Famed 20th-century physician and sexologist Iwan Bloch preached that modernity encouraged both homosexuality and masturbation (long considered the gateway to moral decline). George L. Mosse writes, “Bloch, who approved of masturbation if practiced in moderation, nevertheless saw it as a potential danger to society. The masturbator, he tells us, becomes lonely and shy and loses the natural enthusiasm of youth; his nervousness is apt to damage his heart.”

Joke’s on you, I jacked off 5 mins before reading this but have thus far failed at being a danger to society

Great article and Jesus Christ people are weird. As a man with kinks this is why I don’t associate with any kink communities. Y’all are fucking weird.

Definitely a new lens. I’ll admit even then I was surprised reading about someone treating leftism as a kink, as if Tue idea of agreeing that the gig economy is unsustainable in a public setting is an absolute taboo.

On men’s porn sites—including gay porn sites—there is a complete absence of any kind of explicit politics. The only exception is the rare importation to support free speech." Though there are far fewer female-targeted sites, the authors say the ones that exist contain an abundance of messaging around issues like inclusivity and feminism.

I guess that’s not surprising. Unless the site itself is in danger, it’s not very “sexy” to care about politics. And sexuality should (but definitely doesn’t) run on a different axis to political philosophy. Everyone wants love in some form.

But alas, that was 2012. So much changed so quickly.

Really worth a read, author is good with words.

What a title

I think the more pressing matter here is who’s still paying $2/min for phone sex?

That was a great read. Equal parts fascinating and eloquent. Thanks for posting.