If you missed the start of our alphabet – you can read A-G here.
H is for…
Homophobia – there are some things you wish would just disappear and homophobia is one of them. While the noughties saw gay marriage and a higher visibility of lesbians, gays and bis in the media (in some cultures). We also heard that many nations were still highly homophobic – recommending the death penalty for those discovered in (or suspected of) lesbian and gay relationships. And even in supposedly tolerant countries we noted homophobic bullying within schools continues. So things may be a bit better in some parts of the world for LGBTQs, but not everyone, and not everywhere.
HIV – wouldn’t it be wonderful to say that in the noughties we found a cure for AIDS and we managed to massively reduce the spread of HIV? How sad to report many countries have done little to reduce the prevalence of HIV – due to inept, corrupt or prejudiced politicians; the influence of AIDS denialists; poverty; gender inequality; muddled, misleading, inconsistent or just absent sex education and inadequate healthcare systems. Research on the issue has focused on finding vaccines for AIDS, investigating microbicides (not found to be particularly successful), male circumcision (found to benefit men but not necessarily women – and continues to be a highly controversial issue), and looking at stigma and how communities respond to HIV. There have been some amazing, evidence based initiatives to tackle HIV or respond more effectively to the crisis. And some very poor and unethical research undertaken. In the noughties HIV didn’t go away. And we must continue to do more to rectify that.
Hormones – sex in the past ten years has come to be defined by hormones. The ‘cuddle hormone’ that makes us feel good post sex, or testosterone that makes us want sex, and various ones that stop us wanting sex. Hormones undoubtedly do have an impact on our sexual lives, as do many other factors. However the media have latched onto the hormone angle because it’s much easier to talk about hormones than it is to mention genitals or what you might do to experience pleasure. And with the influence of drug companies to reframe sex as hormonally driven it’s been a decade where journalists and the public probably don’t understand hormones any better than 10 years ago – but do now believe that the presence or absence of particular hormones are the key to their sex lives. (btw if you do want to know about hormones and sex, it’s best to ask an endocrinologist).
I is for…
Internet dating – at the start of the last decade we were still a bit suspicious about internet dating. It was viewed as something for losers. But over the past ten years internet dating has changed dramatically. People are meeting up for dates, friendships, or casual sex enabled by online dating sites (and latterly through other social networks). Indeed, as the decade closes if someone is single probably one of the first places they’d consider is the internet if they want to find love. We still don’t know a lot about this phenomena as dating sites are notoriously cagey about their data and it’s not that easy to research, but it does seem the internet is an opportunity for dating – so long as you’re assertive, honest, and don’t rule out other real life chances too.
Infections – during the noughties we’ve seen Sexually Transmitted Infections rise rapidly (not just in the UK, but in many countries across the world). STIs such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are prevalent – particularly in the under 25 age group. Initiatives around testing and treatment, along with modernising sexual health services and making them more accessible were launched. But these were struggling to make a difference when placed in cultures providing patchy sex education in schools, a more sexualised media, and inconsistent (or incorrect) public health messaging on the topic.
J is for…
Jealousy – it’s a nasty emotion, but research completed within this decade, along with observations from relationship therapists and law enforcement agencies indicated to use more clearly how it was also an indicator of future relationship problems – particularly domestic violence. It also became an issue for discussion as we embraced new social media – particularly forums, instant messaging and social networks – where the opportunity for partners to act jealously were increased.
Jelqing – a technique for stretching the penis, which isn’t new, but got more attention due to commercial promotion of the technique, websites, and men discussing the issue on forums. It involves repetitively stretching the semi erect penis during 15-30 minute daily sessions to increase blood flow. Tied up with the increasing anxiety of men over penis size and sexual performance, jelqing was suggested as a means to naturally increase length. There is no evidence it works, although there were (and still are) plenty of quack sites promoting it. (However, there is some tentative evidence indicating that penis extender devices might work). Any penis lengthening techniques require repetition and daily attention and probably won’t lead to permanent size increases, but can cause damage to the penis. Focusing on lengthening techniques also fails to address underlying anxieties about penis size that may lead men to attempt the techniques in the first place. However, that’s not to say we didn’t have a whole slew of men’s magazine features promoting such techniques (and particularly jelqing) over the past ten years.
