by William Dean
(01/03/01)

Where are we going and how fast? Can our psyches keep up? We asked around to find out. Who can see tomorrow better than a filmmaker? One whose sensibilities are womanly and erotic -- her eyes frame, her ears listen, she records: love. What is her future vision?

"In 2001 I would like to see sex regarded and respected for the wonderful, natural, delightful aspect of life that it is," says Candida Royale.

"Sex is still used to sell everything from cars to deodorant, while the honest, explicit exploration of sex is considered dirty and beneath us. I want sex to be intelligently talked about in the media and between lovers. I want young men to be taught how to be sensitive and considerate lovers, and young women to be encouraged to explore their own personal sexual fantasies and desires. We all want more lasting and successful relationships and marriages. I want sex to be taken out of the gutter and cherished as one of the many wonderful rightful gifts life has to offer. The guilt and shame surrounding sex gives it that sense of forbidden fruit. I say the rush of longing, desire, and at its best, love, is all it takes. Add to that the splendor of touch and the richness of a creative mind and you've got all the thrills for the future you could hope for."

Next we went to our consumer expert. Who better to project and even define our future pleasures?

Greta Christina, executive and buyer for Blowfish told us: "Butt toys, butt toys, butt toys! 2000 has been The Year of the Butt. And for that matter, so was 1999. I'm betting that 2001 will be, too.

"I also might expect an increase in the kinds of materials dildos are made from. That's certainly been the trend in the past. Time was everything was rubber or nasty plastics. Fifteen or twenty years ago, we had the silicone revolution, and there's a zillion cottage-industry companies making silicone dildos. A few years ago, acrylic was the new high-end kid on the block; while the bigger, more mainstream companies like Doc Johnson were getting into the whole jelly thing.

"And about a year or so ago, we started getting dildos made from glass, which I would never have predicted; while the mainstream manufacturers were getting into the whole ultra-realistic Cyberskin thing. I wouldn't be surprised in the coming year to see dildos made from materials nobody would have thought of. Ceramic? Plasticine? Foam rubber? Recycled cat hair?"

Okay. But what about feeding our head? Amsterdam sex guru and exhibitionist Cora Emens lays out the route:

"I hope we will find a way to 'live and let live' in the year 2001, and that we will leave each other the freedom to raise our children the way we think is best. I hope we could include our children in our life without being afraid or upset by their natural curiosity about sex. That we can embrace their playfulness and their longing for a sense of being part of the family/tribe. That we will be able to touch our children again with love, and without the fear of being criminalized. I hope we will finally grow up and mature sexually and take the power back into our own hands. Now adults are being treated as children themselves. We are kids raising kids and terribly afraid that we do it wrong. There is nothing to be afraid of when it comes from love."

Maybe romance, small r, will prove to be the kinkiest, most bizarre fetish of our coming year. Soft touches and trusting nights of pleasure that once more prove love is a four-letter word. Along with the gameboi and latexbabe, along with cyberfuck and plug-and-play sex, maybe we'll find a new appreciation of seduction and desire, of making love and fuck. 2001 may be the year we tell the HAL 2000 to buzz off. We've got it under control.

BIO NOTES:
Candida Royale is an award-winning filmmaker specializing in erotica for women and couples.

Greta Christina is buyer, vice-president and general manager of Blowfish, the Internet's most famous sex products service.

Cora Emens is a spirituality and sex guide with her own Web site, The Temple of Cora. come.to/coracoracora She is also one-half of one of the world's sexiest couples. Cora is a pretty, petite, proud exhibitionist and sexuality teacher. Shai is also an exhibitionist from Philadelphia. He's got that American East Coast edge. He used to be a gigolo.

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