The coronavirus pandemic has completely upended many people’s sex lives, whether they’re locked down in close proximity with their partners, taking their sex and relationships online with digital dating and increasing amounts of porn, or undergoing a period of quarantine-imposed celibacy.
Since late April, the Slutever founder, writer, and Vogue columnist Karley Sciortino has been documenting this new sexual landscape in her aptly-titled podcast: Love In Quarantine.
Episodes deal with spending all day, every day locked alone with your partner, the vulnerability of virtual dates, and weighing the risks and ethics of intimacy as coronavirus restrictions lift.
“I wanted to know how other people were (maintaining sensuality),” Sciortino told Dazed in a recent interview. “And even if they weren’t successful at it, to feel solidarity in hearing about other people’s struggles, thoughts, curiosities, and attempted solutions.”
Now, Sciortino has linked up with Dazed again via Zoom to share some tips on how to maintain sexual desire in lockdown. “Going to this virtual sex party was interesting,” Sciortino says, “because you feel really tuned into other people’s sexuality, and it’s really inspiring.”
If virtual group sex isn’t for you though, and you’d rather keep it one-on-one, Sciortino also has tips for Facetime sex – lighting and framing is everything, people – how to make virtual dates more exciting, and navigating the lockdown nostalgia that’s been leading some people to hook up with their ex.
Watch Sciortino’s full conversation with Dazed in the video below.