K is for…
Kidult – was a media catch phrase coined in the noughties, referring to a middle aged person who continued to engage in youthful activities. Despite being a catchy label there was good evidence within this decade of people marrying and having children later than in previous decades, leading to concerns over fertility and infant and maternal health. Straight, gay and bi adults were also reported to ignore safer sex messages, with STIs rising within adult populations (particularly in the over 40s) – although not to the same degree as the under 25s. Sex advice was predominantly focused at the kidult market – to those who were affluent enough to enjoy a younger lifestyle and wanted the trappings that went with it – including sex.
Kinsey – 2007 saw the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Kinsey institute, while in 2004 Bill Condon directed the biographic movie of Kinsey’s work. And just recently the institute launched a fantastic new resource Kinsey Confidential for all your sexual questions. All of which allowed us to celebrate the science of sex.
L is for…
Lap dancing (and pole dancing) – which moved out of the clubs and into the mainstream within this decade. Along with burlesque it became something to try for exercise, fun, or empowerment. And which critics responded to negatively – with some very shoddy research completed on the topic. Luckily there was also some excellent ethnographic research on lap dancing published, and we end the decade with a new project about to investigate lap dancing clubs.
M is for…
Metrosexuals – largely a media invention to describe men that used moisturiser and looked after their bodies – and had various homophobic undertones. It really only existed within the media offices of central London but apparently explained much of men’s sexual behaviour (and relationship problems) for a large part of the decade.
Medicalising sex – one of the hidden problems of the decade, the medicalisation of our sexual lives is an issue that we all should have been a lot more concerned about than we were. We weren’t worried because the media took a largely uncriti cal stance on this issue, and because we were encouraged to have great sex (see aspirational sex mentioned yesterday) so anything that got in the way was viewed as problematic. As a result we saw a greater attention paid to premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, sex addiction, and female sexual dysfunction (in particular Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder). Pharmaceutical companies battled it out to find the next Viagra-type success, while a growing body of healthcare professionals and sex researchers/educators questioned the classification, diagnosis, prevalence and treatment of this issue. (You can see a summary of these issues here and here). Don’t think this was a fad of the noughties, you can expect to see a lot more of this in the next decade.
Masturbation – by the noughties most Western countries had got the message that masturbation wasn’t harmful, but could be good for you. Although within these countries across the past ten years some faith based organisations have promoted the idea that masturbation is dangerous. In other countries we’ve still been hearing from ‘experts’ telling communities that masturbation can cause infertility, genital deformities or ruin your sex life. The wider availability of sex toys made masturbation more acceptable, although this was the decade that also bought us conflicting messages about masturbation – that it both caused and cured cancer.
N is for…
Normalising condoms – efforts to encourage condom use shifted within this decade to focus on making condoms seem mainstream. Aside from the wider availability of condoms – and great improvements to the quality and range of products available – safer sex messages aimed to make carrying a condom as essential as your car or house keys. The change in condom quality, availability and advertising has certainly helped
Whether the normalising message really worked is debatable. Part of the reason it could have done better was not the message, but the inconsistency of delivery through public health broadcasting. Which, when we got to see them were pretty damn good:
O is for…
Orgasms – it’s not like we haven’t heard about orgasms in previous decades, but the noughties did something different with the big O. It became something to achieve rather than experience in some kind of sex competition which left many people feeling inadequate. Sex educators spent a large part of the decade reassuring people about enjoying pleasure and how sex is not defined (or ended by) orgasm. But this ran counter to the media and commercial messaging which consistently reminded us how we ought to be having and giving bigger, better, longer lasting orgasms. So unsurprisingly the last decade was characterised by a wider awareness of orgasms, and more anxiety about having them.
Why not go off and enjoy an orgasm or two of your own, and come back tomorrow when we’ll be on the home stretch of our sex and relationships reminiscing. Brought to you by the letters P to Z.
An A-Z of sex in the noughties – Part 2 (H-O)
If you missed the start of our alphabet – you can read A-G here.
