"A Nation of Amateur Porn Stars"

It’s little wonder that younger people are freaking out over NSA surveillance. They are not clamoring for an abstract right to privacy. They are not standing up for an ideal.

Not at all.

They are anguished that some techno-geek is sitting in his basement watching, and perhaps even critiquing their sexual skills. Or worse, that this same techno-geek is doing God-know-what to his you-know-what while watching  you and your one and only true love contorted in a pose that you just learned from Pornhub.

It sounds like some members of the younger generation the realization have just discovered that they have a sense of shame.

Surveys tell us that many of the under-40 set have filled their cell phones and computers with photos that bear a striking resemblance to low-rent porn. The notion that someone other than their intended might see it seems to have come as something of a shock.

One does not know the exact figures for the good old USA, but over in Merrie Olde England— now you know why they call it “merrie”— significant numbers of under-40s have engaged in one or another kind of cyber exhibitionism.

So much so that the always temperate Daily Mail blurts out the news: Great Britain has become “a nation of amateur porn stars.”

Apparently, the age of 40 is the cut off here, so you will not be surprised to discover that I think that this is a bad idea.

One understands that your average millennial does not want someone at the NSA admiring or disparaging his or her sexual technique, to say nothing of his or her private parts, but still, once you put your image out there you no longer control it. 

One cannot imagine that the younger generation, the one that is cyber-sophisticated at levels that we older folk cannot fathom, missed this point.

Let’s go to the statistics—which we, naturally, take with a few grains of salt:

A new YouGov poll has revealed that 21 per cent of British adults under 40 have had sex in front of a camera of some kind, while three in ten have taken nude photos of themselves.

Some 15 per cent of those questioned have been naked in front of a webcam, but twice as many (30 per cent) have taken naked photos of themselves using a camera of some kind, whether traditional or a mobile device….

It discovered that 34 per cent of men and women have sent sexts, explicit photos on Snapchat or in chatrooms, or used webcams and videophones to have cyber sex….

According to this study, conducted by CyberCompare.net as part of research into the digital habits of people in the UK, one in three of us now regularly take part in ‘digital’ sexual encounters.

Over the past year, 34 per cent of men and women admitted to sending sexts, explicit photos on Snapchat or in chatrooms, or using webcams and videophones to have cyber sex.

For the most part, these statistics concern adults. We do not know what the teen contingent is doing. In truth, we do not want to know.

Keep in mind, we are talking about England. If history is a guide, the Brits, like their American cousins, are really not very good at decadence. They might have become enthralled with internet porn, but true decadence involves the erotic more than the pornographic.

I can’t speak for young Britain, but Americans often think of decadence in terms of mental hygiene. Obviously, they have missed the point.

One suspects that young Brits are trying too hard to be decadent. If you can’t do decadence well, it is best not to do it at all.

What you really want to know is: what does it all mean?

Are they filming themselves having sex because otherwise the experience will not be very memorable?

Are they exchanging erotic pictures because they are competing with the porn stars who taught them all they know about sex?

Have they bought the idea that exhibitionism is a sign of freedom?

Are they so lacking in imagination or sensitivity that they cannot feel stimulus without suggestive poses?

The Daily Mail offers another explanation:

Almost a fifth of people in long-distance relationships said they used digital encounters to keep the passion alive, and 14 per cent of people in couples said it was necessary because work schedules kept them apart.

Apparently, they refuse to let time or distance get in the way of a good orgasm.

In the old days, lovers used to say that they couldn’t live without each other. When time and space separated them, they would pine away, burning with desire.

No more.

Now, lovers proclaim their love by saying that they can’t get off without each other. Or so they tell each other.

Apparently, getting off has become a vital human necessity, like eating, sleeping and breathing. Today’s modern liberated woman faces a choice that her foremothers never imagined. She can send him pictures that will rock his world or she will consign herself to the thought that he’s going to get off watching Belle Knox writhing in faux ecstasy.

Now I get it: she is free to choose.

You’ve come a long way, baby!