It’s been 10 months since the World Health Organization officially labeled coronavirus a pandemic. That’s a long time to be cooped up and stressed out. At this point, people really need to blow off steam, and the New York City Health Department knew just how many of them were going to do it. With sex.
That’s why, in June, they put out a “take care during sex” list of guidelines that the internet deemed officially “kinky.” They recommended wearing a face covering during your flings, noted that masturbating six feet apart could be fun, and basically endorsed the “glory hole,” writing in a press release, “Be creative with sexual positions and physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face to face contact.”
Dating experts have been giving out similar advice throughout the pandemic, including Gabi Levi, a “sexpert” who runs the erotica site Shag Story.
“If you and your partner must touch, being smart about it is so important,” she tells Refinery29. “This is especially true if they are a totally new dating partner you’ve met on an app. You have no idea where people have been, so safety is key.” She recommends not kissing, holding hands with gloves on, and agrees that the “safest way to have sex is really through a glory hole,” explaining that “COVID is a respiratory issue that most easily gets people sick through the nose and mouth.”
But the little Carrie Bradshaw inside me couldn’t help but wonder if people were actually following these rules. I decided to put out a call and ask people how they’d been getting it on as of late. Their responses were raw, honest… and, let’s be real, kind of sexy.
“I’d been staying at my parents house for months riding out the pandemic and seeing virtually no one but them. When I finally got back to my apartment with my roommates, the first thing I did was lock my bedroom door and pull out my trusty vibrator. The second thing I did was send a flirty text to my ex. We ended up volleying steamy messages back and forth all night, and it was the hottest sexting session I’d had, well, probably ever.” – Julie, Chicago, IL “My husband and I have been interested in the potential of non-monogamous fun for a while now. We decided to take the spare time we had in quarantine to dip our toes in online.
“I got a Tinder Account and started a few conversations. One of them, I enjoyed quite a bit more than I expected, so we moved our chatting to a more photo-friendly app. It’s the first time I’ve sexted with someone other than my husband and I’ve found it really exhilarating.
“Since Tinder Passport was allowing everyone to match with people all over the world during the pandemic, I chose New York City, a location far from me. That ensured unfamiliar faces …read more
Source:: Refinery29