H is for…
Homophobia – there are some things you wish would just disappear and homophobia is one of them. While the noughties saw gay marriage and a higher visibility of lesbians, gays and bis in the media (in some cultures). We also heard that many nations were still highly homophobic – recommending the death penalty for those discovered in (or suspected of) lesbian and gay relationships. And even in supposedly tolerant countries we noted homophobic bullying within schools continues. So things may be a bit better in some parts of the world for LGBTQs, but not everyone, and not everywhere.
HIV – wouldn’t it be wonderful to say that in the noughties we found a cure for AIDS and we managed to massively reduce the spread of HIV? How sad to report many countries have done little to reduce the prevalence of HIV – due to inept, corrupt or prejudiced politicians; the influence of AIDS denialists; poverty; gender inequality; muddled, misleading, inconsistent or just absent sex education and inadequate healthcare systems. Research on the issue has focused on finding vaccines for AIDS, investigating microbicides (not found to be particularly successful), male circumcision (found to benefit men but not necessarily women – and continues to be a highly controversial issue), and looking at stigma and how communities respond to HIV. There have been some amazing, evidence based initiatives to tackle HIV or respond more effectively to the crisis. And some very poor and unethical research undertaken. In the noughties HIV didn’t go away. And we must continue to do more to rectify that.
Hormones – sex in the past ten years has come to be defined by hormones. The ‘cuddle hormone’ that makes us feel good post sex, or testosterone that makes us want sex, and various ones that stop us wanting sex. Hormones undoubtedly do have an impact on our sexual lives, as do many other factors. However the media have latched onto the hormone angle because it’s much easier to talk about hormones than it is to mention genitals or what you might do to experience pleasure. And with the influence of drug companies to reframe sex as hormonally driven it’s been a decade where journalists and the public probably don’t understand hormones any better than 10 years ago – but do now believe that the presence or absence of particular hormones are the key to their sex lives. (btw if you do want to know about hormones and sex, it’s best to ask an endocrinologist).
I is for…
Internet dating – at the start of the last decade we were still a bit suspicious about internet dating. It was viewed as something for losers. But over the past ten years internet dating has changed dramatically. People are meeting up for dates, friendships, or casual sex enabled by online dating sites (and latterly through other social networks). Indeed, as the decade closes if someone is single probably one of the first places they’d consider is the internet if they want to find love. We still don’t know a lot about this phenomena as dating sites are notoriously cagey about their data and it’s not that easy to research, but it does seem the internet is an opportunity for dating – so long as you’re assertive, honest, and don’t rule out other real life chances too.
Infections – during the noughties we’ve seen Sexually Transmitted Infections rise rapidly (not just in the UK, but in many countries across the world). STIs such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are prevalent – particularly in the under 25 age group. Initiatives around testing and treatment, along with modernising sexual health services and making them more accessible were launched. But these were struggling to make a difference when placed in cultures providing patchy sex education in schools, a more sexualised media, and inconsistent (or incorrect) public health messaging on the topic.
J is for…
Jealousy – it’s a nasty emotion, but research completed within this decade, along with observations from relationship therapists and law enforcement agencies indicated to use more clearly how it was also an indicator of future relationship problems – particularly domestic violence. It also became an issue for discussion as we embraced new social media – particularly forums, instant messaging and social networks – where the opportunity for partners to act jealously were increased.
Jelqing – a technique for stretching the penis, which isn’t new, but got more attention due to commercial promotion of the technique, websites, and men discussing the issue on forums. It involves repetitively stretching the semi erect penis during 15-30 minute daily sessions to increase blood flow. Tied up with the increasing anxiety of men over penis size and sexual performance, jelqing was suggested as a means to naturally increase length. There is no evidence it works, although there were (and still are) plenty of quack sites promoting it. (However, there is some tentative evidence indicating that penis extender devices might work). Any penis lengthening techniques require repetition and daily attention and probably won’t lead to permanent size increases, but can cause damage to the penis. Focusing on lengthening techniques also fails to address underlying anxieties about penis size that may lead men to attempt the techniques in the first place. However, that’s not to say we didn’t have a whole slew of men’s magazine features promoting such techniques (and particularly jelqing) over the past ten years.
