Our resident sexpert Emma Hewitt (@emintoyland) takes us through some of the best options to get your Regency-era England on in the bedroom
It’s the show everyone is talking about: Bridgerton. It’s setting hearts a-flutter and pulses racing worldwide, and we’re pretty sure the love scenes are why we all have a sudden interest in Regency England!
If you love Bridgerton, you’re not alone. In its first four weeks, the show is projected to stream in more than 63 million households, which would make it Netflix’s fifth biggest original series launched to date.
If you’ve been living under a rock and you haven’t seen the show yet, it revolves around debutante Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) as she prepares to find a husband in regency-era London.
Created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy), Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn’s novels set in 1813 in the competitive world of high society balls where women are presented for marriage.
It’s the show’s sex scenes that are getting everyone hot and bothered. Regé-Jean Page as Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, and Jonathan Bailey as Viscount Bridgerton are saucy drawcards ensuring binge watching is a given. But what’s there to do once you’ve watched all eight episodes?
Why not try to bring some Bridgerton into the bedroom?
Step one: In a safe, no-pressure environment – where you both have your clothes on and you’re in a neutral, safe space – talk about what you’d like to do with your partner. Bridgerton is no 365 DNI, there’s not any bondage or kidnapping fantasies – but it’s always good to chat through what you’re comfortable with before you start having fun.
Ensure you can answer honestly and talk about what you do and don’t want to do.
Pick a character. You can be chaste and virginal Daphne Bridgerton, who has not only never had sex before, she’s never been touched. Your lover might like to play the Duke (or even the Queen – you decide!) If they’re playing the Duke they’ll need to be gentle but passionate.
Take it slow until you can’t take it anymore!
If they’re playing the Queen they get to take charge. Be possessive and demanding – the Queen sees Daphne as her diamond.
Maybe you’d like to be the Siena Rosso, Viscount Bridgerton’s opera singing secret love. Go out together with your high society lover – but use only your eyes to show your passion. You can’t be seen together, find a place where your desire takes over.
You can choose any character; the only limit is your imagination. You also don’t have to be a character – consider just inhabiting the requirements of royalty.
Amanda Vickery is the author of “The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England”. She told the LA Times: “If someone spotted an unmarried woman canoodling with a man in a dark garden — as happens to Daphne — she would have been in major trouble.”
“No virtuous young lady could be alone with a man to whom she was not related. Not only should she be pure, she should be seen to be pure,” says Vickery. “Chastity, modesty and obedience were the preeminent female virtues. Her sexual virtue had to appear unimpeachable, or she would be ruined on the marriage market.”
Vickery cites James Fordyce, a minister who published an influential book called “Sermons for Young Women”: “Remember how tender a thing a woman’s reputation is; how hard to preserve, and when lost how impossible to recover.”
Chastity play is hugely popular not just with women but with men too. In fact, you can buy chastity belts – for all genders. Chastity belts and toys come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and materials. You get to choose who is in control and how to use it (just remember to discuss beforehand, so you know you have consent).
If you don’t have a duke of your own, did you know you can buy one? Look at the trouble a man got Miss Marina Tompson into! Why not avoid that altogether by just getting a Duke that you control? Incredibly, you can. It’s 2021 there’s no shame in grabbing a toy to enjoy after binging a TV show. Who needs Tinder when you have online shopping?
Finally, dress up! You need a bodice to have a bodice ripper! Channel Prudence Featherington as she bends over to be squeezed her corset tighter in episode one so her waist can be the size of an “orange and a half.” Decorate your room with white roses to represent innocence. Remember feathers in your hair to remind you of your gilded cage (but remember: You can escape, it’s your fantasy!)
The key to all of this is simply to enjoy yourself. Everybody has the right to a happy and healthy sex life. Everyone deserves it. It’s empowering to listen to your desires, feel them and act on them in a healthy way. As long as consent is at the heart of your play – it’s a wonderful way to enjoy your body and your partner.
So have fun! Grab some props and enjoy yourself recreating Bridgerton at home.
Emma Hewitt is a sex expert with Adulttoymegastore. Her podcast Electro Rodeo celebrates sexuality, sex toys and healthy sex lives.
