Isolation made impossible traditional dating, but it does not mean that people ceased to get dates and have sex. Technologies allow to do a lot of things at distance and that someone looks for sex partner, and that someone is separated from her in current circumstances.
Meeting online to have sex
Applications for acquaintances now in a difficult situation, their sense consists in purpose of a real meeting with the pleasant person. Stocks of the Match company which stands behind services for online dating of Tinder and OkCupid fell by 25%, and it had to balance care of health and the tasks.
“Tinder understands that users often meet new people personally, and, considering the current situation, we wanted to remind of precautionary measures which they have to accept” – it is said in the statement of the company. Now in the application introduce new function: it will allow to meet people outside the area in which there is a person now.
Whitney Wolfe Herd, the foundress of the dating app Bumble, expressed the position in the open letter much more clearly: “So far appoint virtual appointments, please”.
But how to suit them? One of ways to make it is to invent a format of fast appointments anew. Dawoon Kang, a founder of Coffee Meets Bagel service, says that they began to carry out group video calls in which 10-15 people at the same time can participate. The virtual meeting is moderated by the representative of the company who can report about the attracted participant. If sympathies coincide, will connect people.
The coronavirus also changes basic rules of acquaintances. Was considered as norm to invite to an appointment in correspondence earlier, and are ringing, especially by video conference, could frighten off.
But it already not so. At the end of February of JWed, the Jewish application for acquaintances, one of the first began to use the built-in video chat. The company told, as so planned to offer such function, but the coronavirus accelerated this process. Bumble also started video conference that users could communicate, without breaking a quarantine.
Video calls, unlike correspondences, allow interlocutors to understand whether there is between them a chemistry. Kang considers that such practice will be norm still long time after flash of COVID-19 as users want to see behind ideal selfies of the real person. “At first people do not feel that they look good on such appointments – Kang says – but then they should try as they understand that they will not meet people still very long. As soon as they try it, they will probably make it again”.
The female resident of London by the name of Jazz uses applications for acquaintances since 2014. Video calls made appointments less accidental, she says.
“Now I can hold the first meetings on the Internet and create stronger emotional, but not physical communication with the man. Three weeks of lack of contact mean that you will be able to reject fakes as flies, and to communicate to those someone really want to have something bigger” – adds Jazz.
She claims that she does not prepare for virtual meetings specially. “Home clothing and any make-up – if you are pleasant in such look, then will be pleasant in any state” – she considers. The girl enjoys ease of online appointments: “I can also drink a glass of wine and lie down on a bed”.
Sex at Distance
The coronavirus changes not only appointments – the popularity and technologies for sex grows. According to Justin Lemiller, the research associate of Institute of Kinsey, it is in many respects connected with quarantine consequences. Though the coronavirus and the related bans are still too new to carrying out the analysis, it is obvious that the present situation changes our behavior, Lemiller says. People try the latest sex gadgets, visit VR-strips-clubs, join sex parties in Zoom and even look for very concrete porn on PornHub: the home video which makes a fetish of a coronavirus.
Polly Rodriguez, the foundress of retail network of sex toys Unbound Babes, says that after flash of COVID-19 many companies from the sphere of sex technologies faced problems. The essential share of sex toys is manufactured in China therefore the supply chain strongly suffered; Rodriguez explained.
But the demand remains high. As soon as in the USA there were first cases of infection, Unbound Babes began to execute hastily orders for vibrators and condoms which in the first week of March grew by 30%, and in the second – for 40%. “Usually, it is the quietest period in a year. Now people stock and expect that all this will take some time” – noted Rodriguez.
Lemiller says that explosion of demand for sex toys can be referred to demography. “The percent of lonely people is higher today, than ever. Now with the partner or the spouse there do not live more people, than ever before” – he specified.
However not only lonely people are interested in sex toys. According to Lemiller’s forecasts, in the closest months of couple which are in isolation will begin to experiment more. “Demand for sex toys with remote control which allow to enter a sexual relationship with the partner at distance will increase” – he says. It is an attractive opportunity, especially taking into account that it is complex to predict duration of a quarantine.
The pandemic of a coronavirus “will pave the way for revolution in the sphere of sex technologies which all of us expected, and will allow to carry out it earlier, than we thought”, Lemiller says.
But people who already faced consequences of economic downturn will not be able to estimate results of this revolution as sex gadgets are still luxury goods and can cost hundreds of dollars. A step Tranovich from a SexTech-startup of Cute Little Fuckers says that, unlike Unbound Babes, sales to his company sharply fell because of financial problems of clients. “Generally, our clients are transgender people and kvira. They both were so marginalized and possessed less stable income. Unfortunately, when there are important events, they the first lose work and fall into an unprofitable financial position” – Tranovich told.
Lemiller considers that isolation anyway will lead to serious changes in a relationship. “I am sure of one: the longer it will last, the happened shifts will longer work. People want to unite virtually” – Kang concluded.