K is for…
Kidult – was a media catch phrase coined in the noughties, referring to a middle aged person who continued to engage in youthful activities. Despite being a catchy label there was good evidence within this decade of people marrying and having children later than in previous decades, leading to concerns over fertility and infant and maternal health. Straight, gay and bi adults were also reported to ignore safer sex messages, with STIs rising within adult populations (particularly in the over 40s) – although not to the same degree as the under 25s. Sex advice was predominantly focused at the kidult market – to those who were affluent enough to enjoy a younger lifestyle and wanted the trappings that went with it – including sex.
Kinsey – 2007 saw the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Kinsey institute, while in 2004 Bill Condon directed the biographic movie of Kinsey’s work. And just recently the institute launched a fantastic new resource Kinsey Confidential for all your sexual questions. All of which allowed us to celebrate the science of sex.
L is for…
Lap dancing (and pole dancing) – which moved out of the clubs and into the mainstream within this decade. Along with burlesque it became something to try for exercise, fun, or empowerment. And which critics responded to negatively – with some very shoddy research completed on the topic. Luckily there was also some excellent ethnographic research on lap dancing published, and we end the decade with a new project about to investigate lap dancing clubs.
M is for…
Metrosexuals – largely a media invention to describe men that used moisturiser and looked after their bodies – and had various homophobic undertones. It really only existed within the media offices of central London but apparently explained much of men’s sexual behaviour (and relationship problems) for a large part of the decade.
Medicalising sex – one of the hidden problems of the decade, the medicalisation of our sexual lives is an issue that we all should have been a lot more concerned about than we were. We weren’t worried because the media took a largely uncriti cal stance on this issue, and because we were encouraged to have great sex (see aspirational sex mentioned yesterday) so anything that got in the way was viewed as problematic. As a result we saw a greater attention paid to premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, sex addiction, and female sexual dysfunction (in particular Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder). Pharmaceutical companies battled it out to find the next Viagra-type success, while a growing body of healthcare professionals and sex researchers/educators questioned the classification, diagnosis, prevalence and treatment of this issue. (You can see a summary of these issues here and here). Don’t think this was a fad of the noughties, you can expect to see a lot more of this in the next decade.
Masturbation – by the noughties most Western countries had got the message that masturbation wasn’t harmful, but could be good for you. Although within these countries across the past ten years some faith based organisations have promoted the idea that masturbation is dangerous. In other countries we’ve still been hearing from ‘experts’ telling communities that masturbation can cause infertility, genital deformities or ruin your sex life. The wider availability of sex toys made masturbation more acceptable, although this was the decade that also bought us conflicting messages about masturbation – that it both caused and cured cancer.
N is for…
Normalising condoms – efforts to encourage condom use shifted within this decade to focus on making condoms seem mainstream. Aside from the wider availability of condoms – and great improvements to the quality and range of products available – safer sex messages aimed to make carrying a condom as essential as your car or house keys. The change in condom quality, availability and advertising has certainly helped
Whether the normalising message really worked is debatable. Part of the reason it could have done better was not the message, but the inconsistency of delivery through public health broadcasting. Which, when we got to see them were pretty damn good:
O is for…
Orgasms – it’s not like we haven’t heard about orgasms in previous decades, but the noughties did something different with the big O. It became something to achieve rather than experience in some kind of sex competition which left many people feeling inadequate. Sex educators spent a large part of the decade reassuring people about enjoying pleasure and how sex is not defined (or ended by) orgasm. But this ran counter to the media and commercial messaging which consistently reminded us how we ought to be having and giving bigger, better, longer lasting orgasms. So unsurprisingly the last decade was characterised by a wider awareness of orgasms, and more anxiety about having them.
Why not go off and enjoy an orgasm or two of your own, and come back tomorrow when we’ll be on the home stretch of our sex and relationships reminiscing. Brought to you by the letters P to Z.
An A-Z of sex in the noughties – Part 2 (H-O)Related posts