The sexual revolution is strangling itself. Literally.
A recent New York Times piece by Peggy Orenstein explains, “Twenty years ago, sexual asphyxiation appears to have been unusual among any demographic, let alone young people who were new to sex and iffy at communication. That’s changed radically in a short time.”
Other writers have reported on this trend, but Orenstein provides data as well as anecdotes. She cites research by Debby Herbenick, who in a recent large survey of college students found, “Nearly two-thirds of women … said a partner had choked them during sex (one-third in their most recent encounter). The rate of those women who said they were between the ages 12 and 17 the first time that happened had shot up to 40 percent from one in four.” Which is to say that most sexually active young women should expect to be sexually choked at some point.
Orenstein blames online porn, in which the…
