The August 2 Edition

“Sex is part of nature; I go along with nature,” Marilyn Monroe once famously quipped. Sex has the unique feature of being the most universal of human phenomena but also the most private and personal: what to one person appears tasteless or just plain dull may be a source of high excitement and titillation to another. Even in cultures of deep sexual repression, sex has a stubborn habit of peeking out from behind closed doors: witness the growing number of lingerie shops selling frilly negligees and g-strings in strict Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia. How many times have we seen the self-appointed guardians of morality revealed as soulless hypocrites: last year it was a Trump White House “faith adviser” being exposed in a sexual abuse scandal. Despite – or perhaps because of – the avalanche of sexual material now available at our fingertips online, countless surveys show young people are having less sex than previous generations. So it’s interesting to read Konrad Marshall’s cover story this week on the increasing popularity of sex parties among the under-40s. The mystique of sex, it appears, is alive and well. Greg Callaghan, acting editor.