Sex

Before the 1960's, sex was seen as something very sacred...meant to reserved and religious even.

After the sexual revolution, our cold and sterile ancestry is still radically dumbfounded by this very new embrace and liberation of a once utmost sensitive topic. Throw in homosexuality, adoption, condoms.. how can you not expect the media to act like uncontrollable children being told something "naughty".

All you're seeing now is the liberation of our overly restrictive and prude protestant roots far too unprepared to be emotionally ready to govern themselves, its analogous to giving a 10 year old kid a couple million dollars, a nice car, and asking him to be responsible and reasonable with this reality.

Dont know about anybody else in here..but I love sex

I'll admit that I haven't kept up with the conversation, but considering the OP to some extent it's largely marketing. Because of our hormones we're biologically wired to "skip straight to lust," and because of how easily those thoughts advertisers take advantage of us. Just go look at pretty much any CollegeHumor or Smosh video and you'll see what I mean. The problem is that it's really hard not to buy into it because deep inside our bodies are telling us that it is what we want, regardless of morals or your conscience or anything like that. And I'd like to add that those who do manage not to buy that magazine or click that video have a respectable willpower.
Anyhow, I know one reason that sex is so blown up where I live is because most of my peers think this town is boring. A huge bulk of kids at my school think the only way to have fun is drugs or sex (hey, try lucid dreaming, why don'tcha?). I've never bought it 1) because I have video games and 2) because I know that these are the people who are going to go to Los Angeles, blow off all their money on drugs and maybe prostitutes, and then die of some lovely STD.
But, to answer your question, no, they never will shut up. You know why? Because it works. Sure, here and there you've got people who see a link to a porn site and just keep scrolling, but the majority of us let curiosity win us over and we give in. If one day we men stop letting our hormones and genitals control our actions, then that will be the day that the fuss about sex will stop.

Oh, and one other thing. There is NOTHING that can't be sexualized. Take any sentence at all and say it in the right tone of voice and BAM it's sexual. Just saying. :cheeky:

There is so much in this thread that I just can’t get through it all, so I’ll just respond to the OP. Sorry if I restate what’s been said before.

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Originally Posted by Signet

Sex, people. It's what this country and culture (if not the whole world at this point) adore. It is presented to us on the big screen, over the radio waves, on billboards, and in nearly every corner of the internet and our daily conversations.

And here on DV, amidst online peers and sibling-like rivals in LD-count, ponders one "sad, lonely virgin." (Thank you, Tenchi Abridged.)

I mean... I just..... why?

There are two parts to your 'why'. Sex is so prevalent in our culture because that is how it is marketed. Sex sells. It is such a prevalent topic in places like this because it is something that everyone enjoys (or 'can' enjoy, to be more accurate), and we can all relate to, on some level. It promotes connectedness, fun, challenge and a feeling of acceptance, among other things, so to those who know what it's like to have sex with someone (or don't, and feel that they have a good idea) generally find it a pleasurable concept. That desire is something that is easily exploited, which goes back to the marketing and over-sexualization of everything.

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Originally Posted by Signet

I know a 40+ year-old, single virgin who has found both contentedness in life and humor in this pop-culture addiction that daily tries to shove down his throat that he must have sex and sex appeal to be "the man" or to find fulfillment in life.

Good for him. He (and you) will likely find that there are many other pop-culture additions that are exploited in the same way. That does nothing to diminish the appeal of sex, itself, as a concept. (Just like being a spiritual person can be - and often is - commercialized to the point of parody, within the media.)

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Originally Posted by Signet

Why, dammit, why?!?

Because sex sells, 'manhood' is and has always been judged (to some extent, and by certain people) by your number of sexual conquests. It is an outdated paradigm, sure, but it is still in place today. Yes, it's shallow, and yes, it has no true bearing of a man, but that is the stigma placed on society by the typical 'alpha male' and those aspiring to be like them.

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Originally Posted by Signet

Is there nothing in this whole, wide world that we (the American culture) cannot sexualize?

Simple answer: No. Nothing. At all.

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Originally Posted by Signet

Is there a single advertisement-riddled channel on the Idiot Box or a single ad-bar-laden website that WON'T try to use the appeal of an attractive girl/woman to sell me their product or service?

Sure. Plenty. But that's for those who have a product that sells itself. Marketing thrives on stereotypes and generalizations. That's just how it works. "Guy things" will be used to attract men to a product. "Girl things" will be used to attract women to a product. Those ploys don't have to always be sexual, but using sex is an easy 'go to' in the marketing industry, because 'hey, everybody likes sex, right?"

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Originally Posted by Signet

I'll be honest with you concerning me and sex. No, I've never been with someone in reality, but there's been more than a couple threads in the past about dream-sex being as real as sex in waking life.
So I know what this feels like in effect; I'm not some guy left out wondering what the fuss is about.

Gonna have to stop you right there. Just because something feels real in a dream (to that person having the dream, no less) doesn't mean that sensation is universal and will apply to anyone who has no base reference for the sensation.
If person A says: "I tried this chocolate cake in a dream and it tasted so real!"
That doesn't mean that person B can say: "Well, I've never had chocolate cake, but if I dream about it, that means I can know what it tastes like!"
So, no, at this point, you really don't have a point of reference to how sex feels.

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Originally Posted by Signet

But I am! Because there is SO MUCH fuss! I mean, an obscenely excessive amount of fuss. Can't we all just shut up about it and find something a little more solid than a chemical reaction to obsess about?

Sex is more than a 'chemical reaction'. That's like minimizing the game of football to "trying to get a ball across a field", and pardon my expression, but I fucking hate when people do that. :P

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Originally Posted by Signet

Can't we look at sex as an expression rather than an action?

Why? It is both.

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Originally Posted by Signet

Can't we look at a beautiful woman and wonder if they're just as beautiful mentally, instead of saying "sexy bitch" and skipping straight to lust?

Yes, and many people do. However, physical attraction is quite a different category than mental attraction and, believe it or not, you can 'lust' after someone for things other than their physical features. Does that make the 'lust' 'better' in your eyes? It's still lust.

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Originally Posted by Signet

Can't we just NOT be fed that it's weird to be restrained in this aspect of life?

No more than we can stop being fed that being a soldier is the greatest honor in the history of the world, or the police are always here to protect you, hip-hop is garbage, or 'Bitches Love Diamonds'. There will always be marketing, and it will always be manipulative. Your job is to see through it and do your own thing, not to worry about the way the media (and the sheep) think you view life and society.

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Originally Posted by Signet

Can't they just shut up? Do we really think that we MUST be susceptible if not ruled by this mentality?

Of course they do. Media influence and social dogma are methods of control. This will likely never go away. Remember, it exists in the opposite spectrum in other areas of the world. Muslim women are not even allowed to show their hair, let alone the rest of their body. I'm not saying that this is the kind of aversion to sex that you believe our society should take on, but it goes to show that sex as a taboo (or an accepted concept) is all subjective. If the rest of the world - or our Western society - has come to put sex on a pedestal, you really have the choice to either go with it, or stick to your guns and abstain. Anybody worth an ounce of piss will respect you for that, but you tend to hinder that potential for respect when you go about bashing the mentality of people that really, really love sex - especially when don't even (really) know what it's like.