The special operation strengthened the trend towards morality

Not without the corresponding aesthetics: when entering the service, the Russians saw blue and yellow symbols and messages in support of Ukraine. And there is a kind of irony in this, given that one political strategist who has not been caught in a particularly pro-government position is convinced that if we represent countries in human images, then Russia is a stern woman in a padded jacket, and Ukraine is a girl of easy virtue.

Another similar site called Only Fans then showed conditional mercy – it did not excommunicate visitors from our country, but hit “small entrepreneurs”: Russian webcam models already in early March lost the opportunity to withdraw money received from fans. After the girls complained, their accounts were unblocked until the end of April, and in May the freeze took place again, this time the final one. And in January of this year, a message appeared in the media stating that Only Fans is now unavailable to users who came in to “purely watch”.

These sanctions, which the owners of the portals imagine as a punishment for Russia, are in fact a blessing. Apparently, it’s time for us to thoroughly cleanse ourselves in terms of morality. There was a time, we were seriously embarrassed that “there is no sex in the USSR.” They rejoiced wildly when they began to supply us with this product in unlimited quantities – in the form of an ideological component of films, magazines, books. Along with aesthetically verified samples that can be equated with works of art, a lot of vulgarity and pornography poured onto the unprotected, then still Soviet market. And if the older generations, thanks to the immunity formed under the influence of Russian and national culture and art, perceived this with restraint, then the admiring youth swallowed everything indiscriminately, taking it for freedom from restrictions and freedom in general. I remember letters from readers and readers of Cool, a fashionable teen magazine in the 1990s: “I’m already 14 years old and I still haven’t had sex…”

We are still reaping the fruits of this “expansion”, among them is the popularity of such a phenomenon as “sex for health”. “Are you serious with him (her)?” – “No, improve your health,” – this can be heard quite often even just on the street. It seems that we have never had such a number of potential patients on the basis of abstinence. Not being a hypocrite, I am convinced that this is one of the biggest vulgarities, already because it is thoroughly saturated with hypocrisy and cowardice. When a person suffers from the weakness of the front facade (to paraphrase elegantly Makar Nagulnov from “Virgin Soil Upturned”), it is much more worthy to admit it directly, without hiding behind concern for health.

Hand on heart: this was also the time of the Soviet Union, it was described in books, for example, in Boris Vasiliev’s story “Once upon a time there was Klavochka”. “Well, it’s like taking analgin,” says the main character, Tamara, a neighbor, inciting her to a casual relationship with a plumber. But the author clearly expresses his position, putting in the summary of the episode: “Tomka turned out to be right: like analgin. And then sad. It’s disgusting, and I feel sorry for myself, and it’s generally bad.” Literature unobtrusively brought up.

I foresee the skepticism of opponents: well, the closure of a couple of sites harmful to moral health will not make the weather. Agree. However, here we are helped by a global trend towards naturalness, physical and spiritual purity. It was recorded by Trend Hunter, one of the largest Canadian communities dedicated to tracking trends and innovations. This year and, most likely, the next few years will pass around the world under the sign of these values ​​as well.

There are already harbingers: in one country or another, communities appear that offer to taboo premarital sex. In Indonesia last year, they went further: sex outside of marriage was banned at the legislative level. Vitaly Milonov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, came up with a similar initiative back in 2015; society expectedly ridiculed him. But what is remarkable: two years later, in 2017, a survey organized by the State University of Management showed that about a third of young Russians are categorically against sexual relations before marriage. And in another study, many participants in one of the men’s Internet forums said that they practiced abstinence before marriage, then got married and live happily.

Relatively recent figures published by VTsIOM last summer: 63% of respondents consider sex without love unacceptable – against 29% of those who admit this state of affairs and 8% who found it difficult to answer. Statistics for the same period from the Levada Center: if in 1992 49% of respondents were negative about having a lover or mistress, then in 2022 – 86%.

As for cinema, a mass art form that is most adaptable to changes in society. No, there is no talk of reviving the Hayes Code (Hollywood’s code of ethics, adopted in 1930 and in 1934, which became the unofficial standard for the moral censorship of American cinema), but there is a glimmer of modesty here and there. In the 4th season of the popular American TV series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a young man Ben tells his failed mother-in-law that he had many women, but he immediately corrects himself: “Not many, of course, so …” About domestic film production: a recently released film “Naughty” by Dmitry Suvorov, which was announced as our answer to “50 Shades of Grey”, turned out to be more of a drama about psychological trauma and existential loneliness.

And one more argument – the most, perhaps, the most interesting. The stability of any trend is easily checked by whether the business supports it at least to some extent or not. So, according to my observations, surveys of friends and acquaintances, in the networks more and more so-called energy coaches and even good psychologists offer the option “Break connection with a former sexual partner” in the service package. Let me explain: the proposal arose on the basis of the thesis that even if a woman broke up with a man a long time ago, accordingly, she does not make love to him, as she once did, she is still connected to him by an invisible erotic thread, through which she unloads his energy. The service, despite the obvious immeasurability of the result, is popular. It’s like a joke about Niels Bohr – they say that a horseshoe above the door brings good luck, regardless of whether you believe in it or not.

There are clients who seek a solution to the problem even to those gurus of energy practitioners who do not inspire confidence, but, as they say, dumping – they offer to conduct a “break” ceremony for a symbolic amount. What drives these women? According to them, regret and over the years a growing feeling that the body becomes, to put it mildly, a sewer.

Of course, the issue of chastity and decency in relationships can be perceived today, in the midst of other challenges, as naive and not very significant. But if you think about it, we are talking about the spiritual and physical health of the nation, the values ​​of the family, in addition, about strengthening the atmosphere of trust – an important factor in economic growth. The owners of Western porn sites either did not know this or forgot, otherwise a year ago they would hardly have done what they did.