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Topics: Life, Sex and Relationships, Explained, Dating
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Life, Sex and Relationships, Explained, Dating
It feels like just after wrapping our noggins around a new buzzword bedroom trend, a brand-new one swoops in and knocks us back to square one when it comes to our X-rated lingo dictionaries.
This year alone, we've learnt about 'gooning', heard of the rise of 'warm sex', figured out what the 'fetish of 2025' is, the Halloween-themed ‘locktober’ trend, and, of course, been informed all about the seriously baffling 'nutmaxxing'.
And that’s not even the half of it, as up there on that rundown is none other than 'shallowing', which has absolutely surged in popularity over the past year, and it wouldn’t be the only one, either.
But what on earth is this new sex trend? How do you do it, and what are the benefits of doing it?
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Well, in short, it's a form of sexual play that involves light stimulation around the entrance to the vagina. You can embark on 'shallowing' with your partner, with them gently entering the vagina with either the tip of their penis, finger, lips, tongue or even a sex toy.
But not to worry if you don't have a partner; it can also be enjoyed solo-style.
'Shallowing' pretty much is what it says on the tin, as the penetrative touch is focused just inside the entrance of the vagina, so a shallow entrance.
The act of 'shallowing' can, apparently, bring about some pretty incredible orgasms as the vaginal entrance is packed with specific nerve endings that can intensify female pleasure.
In fact, there are many more nerve endings in the opening to the vaginal canal than deeper inside your vagina itself. Also, for many people, there's no such thing as too much foreplay.
Apart from the pleasure principle, 'shallowing' can be a great option if you find more penetrative sex to be painful or otherwise uncomfortable.
And while the phrase 'shallowing' may be having its viral moment amongst Gen Z and their Millennial predecessors on TikTok right now, it's far from some new-fangled thing.
In fact, it's quite the opposite.
A survey of 3,017 American women conducted by a team from Indiana University (Devon J. Hensel) and For Goodness Sake, LLC (Hensel, Christiana D. von Hippel, Charles C. Lapage and Robert H. Perkins) found that around 84 per cent of the survey respondents reported using shallowing to make vaginal sex more pleasurable.
Such a survey was conducted almost half a decade ago, with respondents ranging in age from 18 to 93 years. So, yeah, it's not just the youth of today into it.