> I told my friend about an erotic encounter I’d just experienced and very much delighted in, in which I had my hair brushed at the same time by two very beautiful women at the hair salon — one was teaching the other how to do it a certain way. When I finished my story, my friend looked at me, horrified.
I'm surprised a woman this. What a weirdo. Also, go walk outside a little, and notice how obese, voluntarily disfigured (e.g., with tattoos), and otherwise repulsive the average American is in 2025. I can't imagine internet surveillance did more than that to kill eroticism.
EDIT: I also think lack of shame or embarrassment, and the ubiquity of porn, and the resulting desensitization to sexuality, are under appreciated. Things that people would keep as secrets 20 years ago are now blasted out on social media like it's no big deal. If some technology professional has a leather fetish, for example, that is not something you or I should have to know about them, yet there it is on their Twitter or Mastodon anyway. If you criticize them for it, then you're "kink shaming."
I'm surprised a woman this. What a weirdo. Also, go walk outside a little, and notice how obese, voluntarily disfigured (e.g., with tattoos), and otherwise repulsive the average American is in 2025. I can't imagine internet surveillance did more than that to kill eroticism.
EDIT: I also think lack of shame or embarrassment, and the ubiquity of porn, and the resulting desensitization to sexuality, are under appreciated. Things that people would keep as secrets 20 years ago are now blasted out on social media like it's no big deal. If some technology professional has a leather fetish, for example, that is not something you or I should have to know about them, yet there it is on their Twitter or Mastodon anyway. If you criticize them for it, then you're "kink shaming."