feels good.” Metselaar jumps in, “I have friends who have never had an orgasm.” When nobody ever keeps it real about this stuff, even simple topics feel heavy.

And that shame starts early. “I remember in middle school I used to hide my tampon,” Norwood recalls. Meanwhile, “the boys talk about masturbating. Like the girls did not talk about that.” This creates a massive gap where women enter sexual relationships without the tools to advocate for themselves. You don’t know how to say what feels good. You don’t know how to say what doesn’t. You just…hope it works out. And when something’s wrong—when sex hurts, when you’re not getting off, when your partner is doing something you don’t like—you don’t say anything because you literally don’t know how.

The fix starts with actually learning your body. Say the real words—vulva, clitoris, discharge—out loud until they stop feeling taboo. Follow sex educators and OB-GYNs on TikTok or Instagram who break things down without the shame spiral. Ask your doctor real questions, even the ones you’d normally Google at 2 a.m. And start having honest chats with your besties about what feels good, what doesn’t, and what you’ve learned along the way. The more you normalize those conversations, the easier it gets to feel comfortable and confident.