Women shedding inhibitions

In the recent past, there have been a lot of debates on women-related issues. Be it about their safety, crimes against them, their health and even their sexuality and desires.

Indeed, many women today are trying to shake off their inhibitions to talk about their ‘rights’, ‘needs’ and ‘demands’ when it comes to their personal lives, more significantly, the hitherto taboo subjects related to their sexuality and their ‘idea of giving and taking pleasure’. Some women even confess to have multiple sexual partners, just like the men – with ease.

Earlier, such discussions conducted inside the privacy of a home or bedroom have now found space in the media, films as well as in the drawing rooms of young couples.

In another noticeable change, online health portals are witnessing a surge in traffic of women, young couples, those who are about to tie the knot, are already married or in a relationship, seeking appointment with doctors and sexologists, because  “sex is not merely a marital duty, but also about their basic right to sexual satisfaction.”

With the wedding season October – February picking up pace, Helpingdoc, an online doctor’s appointment site has dealt with numerous queries/appointments with doctors for sex-related issues, mostly from Delhi.
 Talking to Metrolife about this phenomenon, Amit Bansal, CEO, Helpingdoc, which is a doctor appointment website, said, “There is a paradigm shift in the thought process and due to increasing awareness about sex and sexual problems, women are taking bold steps and opening up about their sexual needs. The number of queries for sexologists are more in this season compared to others.”
 Healthcaremagic, another portal also sees a huge traffic for sex-related queries and women seeking advice about personal matters. Interestingly, demand for online sexual care and wellness products is also high. These range from literature and movies, to costumes and sex toys. Websites like prettysecrets.com, ohmysecrets.com also record huge traffic during the wedding season.

“There are women who also have queries about their sexual lives post their marriage – how to revive and rekindle the spark. A lot of women have questions about virginity. Women, especially from orthodox families are quite uninhibited about asking questions on sex, sexual behaviour, wellness etc. We have definitely seen an unexpected increase in the number of such queries in the recent past,” Bansal added.

Shweta Pandey*, an advertising professional who recently got married, said, “I did go to a sexologist before my marriage because I had a lot of sex-related queries. More so, because I never shared anything about my past with my fiance. I thought that a doctor can give me a better way to handle my situation.”

Another young woman Ragini Mishra*, who has been married for the last five years, said, “Somehow after so many years of togetherness, you lose the excitement in your married life. So, to revive that excitement I went online and surfed the net. I got various ideas and few of them actually worked! So, it is important to be open about your desires and dreams when it comes to your sexual life.”