A Decade’s Worth Of Sex Scenes We Couldn’t Stop Talking About (Or Watching)

Sure, sex is cool but have you ever watched a truly great sex scene? One that changes your understanding of intimacy and thirst in a cosmic way? One that sparks national debate, causing you to have awkward conversations with your parents about whether it’s okay to come on someone without their consent? One that puts you in the position to say, Yes, I am rooting for this brother and sister to fuck and be in love? One that makes you really reexamine how you see the world, and the people in it?
              
This past decade has given us all that and more. Over the last 10 years, movies and TV have pushed the boundaries for mainstream audiences when it comes to sex. In 2010, showing a woman receiving oral sex from her male partner was enough to warrant an NC-17 rating. That sound you hear? It’s the Euphoria kids screaming. 

We’ve come a long way since then — in 2019, there are sex scenes for every mood, whim, and desire. Craving sex on the beach? Here you go. Female orgasms? Go ahead, have what she’s having. Threesomes? Have at it. Forget TV as a whole, Netflix has its own subset of unforgettable hookups. Riverdale alone has blessed us with enough sex scenes to satisfy the most thirsty viewers. 

But this list isn’t about rehashing the moments that made us swoon, or the videos we regret clicking on in the middle of the workday. It’s about the ones that defined this decade’s cultural conversation about sex. What became virtual water cooler fodder, and why did it become part of the discourse? Some of them were downright hot; some were funny; but many dwell in the uncomfortable gray areas we’d rather not talk about or confront. All were groundbreaking and important.