Topic: Please stop confusing "wellness" with female sexuality.
We have grown accustomed to "health" culture permeating our daily lives during the last five to ten years. Whereas the phrase may have formerly been used to describe somewhat specialized activities like yoga, silent retreats, and meditation, it is today used to describe everything and everything that is said to be beneficial for our health. CBD chewables. Face lights that are specific. IV infusions of vitamins. charging a crystal. perpetual skincare. stepping outside remaining indoors. Any word you choose has probably previously been associated with a wellness movement.
But the rebranding of sex as "sexual wellbeing" is one of the more pernicious cultural changes. In other words, the promotion of sexual pleasure—one of the last bastions of filth—as an activity that promotes health. Whenever I refer to "sexual wellbeing," I'm not talking about the very basic routine of learning about consent and getting regular STI checks, which is what it should really mean. I'm talking about a way of portraying sex as a loosely medicalized form of self-care that, crucially, demands financial investment.
It's both simple and challenging to understand how we got here. To put it mildly, sex in the cultural sphere wasn't ideal in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was the time of American Pie, "steak and blowjob" days, Page 3 girls, and lad mags. Women were then labeled "sluts" if they enjoyed sex or "frigid" if they didn't. When we did see sex in the media, it was typically very flamboyant and heteronormative.Featuring a slim cisgender woman who orgasms instantly after having sex that is deeply penetration without any foreplay. Female pleasure was typically portrayed in mainstream culture as shameful and guilty, like dildos hidden beneath the bed, rather than as an essential aspect of most people's life.
In the 2010s, the fourth wave of feminism ushered in a welcome new era of sexual emancipation. We started to see (or at least started demanding to see) queerer, more inclusive depictions of sex. I'm aware that I'm painting a broad picture here. sexual imagery that is based on consent. Sex that put communication and enjoyment for both partners first. Utilizing the term "slut" as an insult became uncomfortable and out-of-date as a result of social media's role in fostering sex positivity.Since women also watch porn, female masturbation was no longer seen as a sinister practice. Women enjoy orgasming as well. Everyone can experience orgasms, regardless of appearance or potential behavior.
We're now being marketed sex - and sex products - as if having an orgasm were comparable to getting a dental checkup or going to therapy (when, let's be honest, it's so much more fun than that). But, in the same way that productive conversations around mental health were used to sell us everything from BetterHelp subscriptions to mindfulness books from Urban Outfitters, we're now being marketed sex - and sex products - as if having Any sex toy website will present you with a variety of adorable, pastel-colored items that resemble Scandi kitchenware (The era of the free-roaming rabbit and anal beads made of leather is long gone.) Nowadays, lubricants go under names like Organic Intimate Care Prebiotics. Any levity, sleaze, or dirtyness that once existed in sex has been flattened in favor of a cheery, humorless discourse that is, well, not all that sexual. Of course, the general shift in mainstream sex culture has numerous benefits. (Advertisements now feature ladies masturbating! Sex toys are significantly more diverse and environmentally friendly! Additionally, I'm sure that many people enjoy using "health goods with their intimate play partner." But can't we have wild, kinky, filthy sex that is both consent-led and sex-positive for the self-described pervs among us?
Although it is completely vibeless, the basic idea and medicalized aesthetic of "sexual wellness" is not the core of the problem; rather, it is how we are once again being offered items that we don't really need under the pretense of self-care and pretend progressivism.Although many people have said the same about wellness culture in general, there is something particularly grating about wellness culture coming for sex specifically. One of our final unrestricted pleasures is sex. Whatever sex means to you personally, it might be a place to explore taboos, to have fun, to connect, or to build connections. But branding is unrelated to it. Additionally, it isn't sexual wellbeing. It's sexual. Therefore, in 2023, let's refrain from referring to sad lamps when promoting dildos.
But the rebranding of sex as "sexual wellbeing" is one of the more pernicious cultural changes. In other words, the promotion of sexual pleasure—one of the last bastions of filth—as an activity that promotes health. Whenever I refer to "sexual wellbeing," I'm not talking about the very basic routine of learning about consent and getting regular STI checks, which is what it should really mean. I'm talking about a way of portraying sex as a loosely medicalized form of self-care that, crucially, demands financial investment.
It's both simple and challenging to understand how we got here. To put it mildly, sex in the cultural sphere wasn't ideal in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was the time of American Pie, "steak and blowjob" days, Page 3 girls, and lad mags. Women were then labeled "sluts" if they enjoyed sex or "frigid" if they didn't. When we did see sex in the media, it was typically very flamboyant and heteronormative.Featuring a slim cisgender woman who orgasms instantly after having sex that is deeply penetration without any foreplay. Female pleasure was typically portrayed in mainstream culture as shameful and guilty, like dildos hidden beneath the bed, rather than as an essential aspect of most people's life.
In the 2010s, the fourth wave of feminism ushered in a welcome new era of sexual emancipation. We started to see (or at least started demanding to see) queerer, more inclusive depictions of sex. I'm aware that I'm painting a broad picture here. sexual imagery that is based on consent. Sex that put communication and enjoyment for both partners first. Utilizing the term "slut" as an insult became uncomfortable and out-of-date as a result of social media's role in fostering sex positivity.Since women also watch porn, female masturbation was no longer seen as a sinister practice. Women enjoy orgasming as well. Everyone can experience orgasms, regardless of appearance or potential behavior.
We're now being marketed sex - and sex products - as if having an orgasm were comparable to getting a dental checkup or going to therapy (when, let's be honest, it's so much more fun than that). But, in the same way that productive conversations around mental health were used to sell us everything from BetterHelp subscriptions to mindfulness books from Urban Outfitters, we're now being marketed sex - and sex products - as if having Any sex toy website will present you with a variety of adorable, pastel-colored items that resemble Scandi kitchenware (The era of the free-roaming rabbit and anal beads made of leather is long gone.) Nowadays, lubricants go under names like Organic Intimate Care Prebiotics. Any levity, sleaze, or dirtyness that once existed in sex has been flattened in favor of a cheery, humorless discourse that is, well, not all that sexual. Of course, the general shift in mainstream sex culture has numerous benefits. (Advertisements now feature ladies masturbating! Sex toys are significantly more diverse and environmentally friendly! Additionally, I'm sure that many people enjoy using "health goods with their intimate play partner." But can't we have wild, kinky, filthy sex that is both consent-led and sex-positive for the self-described pervs among us?
Although it is completely vibeless, the basic idea and medicalized aesthetic of "sexual wellness" is not the core of the problem; rather, it is how we are once again being offered items that we don't really need under the pretense of self-care and pretend progressivism.Although many people have said the same about wellness culture in general, there is something particularly grating about wellness culture coming for sex specifically. One of our final unrestricted pleasures is sex. Whatever sex means to you personally, it might be a place to explore taboos, to have fun, to connect, or to build connections. But branding is unrelated to it. Additionally, it isn't sexual wellbeing. It's sexual. Therefore, in 2023, let's refrain from referring to sad lamps when promoting dildos.
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