A look back at 2015’s top sex science, TV, film, tech, news, and more

Jessica Jones

“The most hilarious awkward sex scene of the year comes courtesy of director Judd Apatow, writer/star Amy Schumer, and an unlikely third party: John Cena, the WWE hardbody with a heart of gold. In Trainwreck, Cena plays Schumer’s chiseled, hung, and closeted boyfriend who’s great at pumping iron and awful at talking dirty. And really, the mere sight of Cena’s hilariously sculpted physique on top of a spread-eagle Schumer is enough to elicit belly laughs.”
The Best Sex Scenes of 2015: From the Awkward ‘Trainwreck’ to the Bed-Breaking ‘Jessica Jones’ (Daily Beast)
See also: The most awkward on-screen sex scenes of 2015 (Entertainment Weekly)

Note: this terrific, indispensable list is comprised of nonfiction, with a focus on books about sex work. Yay! “2015 was a big year for sex-positive publishing from the printed press. New alt sex publisher ThreeL Media hit the ground running to explore sexuality with intellectualism and heart. Sex education saw creativity and excellence, and academia gained a whole new syllabus of books on porn scholarship. Here’s a few books that either dive head-first into sex work and sexuality, or include enough of the subject to stand out as excellent additions to your sexuality bookshelf.”
The Best Sex Books of 2015 (Coming Out Like A Porn Star)

“Although the science of sex might seem like a trifling field of study, given how much of the plant and animal kingdom is dependent on sexual reproduction to pass on genes, studying sex is the same as studying life itself. These are some of the most interesting stories to investigate the science of sex published in the last year.”
The Sexiest Stories of 2015 (Discovery)

“… so many of 2015’s films avoided the conventional. Instead they offered up love scenes that felt authentic, non-judgmental, and vulnerable — moments that simultaneously exist within themselves and reveal much about the people involved. They may not all be “hot” in the traditional I’m-going-to-bookmark-this-for-later sense, but there’s something admirable in their attempt to veer away from what’ve we come to expect of portrayals of sex in film.”
These 2015 Sex Scenes Changed TF Out of Sex in Movies (Complex)

“2015 will go down in history as the year when love won. But there were lots of other extraordinary advancements in the world of sex and relationships. Here, my list of 13 highlights, which includes the year’s sexiest movies, the best TED Talk on relationships, and the pop culture icons who are revolutionizing the way we think about sexual identity.”
Breathless: The Year in Sex (Vogue)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s only a sex scandal if you’re scandalized about sex. “2015 was a roller-coaster year in the political arena, not only of gridlock, but also of sex scandals. While there is certainly a notoriety for all, which prevented some from remaining in office, at least one person was able to run a successful reelection bid. Here’s a breakdown of some of this year’s biggest political sex scandals.”
The top political sex scandals of 2015 (MSNBC)

This was the year of Caitlyn Jenner and Bill Cosby, of the Ashley Madison hacking scandal and the movie of “Fifty Shades of Grey.” In some ways, American culture loosened up sexually, but it wasn’t all good news.
2015’s biggest moments in sex and gender, from Caitlyn Jenner to Ashley Madison and “50 Shades” on screen (Salon)

Dominic Ford, Huccio, Kink, Marc Dorcel, Naughty America and Utherverse’s new HoloFilm Productions, all jumped into the VR production scene in 2015 — while websites such as MetaverseXXX.com, ViRP.io, VirtualRealPorn.com and VRSexperience.com, started showcasing this new form of adult video. Other VR porn highlights from 2015 include the integration of VR with haptic devices and teledildonics, plus live cams, bringing sex toys into the digital age — or perhaps that should now be “the virtual age.”
2015: A VR Porn Snapshot (XBIZ)

For someone new to porn, this makes a lot of sense. The truth is, the types were already there. What happened in 2015, finally, was visibility. “This year brought more types of porn, more feminist options, and more ways to watch it. We basically started looking into the porn of the future, and it looked pretty awesome. So here are six ways porn changed in 2015 …”
Here’s How Porn Changed In 2015 (Bustle)

Note: Vibrating panties were most definitely not introduced to the world last year. Why do people still not research sex when they write about it? Although this year saw the House and Senate voting to defund Planned Parenthood while slut-shaming, street harassment and sexual assault continued ad nauseam, it only made the sex-positive pioneers out there work even harder to fight the stigma against female sexuality and pleasure.
7 Awesome Sex Tech Innovations From 2015 (Bustle)

Yay! This article features Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth: “The year’s best kids book has a surprising amount to teach adults too, as Silverberg tours through all the questions about sex and gender kids could have, while Smyth’s bright and funky illustrations give it all vibrant life. After a year of vicious debates about sex-ed in schools, here’s the book that definitively proves its worth in belonging on every school library shelf.”
The year’s best non-fiction queer books (Daily Xtra)

“Each year I spend time collecting names and stories of people who passed away whose lives were spent, in part, trying to make the world a slightly better place. Because those of us whose work focuses on sexuality and gender rarely get the kind of public attention that other kinds of education, art, and activism get, I focus my attention on this area.”
Sexual Losses 2015 (About: Sex)

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