Expanding Sexual Boundaries

Cast off your cotton underwear, this is a black lace and leather affair. If you’ve never watched a DVD aimed at sexual instruction, be forewarned that Expanding Sexual Boundaries skips the foreplay and gets right down to advanced lovemaking techniques. Sinclair Institute, whose foundation is firmly set in creating couple oriented programming, continues to feature real life people to model positive sexual behavior and demonstrate erotic techniques. Out of all the Better Sex series, this DVD is edgier, uninhibited and more explicit.

Summary

Produced in 2007, this DVD employs a useful method of presenting erotic lessons. The show is split up into manageable sexual servings, as opposed to the traditional approach of playing out one long movie. The three main segments are thirty minute mini-shows, all of which are replete with their own chapter selection, introductions, conclusions and credits.

The first segment, titled “Erotic Edge - Secrets to Ultimate Satisfaction” explores the ways in which we can achieve sexual fulfillment. The show starts with ‘Positions’, a weak choice in my opinion, and moves on to a sex swing demo in ‘Defying Gravity‘. Next, ‘Anal Sex’ shows how to use an anal toy on a guy, perform analingus on a woman, and how to have anal sex. ‘Buckled In’ and then ‘Bound & Disciplined Play’ delve into restraints and light bondage play. This last bit was a bit contrived - and seriously, who would pick “banana” as their safe word?

The second section, “Advanced Sex Play – Positions and Toys for Lovers” really picked things up. It answers the question, “How can we improve our sex life?” by citing new sexual positions as a possible solution. Certain positions are acrobatic in nature and can strain the body so Sinclair makes sure to show a number of variations and modifications. The ‘Winged Eros Position’ was first up followed by the ‘Wide Open Position’, which mimics the motion of a man riding a horse. ‘Swinging’, another sex swing demo, was followed by an excellent solo masturbation session using multiple pleasure devices in ‘Toys’.

The third section, “Wicked Surrender: Oral and Anal Pleasures” – shows how to approach erotic exploration with a playful and patient spirit. Discovering new sexual activities together can lead to knowledge and increased intimacy. This segment examines ‘Oral Play: Fellatio’, ‘Oral Play: Cunnilingus’ and ‘Mutual Oral Play “69”’. ‘Anal Sex’ is the final and most comprehensive topic: it demonstrates analingus, double penetration, a multitude of harnesses, anal sex and sex toys such as butt plugs and anal beads.

There was one final mini-segment called “Sportsheets Demonstration”. It is an 8.5 minute long demo of what appears to be a very functional Sportsheets product, allowing users to restrain their partner’s wrists, ankles, thighs and neck. It comes with a special bed sheet, clip-ins that are mounted on movable pads that adhere to the sheet, as well as a complete restraint cuff kit with clips and tethers included.

Presentation 8.5/10

One of the techniques that made this an effective presentation is that it was split up into short segments. If you don’t feel like having a sex-ed marathon, you can watch just one and still get a sense of accomplishment and conclusion at the end. Moreover, this DVD has a lot of sex appeal so you don’t have to wait as long to jump your partner if you can’t stand to wait any longer!

The Sinclair Institute productions just keep getting better and better. Expanding Sexual Boundaries will be really appealing for people who have intermediate to advanced sexual skills, in addition to those who have watched a few Sinclair Institute productions and want to step it up to the next level. Those who haven’t had exposure in watching sex-ed DVDs may find the content too intense; sexual novices as well as people who consider themselves sexually conservative may feel that the DVD gets into the explicit stuff without enough ‘mental foreplay’.

The couples were very realistic; it felt as if they didn’t even notice the camera. Because I’ve seen and reviewed so many of Sinclair Institute’s DVDs, it was cool to see the Sinclair couples acting in such a relaxed and sincere capacity.

Lori Buckley, PsyD., certified sex therapist and registered psychologist, is the host of this show; she had made many appearances in the Better Sex series. As much as she’s a genial and engaging host, I must say this wasn’t her best performance.

There were a couple of things in this show that could have been improved upon. The first segment, Erotic Edge, gave a weak start to the DVD and I felt that it was too general compared to the latter sections. For example, they did an overview about anal sex in this segment, which was ineffective compared to the third segment of the DVD which was entirely dedicated to oral and anal sex. There were a couple of instances where there were inconsistencies between the voiceover instruction and the demo, but nothing too critical.

