COVID-19 and sexualities: The emergence of a new paradigm of sexualities

This paper aims to propose a provisional assessment of the research developed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic since the beginning of 2020. It reviews the types of research already published, presents their methodologies and analyzes the questions posed. It places recent research in the perspective of the history of empirical research on sexuality, particularly in relation to research carried out in the context of HIV/AIDS. Situated in an intellectual history perspective, the article analyzes research currently being developed as the construction and prefiguration of a new paradigm of sexualities that distinguishes and associates sexual relations that take place in the presence of a real partner and those that take place with the help of a whole range of electronic devices qualified as “virtual” that provide support for the imagination and maintain sexual arousal for personal satisfaction.