Society is a never-ending cycle of trends. Trends that have their moment in the spotlight but are soon replaced by the next season of Lily Pulitzer patterns and Apple ibooks. We as the future generations of society are not only the components who formulate these trends but we are also the driving force behind their success and prestige. The prestige surrounding certain trends is normally the deciding factor in the length of time they are spotlighted. One trend that has particularly engraved itself into the everyday public life of society is the sexual revolution that has occurred.
Something that was once so private and unspoken of has now found a way to touch every aspect of life. Sex does not end at human reproduction but instead filters throughout our media, fashion, and social lives. Sex has even entered the culinary world i.e. The Naked Chef has proven that the kitchen no longer belongs to Julia Child but a chiseled physique and golden locks. We can no longer believe that sex is simply focused on the biological processes necessary to perform the act of intercourse but has propelled its status to an empire of arenas.
As for the fashion world, anyone who has entered a mall or clothing store within the last decade can attest to the sexual motives behind the fabric. And when I speak of clothing stores I am not limiting sex in the fashion world only to Victoria’s Secret or Fredrick’s of Hollywood; the designers behind Abercrombie and Fitch and even the all-American clothing store Gay have found ways to make even denim and collared shirts seductive. Although lingerie has been about for centuries as one of the sexual forefathers of fashion, it is the mindset behind the patterns that set the trends. Although less may be more for certain individuals stuck in another decade, society is seeing a reappearance of the classic style in which less skin shown is only an invite to a possible preview later. Sex in the fashion world is not limited to certain cuts or lengths but the ulterior mindset behind the patterns.
Back before a world of Cosmopolitan Magazine and Sex and the City, sex was seen as a private duty performed by man and wife in order to possibly result in reproduction. Now thanks to the certain masterminds of television, cinema, and the printing press individuals no longer have to save sex for the bedrooms. Better positions, safer sex, and more awareness are sweeping across the country with the institution of sex in the media. And although I am not quite sure whether or not the explicitly of certain sex scenes in cinema or in novels, the heightened awareness of safer sex is definitely a positive outcome of this sexual revolution.
As for our social lives and the heightened element of sex, once glance at a bar scene can confirm that sexual freedom has begun to peak again. Not only is this sexual freedom displayed in the club scene but in restaurants, in class, or even at the workplace individuals are coming to terms with their sexuality and allowing it to boost their confidence in other endeavors. I am definitely not promoting the return of the late 1960s movement of “make love not war” resulting in the making of love everywhere, of course there must be restrictions. But the level of confidence in both men and women as they become comfortable in expressing their sexuality and using it as a unifying tactic is never a negative thing.
The heightened and continuously evolving sexual revolution of our time is not something we as the approaching leaders of society should restrict. Instead we must use this aspect of every individual’s life and manufacture it into a positive force no longer left for the bedroom but for the progression of an aware society.