Content Quality 9.5/10

The overall content quality was very good. There are endless ways to increase desire and add variety to lovemaking; a shift from routine amplifies sexual arousal, intensifies pleasure and most importantly, improves your relationship. Not only does this DVD take a look at many of the ways to fulfill yourself and/or a partner, they show you how!

Sinclair Institute poses questions that are very significant to sensual satisfaction: “where is your erotic boundary?”; “what are your sexual fantasies?”; “what are your current sexual turn-ons?” If you’re in a long term relationship, the answers to these questions will change from time to time because you and your partner’s interests are constantly evolving. If you want to maintain a healthy and happy sexual relationship, get used to checking in with your lover desires... and often!

Expanding Sexual Boundaries had a broad range of advanced information and showcased a fantastic assortment sex props, toys and costumes. I particularly loved the variety of body harnesses and their uses; they also made so many references to the Sex Swing.

In the course of reviewing adult educational videos, one of the most disappointing things I see is actors using really outdated toys. However, I was totally impressed with the representations shown in this DVD; they were so current! How about a rabbit vibrator that you can use to download Mp3s? You can even record your lover’s voice onto it, plug in your headphones and drift off into orgasmic bliss. What about making a rubber replica of your lover’s penis? You can even make it vibrate too!

Sex Appeal 9.5/10

Sinclair Institute gets a 'thumbs up' in the sex appeal department, partly because the techniques were sophisticated, and partly because the couples were so realistic. They’re still the same couples from other Sinclair productions, but in this show they act more naturally - yet have an extra edge. Remember, you’re watching real couples who may be trying these techniques for the first time; this adds such an interesting dimension to the production.

There were many highlights in Expanding Sexual Boundaries. In the first segment, I loved the ‘Buckled In’ segment, because the blindfolded and restrained female was so awesome to watch getting pleasured with a toy by her man. Also, in the light bondage segment – thanks for showing the world the benefit and ease of a double penetration harness!

The second segment showed some great sexual positions. I liked the Winged Eros the best because it provides such a deep access to the g-spot. They showed it being done in its unaltered form, and then modified with the erotic furniture and double ended cock-ring.

In the third segment, I found the anal play progression super-sexy. For both partners, it showed how to introduce and integrate anal play to the repertoire. They reveal how to step it up to the next level, starting with tongue, fingers, toys, dildos and finally to penetration, whether it be penile or with a double penetration harnesses.

I also loved the scope of body representations. All of the couples ranged in body size and age, but were still attractive and immaculately groomed. It’s nice that bigger booties and stomachs without six packs get portrayed in these instructional presentations too – it normalizes different body shapes and proves that people don't need to feel so damn self-conscious about their little imperfections! Sinclair Institute is really going in the right direction with depiction.

Video Quality 9/10

The video quality was also first-rate. Sinclair Institute makes use of multiple cameras, excellent vantage points and successfully captures the intimacy between the couples by paying attention to their facial expressions and bodily reactions to pleasurable sensations. Other notable points were that the set was well staged and the lighting was just right.

The producers made use of split screens, showing the couples demonstrating the techniques in one pane and then being interviewed about their experiences in the other. It was great to hear lovemaking advice from these couples as well as their opinions on the activities they had just demonstrated.

The scene lengths were ideal; they were around 6-10 min long, including the intro and voiceover commentary. They were short enough to keep the program varied, yet long enough to really engage you in the erotic activity being demonstrated. Expanding Sexual Boundaries has definitely reached the perfect balance in this area.

Audio Quality 8/10

The audio characteristics of this show were great. The music was very typical of Sinclair Institute presentations and successfully achieved an atmosphere of sensuality. It was light and romantic. I really liked that the producers highlighted the noises that the couples made while they were making love. Their sounds were effectively integrated with the audio from the interviews, the commentary and the background music. It was a good move to hire a second voiceover actor to contrast the host’s voice during the commentary; this kept the flow of the show moving and provided a much needed contrast to her higher pitched tone of voice.

Extra Features

There were no extra features included in this DVD presentation.

Overall Score 8.9/10

In answer to Sinclair’s question, “how can we improve our sex life”, it all boils down to growing together sexually. Your desires and interest are constantly evolving so stay on the pulse and assess your, and your partners, needs regularly. And don’t always give it to your partner the same old way just because you think that’s what they want ... treat them like a growing and evolving sexual being and surprise them every once in a while!

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