A new taboo?

[ElectricBlue]

What with social distancing about to become a new way of living, will we start to see a new taboo coming through in writing? Where touching is forbidden or frowned upon?

For those who write contemporary content, is anyone planning to write the "new norm?" Or will distancing be like condoms, and largely ignored?

 

[lovecraft68]

They did that bit in Demolition Man with Sandra Bullock and Stallone, funny scene.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I was thinking about this last night, and the effect on small business.

Visits to prostitutes will plummet, but webcammers will be perfectly placed to take advantage of this.

 

[lovecraft68]

I was thinking about this last night, and the effect on small business.

Visits to prostitutes will plummet, but webcammers will be perfectly placed to take advantage of this.

I wondered about the prostitutes as well.

I think they will still get clients, its an addiction like anything else.

 

[KeithD]

On the OP, there will be (if there aren't already) mental implants set to connected frequencies that can have two across the room from each other and having sex by mental connection. The descriptions of the effect will be very erotic when written well. A plotline enhancement of this will be a third party who breaks into the connection and they are having three-way sex, as the third party slowly hones in on one of them, invariably having been rejected by that one before but now unwittingly becoming enslaved, having sex with someone other than the intended one.

 

[handysr]

Internet fun

Real hoverboards from Back To The Future may not be an actual thing yet, but internet sex is.

I see a drop in income from places like restaurants, massage therapy (happy ending or not), hookers, movie theaters, or anything else with physical contact or the possibility of someone sneezing on a customer.

But online encounters where there is still 2-way non-physical contact? Hell yeah. There are even remote-control smell products that can help out. Virtual reality may make a surge in popularity.

OK, OK, after everyone is done freaking out about the low infection and death rate in a few weeks, especially compared to the common cold or the flu, which causes secondary infections that actually F people up, I think life will return to normal. Unless the media and politicians won't let it go and try to stay relevant with clickbait headlines.

----
edit:
Maybe this is a good plot bunny for the 'story ideas' thread.

The babysitter next door stopped taking clients, but from her bedroom window she can see the home office of the dad who has to work from home now, and her (school/job/clients) are no longer willing to have her there in person, she's bored and desperate. She may not have much money any more, but if she sits on her dresser with the blinds up, connected via the internet to the desperate man twenty feet away, they can both end up happy, and the online money transfer makes sure she never has to leave her bedroom.

 

[GroverLang]

Visits to prostitutes will plummet, but webcammers will be perfectly placed to take advantage of this.

Visiting a prostitute, or escorts as they are called today, and webcamming are two entirely different things. There are clients who visit the first for many reasons, not just for the physical contact and the sex. But for them to get satisfaction it has to be in person. The second one is largely voyeurism and again there are various reasons people are attracted to this kind of satisfaction. They are entirely different ways of “getting off” and shouldn’t be confused.

Prostitution has existed for thousands of years and will continue to do so no matter how the rules of society are amended. Business has increased over the last twenty years because of the internet and because of the car making it easy to travel a distance from home and back in a relatively short space of time.

 

[Jada59]

I was thinking about this last night, and the effect on small business.

Visits to prostitutes will plummet, but webcammers will be perfectly placed to take advantage of this.

Yeah. One of my Lit friends said he read an article about the Seattle area prostitutes. They are getting no business.

 

[yukonnights]

Yeah. One of my Lit friends said he read an article about the Seattle area prostitutes. They are getting no business.

There goes another chuck out of the economy

But, I have a solution; Scuba equipment. With tourism tanking, this once expensive luxury item will be relatively affordable. A full face mask, and pure air in a tank, a heavy duty condom and problem solved — an industry pulled from the brink.

While this may be a killer for the new taboo sweeping the country, it does offer a safer option for our more vulnerable senior citizens. That's kind of a sexy image right there. For $200.00 more, add the wet-suit for 100% peace of mind.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Some inspiration here, in official guidance from NYC (sadly since deleted from the official page) on sex during time of plague: https://webcache.googleusercontent....id-sex-guidance.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Have sex with people close to you.
• You are your safest sex partner. Masturbation will not spread COVID-19, especially if you
wash your hands (and any sex toys) with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before
and after sex.
• The next safest partner is someone you live with. Having close contact — including sex
— with only a small circle of people helps prevent spreading COVID-19.
• You should avoid close contact — including sex — with anyone outside your household.
If you do have sex with others, have as few partners as possible.
• If you usually meet your sex partners online or make a living by having sex, consider
taking a break from in-person dates. Video dates, sexting or chat rooms may be options
for you

I've already seen one adorable story come out of self-isolation. It might be too cute to be true, but if it's fiction, it's still delightful fiction:
https://www.reddit.com/r/relationsh...s_to/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

edit: original deleted, screencaps here: https://twitter.com/redditships/status/1241613092875841536

 

[gordo12]

wash your hands (and any sex toys) with soap and water for at least 20 seconds

It already appears that 20 seconds may not be enough.

#9 https://bestlifeonline.com/coronavirus-facts/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=msn-feed

 

[GroverLang]

There goes another chuck out of the economy

But, I have a solution; Scuba equipment. With tourism tanking, this once expensive luxury item will be relatively affordable. A full face mask, and pure air in a tank, a heavy duty condom and problem solved — an industry pulled from the brink.

While this may be a killer for the new taboo sweeping the country, it does offer a safer option for our more vulnerable senior citizens. That's kind of a sexy image right there. For $200.00 more, add the wet-suit for 100% peace of mind.

I believe some escort clients already use a wetsuit, or something similar, to get maximum enjoyment and the wetsuit is provided at no extra cost.

