Surrounded by erotic toys, half a dozen
women of all ages sit in a central Moscow basement facing a whiteboard
as a sex coach trains them in speaking openly about their sexual
desires.
"I finally want to know what it's like to be a satisfied woman, what
sexual pleasure is," one of the "students", aged 45 and divorced, told
AFP.
Barely spoken about publicly in Soviet times and with the Kremlin
pushing conservative values in recent years, sex, as a subject, remains
largely an unmentionable in Russia.
To help people overcome their shyness in talking about sexual pleasure,
sexologist training courses, psychologists and so-called sex coaches are
now appearing in Moscow, adding to TV shows and articles in women's
magazines.
Viktoria Ekaterina Frank, a psychologist and sexologist, said that her
course at the Sex.rf school did not aim to teach sex techniques but
rather "help women understand the psychological barriers engrained in
their heads".
Many women are "so embarrassed to talk about sex, they can barely breathe", she said.
- 'No sex' in USSR -
Nearly three decades after the end of the USSR, Russian society remains
deeply marked by the aura of taboo around the issue of sex in the Soviet
Union, according to sociologists.
Soviet authorities primarily promoted the idea that "the sexual act
should serve only for reproduction," sociologist Yelena Kochkina told
AFP.
"This means that sexuality was not talked about in the family or at school," she said.
A TV interview from the beginning of the Perestroika era immortalised
the Soviet prudish and practical attitude to sex, even if it was far
from true in practice.
During a 1986 talk show broadcast in the United States and the USSR, an
American woman asked a Soviet woman if there was sex in adverts in the
Soviet Union.
"There is no sex back home, we are categorically against it," the
Russian replied, in an exchange that has become a part of popular
culture.
- Feast or famine -
Although it was off limits in public discourse in the Soviet era,
everyone was having sex and "maybe even too much", said Dmitry Rogozin, a
sociology professor at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Abortion at the time was often used as contraception due to the pill and
condoms being unavailable and, as a result, the number of terminations
was one of the highest in the world at the beginning of the 1990s.
When the USSR collapsed in 1991, a sex industry burst on to the scene,
with a wave of erotic films on video cassette or in cinemas, magazines
with racy photos and adverts in the popular press.
Sex coach Yelena Rydkina said that after the initial "crazy boom in
interest", suddenly it became too much, causing fear and rejection, and
people turned away.
Inspired by sex coaching classes she attended in San Francisco in the
US, Rydkina began teaching courses in Moscow where "people can talk
normally about sex".
"Politics in the last 10 years is moving away from open sexuality and propagates traditional family values," she said.
Nevertheless, there is now a "real demand" for more coverage of
sex-related issues, leading to a rise in sex blogging in Russia, added
Rydkina.
One such blogger is Tatyana Dmitriyeva, who founded Sexprosvet, a popular website that aims to "develop sex culture in Russia".
She set up the site three years ago because she said that there was nowhere to seriously discuss the subject.
"I wanted to change that, I wanted to start a dialogue," she told AFP.
Dmitriyeva also organises burlesque shows and regular pop-up markets of
erotic accessories in Moscow, all as part of efforts, she said, to
promote "sex that is not boring".
- Safer than politics -
For sociologist Rogozin, a lack of open political debate in Russia has now made talking about sex more attractive.
With authorities increasing their control over the media and internet,
often blocking content linked to the opposition, Rogozin said that
Russians found freedom of expression in talking about sex.
"Intimacy is seen as a form of escape from dangerous political
activity," he told AFP. "People are more eager to talk about sex than
politics."
The appetite for open discussion, however, stops short at homosexuality
-- considered by the state as a mental illness until 1999, he said.
Authorities, citing "traditional" values, have banned gay pride parades
and clamped down on so-called homosexual propaganda among minors.
"Being gay is ok for celebrities, but not for those who live next door," Rogozin said.
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