Paris

By Peter Holland

Image by Peter Holland

Unlucky vendors selling heat-rub massage oil at the "Big Eropolis" near Paris (argued to be the worlds largest sex fair by it's fond advocates), are finally feeling the economic heat. Sales figures have drooped. During the past decade's period of economic growth there was expansion in the French sex toy industry, but the heavy impact of the global recession has finally made customer spending impotent throughout the sector responsible for kinky power tools, fetish footwear, and merkins. The girth of the problem is such that customers who previously wet their lips at the prospect of buying a piece of plastic to put in themeless, (or that special loved one), now show a coy shyness more associated with a blushing teen making their first rookie purchase as part of a group dare.

This downturn is seemingly counter-intuitive to some industry insiders, seeing as recessions usually lead people to find more personal recreational fun. Hey, how you doin'?... ;)
... maybe people realised they can use their natural anatomy, and don't need to spend 1000Kč on a fake penis when so many real ones are floating around in peoples trousers. I know mine is.

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by Henry Samuel in Paris, from Telegraph.co.uk 

French women are becoming increasingly assertive in their sexual habits, while one-in-five younger French men "has no interest in sex", according to one of the most comprehensive surveys of the nation's love lives. 

Women now have more than twice as many partners as they did in the 1970s, according to the study by the French Aids research agency, which is backed by the government.

"Are women just like men?" asked Le Nouvel Observateur yesterday, which released extracts of the Study on Sexuality in France, a 600-page tome that brings together 12,000 in-depth interviews with people of all ages conducted during 2005-06.

One of the biggest changes in recent years, according to the report, was that male and female sexual behaviour had become increasingly similar. 

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