Sexuality is at the heart of the debate about how women have evolved.
There is every reason to think sexual desire is going well, that
orgasms are no longer shrouded in mystery and that beautiful
and sensual women are free to act out their fantasies as they wish.
Sexual liberation didn’t just happen yesterday.
But it is a comparatively modern phenomenon.
From the fifties onwards it has continued to gain
in strength, peaking in the seventies with “free love”.
Women in the 21st century are definitely freer than before,
according to their own perceptions as well as what they
talk about and how they behave.
An Evolution of Self-Image & Self-Expression
Women have a better body image now, and 69% of us find ourselves beautiful and sensual! Only a third of the women in a recent study still asked themselves, “Am I normal?”
This points to the fact that women are less and less likely to reject their bums and breasts. Bad news for all those who are selling us diet regimes and cosmetic surgery!
Expressing yourself has become de rigueur, both in terms of expressing desire for a man and in being able to relay details of sex lives quite openly. This is a big step for womankind. Women who freely express their sexuality have triumphed.
Not everything is positive. Vulnerability is one of the major elements in female sexuality.
In answer to the question: “Have you felt intense negative emotions during sexual relations”, 49% of women said yes next to only 5% of men. The kind of emotions described included shame, fear and anxiety.
Women occupy a precarious kind of position when it comes to sex. Too many of them feel obliged to accept certain practices in spite of themselves which involve having their physical intimacy or identity stolen from them.
The consequences include periods of depression, self disgust or rejection of sexuality, none of which can always be resolved. The worst aspect is that men aren’t even aware of it.
Women have obtained considerably more freedom, as much physically as psychologically. But issues still persist at the heart of the couple.
This paradox arises from the fact that at the same time as seeing women become more liberated sexually, we are also seeing this freedom cause problems in relationships.
There is a sort of new male domination in sexuality. Women try to get closer to desire and their partners by making sure they please men. There is a new, tacit form of submission.
Female sexuality is less mechanical then male sexuality. Sources of pleasure, access to desire and the orgasm are very different experiences for women.
