The world is not set in stone. And certainly not what we call sexuality today. If we look back fifty years, we see a very different society than today. In 1967, the world was on the move. It was the time of the Beatles, the Doors and Roy Black. It was the time of the Cold War. It was a time when sexuality was firmly part of marriage and when the female orgasm had not yet penetrated people's consciousness. It was the time just before the second sexual revolution. Yes, there was one before, but I'll come to that later.

Back then, people in the old Federal Republic could not have imagined many things: Sex without marriage, partnerships with multiple partners, registered civil partnerships for same-sex lovers, an army of single parents, pregnant women over fifty, public displays of sexuality that was once so incredibly private and coyly practiced, naked female bodies on billboards, a freely available range of pornographic content.

What we present so openly today was a big taboo back then. When we look at this difference to our world today, the question inevitably arises as to what it will look like in the future. How will we have sex in fifty years' time? Will we still be having sex at all?

Life is not a one-way street

Over the last fifty years, the approach to sexuality has evolved from prudery to permissiveness. Nothing is a must, but anything goes. And so you might think that the road leads straight ahead. That sex will become wilder and wilder, that the last taboo will fall away and at some point everyone will copulate with everyone on the street. This is indeed feared in some places. And there are protests against the early sexualization of children and the dissolution of marriage. Back to the old values, back to the classic family form. Back to abstinence before marriage? That's bound to happen soon.

Are we really so much more open today?

But things are not at all as they are often portrayed. We have indeed become much more open in our approach to sexuality. But we still don't really talk about our own love lives, we don't really talk about what we want. Maybe we don't even know it. And not everyone indulges in free love. No, not really. Polyamory, swingers clubs or private porn are still not mainstream. And they probably never will be. The whole public approach to sexuality seems to be causing many people to lose interest. Too much pressure, too high expectations.

Wild alternation of permissiveness and prudery

Anyone who still believes that things can only go in one direction is mistaken. The number of marriages is on the rise, more children are being born again and most people ultimately want to be faithful to each other. History also shows us that wild times are always followed by calmer ones:

- In the middle of the 18th century during the Age of Enlightenment, the mistresses and courtesans of kings and nobles became media stars. Thanks to the new printing technology, their pictures were distributed everywhere. Incidentally, this is also the origin of the word pornography, which literally means the description of whores. The movie "Dangerous Liaisons" shows very clearly how bored the nobility felt sexually at the same time.
- Later in the Victorian era, an unimagined prudery spread. Even piano feet had to be covered, as they could have given rise to erotic thoughts.
- At the beginning of the last century, lust made its way back in the actual first sexual revolution. In the economic boom of the Roaring Twenties, society opened up in many respects.
- Then came the National Socialists in Germany and put women back at the stove and sex at the service of the nation. Women as birthing machines, men as soldiers.
- In the post-war period, all efforts were put into reconstruction. There was no time or energy for sexual frivolities.
- By the end of the 60s, people were rebelling again. And here we are again. Never before have we had so much time and so many opportunities to let off steam sexually.

Today's youth is tomorrow's society

If we really want to know what things might look like in fifty years' time, we need to take a look at young people. Because they are the ones whose behavior will shape the coming decades. And there can be no question of a wild sex life here.

- Studies show that young people today don't start any earlier than the generation of 1968.
- On average, girls have their first sex at the age of 16.5, boys even a little later.
- Having a relationship is more important to them than sex. And it is no longer the great boundary crossing or the leap into adventure that it used to be.
- Before young people have their first experience of their own, they get caught up in the sex education mill, learning about contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). As a result, contraceptive behavior is more exemplary than in any previous generation. 80 percent use contraception the first time.
- The rate of underage pregnancies is lower than ever before.
- And there is no trace of promiscuity! Only a few young people have more than one or three sexual partners.
- Sexual abstinence is also socially acceptable today.

Despite all this, and precisely because of it, sex is no longer experienced as satisfying and pleasurable, at least by girls, according to sexologist Volkmar Sigusch. Yet another reason for sexual restraint. So which came first, the hen or the egg?

Away from consumer behavior, towards pleasure and mindfulness

Sex is becoming an art form on the one hand and losing its animalistic drive on the other. We consume it more or less like other goods or experiences. And if we had to choose between sex or a week without a smartphone and the internet, the decision would not be difficult for most of us.

Instead, sex is almost medically prescribed: It strengthens the immune system, keeps the psyche healthy and the relationship alive. That is very sensible. But pleasurable? Horny? Hmm. On the other hand, we no longer even need sex to procreate. Everything that was once considered scandalous is now normal. In many ways, that's a good thing. We have a new form of freedom. Homosexuality is considered completely normal in this country, at least in urban areas. Gays and lesbians want to live like straight people, they want to be equal and also have the right to marry. We can only hope that the political climate does not turn against this new freedom!

But if we don't want to lose sex to boredom and listlessness in the next fifty years, we should learn to feel ourselves more again. Away from consumerism and towards mindfulness. And perhaps also towards privacy.

Anja Drews - qualified sex educator for ORION

Sources: Sigusch, V.: Sexualities. A critical theory in 99 fragments. Frankfurt am Main 2013. p. 442ff.