Newsflash! Generation Y (all those wonderful young folks born in the early 1980s to about the mid 1990s) are now in prime marriage age. They've entered the workforce, they're buying houses, cars and they're getting married in droves. Here's why this has changed everything you ever thought about married sex:
They're expecting to be doing it for years to come.
If the Viagra / Cialis publicity campaigns this past decade has taught the next generation anything, it's that they'll be having sex with their partner well into the nursing home years. The idea of sex between spouses being in its prime during the child-rearing years is no longer commonplace in their minds. As a result, missionary position for half a century doesn't work anymore - the new expectation is that sex with your life partner will grow, evolve and extend well into the latter years of life. This is why today's married couples are more adventurous, sensual and sometimes straight-out wild.
They're masters in sex.
Recent studies shown that on average Generation Y will have had 8 sexual partners before finding "the one". This means they come into marriage with more experience in the sack, are confident between the sheets, have tried a plethora of different types of sex, and are more demanding on their life partner to match the best of the best from what they've had before.
They're rocking the bedroom in style.
Generation Y is very self-conscious about their appearance: they like to be fit and look good. This is no different in the bedroom as they strive to be desirable and keep their look fresh. As a result, lingerie sales have grown steadily and are projected to increase almost 40% in 2016 from 2008 levels. Whereas married women from previous generations used to have a few "go to" outfits and more conservative negligees and slips, Gen-Y wives are more likely to have a drawer full of racier getups, spend more annually on these items than ever before and are projected to continue shopping for boudoir items much later in life.
Not satisfied with the home cooking? Answers vary when it comes on what to do if your spouse isn't keeping you satisfied in bed. For Gen-Y newlyweds, life is a little different as for the first time ever they have a plethora of other convenient options available at their fingertips. Statistics show that most Gen-Yers have already dabbled with apps like Tinder and PoF pre and post marriage. Out of this number, a large portion of newlyweds have admitted to keeping old, unknown proxy accounts or creating new "curiosity accounts" on these same platforms, secret to their partner.
How this will affect infidelity rates is still uncertain; common sense would assume most will not actually go through with engaging in extra-marital affairs but it has never been easier before. Whether this new trend (still in its infancy) develops or not into a legitimate increase in transgressions is still up for debate. However, if Ashley Madison taught us anything, we may be surprised with what we may find out from statistical data within 5-10 years.
All in all, with divorce rates at record levels and technology helping broker flings of unfaithfulness with ease, pressure to keep a spouse happy in bed has never been higher than it is now. For this reason we're seeing a trend of Gen-Y as being more conscious and communicative of their partners' satisfaction level and respond by being more creative, open and experimental in the bedroom.
Social media weighs heavily on their minds.
Gen-Yers are heavily into social media as seen with the ages of users on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This new reality is a double-hit in the bedroom for two main reasons:
They need to keep up with the Joneses. Whether it's feeling envious of friends posting seductive selfies on Instagram, or raving about their spouse's romantic gestures on Facebook, Gen-Y newlyweds are in a constant competition to keep up with the pack. Besides this, thanks to the anonymity of discussion forums and other internet mediums, Gen-Yers are significantly more open in talking about their sex life and comparing it to others. As a result, they see in much greater detail what they are missing out on if their spouse isn't as adept at keeping the romance going.
Role models have changed. Where Gen-X grew into married life with kids based on memories from the non-glamorous TV moms Roseanne Barr and Marge Simpson, Gen-Y is faced with the likes of Kim Kardashian. This new generation of Hollywood moms strives to regain pre-pregnancy form within weeks of delivery and look drop-dead sexy with their infant in tow. They're not gracing the ho-hum covers of Chatelaine, they're on the cover of Cosmo. The expectation is that you can still be as hot and sexy as ever while being married with or without kids.
Their grandparents probably grew up during the sexual revolution.
Growing up pre-Gen-Y meant even if your parents were more progressive in raising you and guiding your sexual attitudes, chances are your grandparents were probably still from a pre-sexual revolution generation and fairly conservative, relying on outdated social taboos. (I can attest to this with my grandmother.) This is becoming less common in 2015 as the grandparent generation has been replaced by the sexual revolution generation, thereby reducing the last chance of "stern looks around the dinner table" from matriarch or patriarch family members regarding any questionable behaviour or inappropriate discussions.
Mainstream sex is kinkier today.
If the success of Fifty Shades of Grey proved anything, the aptly-named "mommy porn" ideology is more socially acceptable than it has ever been before. Whereas only a decade ago a woman reading a soft-core smut book while sitting beside her stroller at the park may have garnered some raised eyebrows, this is no longer the case.
Besides this, formerly "deviant" practices such as light BDSM is considered so mainstream to the point that regular mall lingerie stores carry items that used to be reserved for sex shops ("Your rhinestone flogger is just there past the pajama bottoms, ma'am"). So today a set of handcuffs in the nightstand isn't considered kinky, it's standard issue in most Gen-Y master bedrooms.
So welcome to the club Gen-Y. Here's wishing you many happy years filled with the best married sex we never had!
-BSYNH
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