Sex Trends: What To Expect For 2013

Sexting: Last Year

From debate over anti-sexting laws to tragic stories of bullying and harassment, the topic of sexting took centre stage in 2012. And though most news stories focused on the negative fallout associated with sexting, many sex and relationship experts agree that the marriage between sex and technology can actually improve communication and heighten intimacy as long as you practice safer sext.

via GIPHY

Love it or hate it, sexting is one trend that is here to stay! With smartphones and tablets at our fingertips and reverse camera displays and filters that ensure we feature only our very best angles, the temptation to snap sexy photos and share them with our admirers will last well into the new year and beyond.

Virginity Auctions: Last Year

From a 22 year-old California student looking to pay for her Master’s degree to a filmmaker documenting the stories of women seeking the highest bidder through viral videos, virginity auctions made headlines across the globe. However, with the director of this documentary, Virgins Wanted, now facing the possibility of human trafficking charges, this may be one sex trend that fizzles before the start of the new year.

Sex Addiction: Last Year

Blaming porn and sex addiction for affairs, relationship breakdown and criminality is a frustrating trend that was finally put to rest last week as the American Psychological Association (APA) formally rejected sex addiction (yet again) as an official diagnosis.

Clinical psychologist and author of The Myth of Sex Addiction, Dr. David J. Ley lauded the decision as a necessary step toward differentiating between real disorders and “morally-based concepts that reflect our society’s conflicted feelings about sex.” He adds that this decision should serve as a “a wake-up call, to the popular media and to their incestuous partners, the sex addiction industry.”

Here’s to moving forward and having open conversations about the range of reasons people cheat without blaming individual behaviours on a pseudo-disorder coined by the pop-science industry.

50 Shades of Everything

Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey offered us a glimpse into their kinky sex lives in Fifty Shades of Grey and the corporate world was quick to jump on board with a wide range of unimaginative and totally unrelated marketing campaigns. From the Fifty Shades of Chicken cookbook to the predictable Fifty Shades of Makeup by Bobbi Brown, no industry could resist jumping on the fan fiction bandwagon. One company even designed a onesie emblazoned with the text: 9 months ago mommy read Fifty Shades of Grey.

If you’ve had enough of this popular marketing strategy, be forewarned that 2013 may not offer any reprieve, as the film version of this wildly successful trilogy is slated to go into production and keep the momentum alive for months, if not years, to come.

BDSM Trends - Last Year

Despite all the criticisms of the Fifty Shades trilogy, there is no denying that these saucy novels sparked a slew of intense and meaningful conversations related to sexual desire, behaviour and so-called normalcy. Many of these heated discussions focused on BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism) and kinky toys, props, books and lingerie flew of the shelves as fans were inspired to kink up their sex lives in new and exciting ways.

While E.L. James’ books may not have presented a realistic portrayal of BDSM, the flurry of critical commentary that followed helped to dispel many of the myths associated with kinky sex and empower more men and women to challenge restrictive sexual norms.

via GIPHY