Is the sexual relationship (and I emphasise the word relationship) now a rarity and the one night stand getting even shorter?
Our ancestors would not recognise the lifestyle of today’s society with the drop in marriage to its lowest levels and steep rise in single parent families. Whilst more men than women enjoy sex that is not to say that women do not enjoy sex as much as men, albeit an increasing number of men now seek sex without commitment whereas more women still prefer sex within an established relationship, possibly driven by their biological clock, save for the increasing number of women that prefer a long term career rather than having or deferring having children.
The exponential expansion in technology notably in telecommunications has made it so much easier for inter-personal contact and awareness of new products and resources. We now live in the age of the consumer and the throwaway society as we are bombarded with advertisements to seek the latest gadget or thrill for a more exciting lifestyle.
An example of the new technocrats is Match Group, which has been valued at £2bn., and will shortly be floated on the New York stock exchange. This company is better known as an online dating company, with brands such as Tinder, okCupid, Match.com and PlentyofFish. Tinder is the widely popular app much used by 18 to 34 year olds and is a mobile-only service which connects with users’ Facebook accounts and is accessed by about 10 million people for an average duration of 35 minutes per day connecting up with some 145 other like minded people. The app lets users “swipe right” on a person’s profile to indicate an interest followed by a “match” to a positive response.
This system is the preferred modus operandi to set up a connection for “no strings attached” sex and the date is “the time and place” and not the prelude to a relationship. Users put up intimate pictures of themselves and often achieve hits most days of the week (but seldom “date” for a repeat performance albeit it is courteous for the couples to get dressed before going back onto the app in search of their next encounter!) and then are often rated as to both their physical attributes as well as performance and staying power.
Sex for the youth of today has thus become less about being confined to relationships and much more about brief encounters and could be classified almost as a physical recreational activity given the ease of communication between men and women seeking such connection. The ever increasing range of such apps promotes such arrangements aided by the advances in modern medicine in preventing both pregnancies and combating sexually transmitted diseases.
I think that it is sad that some parts of society see sex this way rather than as an act to be treasured and enjoyed not just in its physical aspect but as a therapy. This is why by contrast a properly conducted Tantric massage which takes the time and trouble to explore and enhance the sexual energy of the client is something to be savoured and appreciated, rather than the selfish sexual gratification that such app facilitate. At “Tantra-Lising” we pride ourselves on providing a high quality service from our luxurious London studio with its distinctive emphasis on therapy rather than “wham, bang, thank you mam/man.”