German-American here. I had a stint with organized religion and American purity culture. The church and “purity culture” messed me up pretty good, most notably in the 5 years after my deconversion. Americans love judging people for sex, then cheerfully do all the same things secretly themselves without an ounce of self-awareness. I still can’t decide if I have an irrationally strong fear of STDs brought about by American sex-ed, or of it’s a rational response to the fact that everyone is going around fucking without protection, many without a basic anotomical understanding of their own body. I wish we could get people to take safety seriously because we’re all connected in a giant fucking web.
What stood out the most to you about Americans sexual hang-ups?
What stood out the most to you about Americans sexual hang-ups?
The thing that stood out the most was some latent inherent shame to being naked. When my wife and I first got together, we’d rent some cheap hotel rooms and go there to hook up, she’d get there first and shower. I’d arrive and she’d answer the door naked and it was just wild to me. She was so comfortable in her own skin and fine just existing totally naked (in the appropriate circumstances). I had to quickly recalibrate what I thought was “normal” and my life was improved as a result.
That makes total sense. I’ve spent a lot of non-sexual hours sitting butt naked in the Sauna in Germany with hundreds of people. In the US, that would only happen in the woods with hippies. Thanks for sharing.
German-American here. I had a stint with organized religion and American purity culture. The church and “purity culture” messed me up pretty good, most notably in the 5 years after my deconversion. Americans love judging people for sex, then cheerfully do all the same things secretly themselves without an ounce of self-awareness. I still can’t decide if I have an irrationally strong fear of STDs brought about by American sex-ed, or of it’s a rational response to the fact that everyone is going around fucking without protection, many without a basic anotomical understanding of their own body. I wish we could get people to take safety seriously because we’re all connected in a giant fucking web.
What stood out the most to you about Americans sexual hang-ups?
The thing that stood out the most was some latent inherent shame to being naked. When my wife and I first got together, we’d rent some cheap hotel rooms and go there to hook up, she’d get there first and shower. I’d arrive and she’d answer the door naked and it was just wild to me. She was so comfortable in her own skin and fine just existing totally naked (in the appropriate circumstances). I had to quickly recalibrate what I thought was “normal” and my life was improved as a result.
That makes total sense. I’ve spent a lot of non-sexual hours sitting butt naked in the Sauna in Germany with hundreds of people. In the US, that would only happen in the woods with hippies. Thanks for sharing.