Comment by cal_dent
19 hours ago
i've always wondered how much the increasing prevalence of smut & not so niche romance novels, that have proliferated since e-readers became mainstream, have had on Gen Z and younger's sometimes unrealistic view/expectations of relationship. A lot of time is spent on porn sites etc. but not so much on how mainstream some of these novels have become
They had similar wonderings in the Victorian era, and probably in the Roman empire and ancient Greece too.
Yes, human nature hasn't changed but there is a reason why only recently obesity epidemic has developed.
Cheap unlimited access to stuff that was always scarce during human evolution creates an 'evolutionary mismatch' where unlimited access to stuff bypasses our lack of natural satiety mechanisms.
That is completely discounting the effects of PFAS and plasticizers on the human endocrine system and the downstream effects on obesity.
But you don’t think there are big differences?
Well they are vastly more aware of the notion of consent now.
They might well have been right - I'm no anthropologist.
Certainly they had neither the quantity nor ease of access that we do.
Have you ever stopped to realize that, from the Victorian’s point of view, they have been proven completely right about what would happen if ladies started showing their ankles?
They were right. We have largely had 200 years of socially and legally enforced morality being eroded with the conservatives saying "If you remove X then Y and Z will happen!". The liberals saying "Why do you care anyways? That's a slippery slope it won't happen!". The the conservatives immediately being proven right, but no one is willing to walk back on liberalization of moral issues since too many like hedonism.
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...sorry, I'm dense apparently, what did they predict vs what happened?
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Is your take that the way we view sexuality today is not meaningfully different from the Victorian era?