So, a book was released last year. I'm not sure if you've heard
of it. It is relatively unknown… but I'm going to get it out there.
It goes by the name of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Joking aside, it is somewhat overwhelming to comprehend the
sheer impact that this infamous trilogy has had, not just in the
Great British bedroom, but in our society, and how it has wormed
itself into everyday life. It is like one massive horny pie that
everyone wants to delve their fingers into and smother their bodies
in before the hype dies down.
Just glancing at the WHSmith Paperback Fiction Chart this
morning, the top five are all so-called 'mummy porn', and 50% of
the top 20 fall into the same category. When did it become
acceptable to sit on the train and read so openly about sex whilst
munching on a Mars Bar? I didn't even bat an eyelid when my mother
informed me one day that she had borrowed my copy of the book 'to
have a nosey' whilst I was away.
Hey, I saw grandma sitting in the corner sniggering behind that
instantly recognisable front cover on Asda's Christmas
advert this year, whilst the rest of the family were fixated on
the TV watching a heart-warming Christmas film - probably Miracle
on 34th Street.
People are now less reluctant to lift the lid on the contents of
their adult toy box and sexual fantasies. It's a craze. Just like
Tamagotchis and Pokémon cards - everyone wants to be on the
bandwagon. We enjoy talking about sex and sex toys in normal
conversation (rather than just in a game of 'I have never…' after
one tequila shot too many) and more and more women are quite happy
to admit that last week we walked into Ann Summers, picked up a
suspicious, slightly intimidating-looking, spiky, rotating object
and asked, "Where does this go, then?"
Lesbian and bi women may have been ahead of the trend where
sex-toys are concerned. At DIVA, we certainly know you're not
afraid to experiment. Now it seems your straight sisters (mums,
grans and aunties) are finally catching up. Due to the well-known
nature of the relationship between Christian and Anastasia, the
sex-toy industry has reportedly seen a 65% boost in sales of
handcuffs, whips and bondage sex-toys and
starter kits and, perhaps more astonishingly, paddles and
blindfolds have experienced triple-digit percentage increases. Even
more specifically, Kegel
ball sales have rocketed by 350%. Remember Sex and the City's
role in reinventing the
rampant rabbit and the cosmopolitan cocktail? Kind of similar,
really.
It's not just the sex shops that have benefited from this
phenomenon, women are also heading down their local B&Q on a
Saturday morning to purchase rope to use in the bedroom in an
attempt to re-enact events in the book. We are literally being
roped (excuse the pun) into exploring our kinkier and somewhat
darker sides.
If the figures say one thing, it's this: we as a nation have the
horn, and we are not afraid to say so.
