Are we grinding differently?

Originally posted on www.sexandtherecession.co.uk

Since the recession hit back in late 2008 everyone in the country has been tightening those purse strings and holding on to their money tighter than ever.

This however hasn’t come without its setbacks. With people now limiting their expenditure on luxuries such as new clothes, shoes and dining out they have almost become a thing of the past for many people, even everyone’s Saturday nights out have become a victim of the recession and in turn so have their sex lives.

With casual sex no longer being a taboo, in facts it’s far from it with most friendship groups discussing it in the hope they sound oh so Sex and the City, a Saturday night out is where thousands of people around the country get their rocks off with the nearest person on the dance floor. However with these nights out being cut back on considerably, many people who once enjoyed a carefree casual sex life have seen it dwindle dramatically.

Gay men in particular have often been considered as having extremely care free and casual sex lives and in the wake of the recession, with the fear of cut backs on nights out arising, a new creation for the smartphone generation emerged … Grindr.

Grindr is a geosocial-networking app that gay and bisexual men can use to find other gay and bisexual men in a close proximity, in other words they can use it to find the closest quickie. That’s right,Grindr has helped cut out the middle man, in this case the middle man being the club and the alcohol, and has allowed gay men the world over to access sex at the click of a button.

So Grindr has seemingly emerged to save the sex lives of gay men everywhere, after all there are now over two million people using it in 192 across the globe. So even though the recession has hit and people are suffering and cutting back on luxuries, thanks to a free app for most smartphones, the iPod and iPad gay men can still enjoy the free pleasure that is sex.

Many people I know have used this app and continue to use it everyday and their reasons for doing it? It’s quick, easy and best of all free, showing us that the recession has not only hit our bank balances and sex lives, it has also changed the way we approach sex and dating.

There isn’t a version for straight people yet, but with the popularity of Grindr and the way it’s expanding around the world, along with the never ending recession and cut backs and not forgetting our newly developed approaches to dating, it won't be long before everyone is grinding in a completely different way.