They were the good old days of Nickelodeon, flip phones, Dunkaroos, Beanie Babies -- and slightly uptight attitudes about sex. New York Magazine recently reported that Americans are now more OK with casual sex than they were in the 90s.
According to the data from the nationally representative General Social Survey of 33, Americans over 18, In addition, Americans have had more sexual partners over the course of their adult lifetime now than they did in the 90s. Though the 90s may have rocked in terms of mix tapes and the un-ironic donning of overalls, lots of positive changes have occurred since then to make America sex-positive.
The mere fact that "50 Shades of Grey" made it to the big screen and enjoyed the success it did -- it was the biggest R-rated theatrical release in movie history -- says a lot about the way our society's perspective on sex is changing. There has never been more sex in mass media than there is now -- and that's a good thing because we are no longer viewing sex as a something shameful, secretive or taboo.
Sex has always been a normal part of everyday life, but now that normality is reflected in the media, too. Even more so, being confronted with these images of sex and sexuality in the media forces us to have conversations about them.
And these conversations are especially important if something about how sex is portrayed angers us. We can ask ourselves why this particular scene in this particular movie or TV show upset us and what the media can do to make it better -- which, in the long run, will only improve the portrayal and lessen the stigmas even more.
