The Evolution of Sex Positivity

Following the free-love movements of the 1960s, “sex positivity” became a common buzzword thrown around in the media, popular movies, and day-to-day life. Sex positivity, at its core, is meant to embrace sexual tendencies, sexual health, and a positive relationship to all things “sex,” but the understanding of what it means to be “sex-positive” morphs as it moves through generations and societal norms.

Let’s Talk About Sex

In today’s world, it is much easier to find educational resources focused on sexual health and sexual pleasure, and many people credit sex positivity for opening these avenues up. Women are talking openly about their sex lives with friends, and men are doing the same. This means sex is becoming a normalized topic within social circles, allowing people of all ages and genders to ask the questions they have.

Hollywood vs. Real Life

Along with embracing sex as a positive aspect of life instead of some dirty secret that should be swept under the rug, came an effort to debunk Hollywood’s portrayal of sexual relationships and sexual acts. Audiences were no longer accepting the idea that sex had to be a romantic, seamless act. Sex is messy, loud, fun, uncomfortable, pleasurable, awkward, and everything in between! Sex does not need to follow a script or look a certain way, it’s just sex.

Did Sex Positivity Go Too Far?

As new generations begin to explore the world of sex, sex positivity plays a major role in the cultural perception of sex. Some people criticize the “sex positivity” movement for taking things too far, encouraging people to have so much sex that it has lost its meaning and turned the term into a shield for treating people as objects.

Anything in the sexual realm has the capacity to be controversial, since sex is a very personal matter that is viewed differently by different people, and that’s what happens with sex positivity as well. Even if a person thinks sex positivity has gone too far, the reality is that there are more resources than ever to learn about sex, more ways to access sexual health products, and it’s a more widely-accepted topic of conversation!

Sex Positivity Tears Down Walls

Having a positive relationship with sex looks different for everyone, but real sex positivity is understanding that what looks like a healthy sex life to someone else, may not be right for another person. Until we embrace that happy, healthy sex can take on many forms, we still have work to do.

We stand by the fact that sexual health is human health, and sexual pleasure is part of human health. Everyone should have access to tools and resources to ensure they feel safe and excited about their sexual endeavors. To us, sex positivity is a core pillar in life, and, as shown by history, the faster society accepts that, the better off we’ll all be. There are great health benefits to sex, both mental and physical, so we will embrace all types of happy, healthy sex lives – even if they might look different from our own!

References:

1. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210818-what-does-sex-positivity-mean
2. https://www.freepressjournal.in/weekend/lets-talk-about-sex-positivity-know-the-importance-its-benefits-and-why-we-as-a-society-should-practice-it-more
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/10/opinion/letters/sex-positivity-pornography-feminism.html
4. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/feb/02/it-stopped-me-having-sex-for-a-year-why-generation-z-is-turning-its-back-on-sex-positive-feminism
5. https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/influence-new-media-adolescent-sexual-health-evidence-opportunities-0
6. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/08/9967483/groundbreaking-controversial-movie-sex-scenes
7. https://psychcentral.com/health/sex-positivity-meaning#sex-positivity-definition
8. https://getmaude.com/blogs/themaudern/why-is-sex-still-taboo
9. https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sex/sex-positive-meaning#learn-more
10. https://americanmind.org/salvo/real-sex-positivity-has-never-been-tried/