 

[Bramblethorn]

It already appears that 20 seconds may not be enough.

#9 https://bestlifeonline.com/coronavirus-facts/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=msn-feed

The article doesn't seem to give any source for the claim that 20 seconds isn't enough. The stuff they do cite seems to be more about the need to be thorough within that time.

 

[SimonDoom]

It's an interesting thought. I suspect, though, that once the virus crisis is done people will jump at the chance to touch again. Think of all the single people who are putting dating on hold. Lots of pent up frustration. This is a once in a hundred years event, so it seems likely we'll go back to our old ways.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Nope. So far in my life time I have survived 5 world ending events. I will most likely survive this one.

 

[MidKnight1378]

It’s not new...

What with social distancing about to become a new way of living, will we start to see a new taboo coming through in writing? Where touching is forbidden or frowned upon?

For those who write contemporary content, is anyone planning to write the "new norm?" Or will distancing be like condoms, and largely ignored?

Back in the 80’s phone sex & masturbation rose to popularity and the headlines I think in part due to the AIDS epidemic. There were even pop-songs singing about the subjects.

With what’s going on now, (Corona Virus Lockdown) I imagine people are burning up the internet.

 

[MidKnight1378]

Nope. So far in my life time I have survived 5 world ending events. I will most likely survive this one.

I must be older than you, I’m up to eight.

 

[MidKnight1378]

It's an interesting thought. I suspect, though, that once the virus crisis is done people will jump at the chance to touch again. Think of all the single people who are putting dating on hold. Lots of pent up frustration. This is a once in a hundred years event, so it seems likely we'll go back to our old ways.

I hope you’re right. On 03/26/20 I violated the stay inside order, (the weather was just too nice) and took a walk. A woman was on the same side of the street as me, I smiled at her when we were about twenty feet apart and she ran across the street like her hair was on fire.

 

[KeithD]

I hope you’re right. On 03/26/20 I violated the stay inside order, (the weather was just too nice) and took a walk. A woman was on the same side of the street as me, I smiled at her when we were about twenty feet apart and she ran across the street like her hair was on fire.

I suppose there's a chance that was virus related.

 

[gordo12]

This is a once in a hundred years event, so it seems likely we'll go back to our old ways.

No, it's not. Thus the 19. There will be a 20 (2020), 21 and so on.

Back in the 80’s phone sex & masturbation rose to popularity and the headlines

Hate to break it to you, but masturbation has always been popular.

I hope you’re right. On 03/26/20 I violated the stay inside order, (the weather was just too nice) and took a walk. A woman was on the same side of the street as me, I smiled at her when we were about twenty feet apart and she ran across the street like her hair was on fire.

LOL, thanks for the laugh.

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

It's an interesting thought. I suspect, though, that once the virus crisis is done people will jump at the chance to touch again. Think of all the single people who are putting dating on hold. Lots of pent up frustration. This is a once in a hundred years event, so it seems likely we'll go back to our old ways.

I mostly agree with Simon here. What with SARS and MERS and Ebola before it, epidemics/pandemics like this may be more frequent than hundred year events. But it was a very particular set of global political circumstances that lead us to this situation. I suspect there may be some token changes (like the American TSA after 9/11) but for the most part 2021 won't be too much different than 2019.

 

[Handley_Page]

I was thinking about this last night, and the effect on small business.
Visits to prostitutes will plummet,
.

I wondered about the prostitutes as well.
I think they will still get clients, its an addiction like anything else.

Since a Prostitute is, by definition, 'self-employed', I just wonder at what the Govt's guidance and response is. After all, Rent still has to be paid, don't it ?

On the OP, there will be (if there aren't already) mental implants set to connected frequencies that can have two across the room from each other and having sex by mental connection. The descriptions of the effect will be very erotic when written well. A plotline enhancement of this will be a third party who breaks into the connection and they are having three-way sex, as the third party slowly hones in on one of them, invariably having been rejected by that one before but now unwittingly becoming enslaved, having sex with someone other than the intended one.

That reminds me of some of the 'Lensman' novels of EE 'Doc' Smith.

 

[RetroFan]

I shelved a story I was halfway through, where a lesbian flight attendant and her girlfriend have an affair with her (the flight attendant's) brother's annoying wife. Given it is set in present day Australia and travel and socialising feature heavily in the plot, it just seemed jarringly out of place in the current environment.

I thought about re-working it to set it in the past, but given the sister-in-law is a social media star/mommy blogger and a former contestant on a reality TV show, I could only go back to the mid 2010s at earliest and it still seems out of place. Maybe when this all lifts I'll finish and post it.

So I'm writing a story about a spoiled rich girl in England set in the 1990s instead.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I shelved a story I was halfway through, where a lesbian flight attendant and her girlfriend have an affair with her (the flight attendant's) brother's annoying wife. Given it is set in present day Australia and travel and socialising feature heavily in the plot, it just seemed jarringly out of place in the current environment.

I thought about re-working it to set it in the past, but given the sister-in-law is a social media star/mommy blogger and a former contestant on a reality TV show, I could only go back to the mid 2010s at earliest and it still seems out of place. Maybe when this all lifts I'll finish and post it.

So I'm writing a story about a spoiled rich girl in England set in the 1990s instead.

Set it in March 2019... All the cretinous blogger behaviour and none of the virus issues. Maybe start it with "I'm sitting at home, cooped up like a caged rat. The only thing keeping me sane is remembering the good times..."

 

[RetroFan]

Set it in March 2019... All the cretinous blogger behaviour and none of the virus issues. Maybe start it with "I'm sitting at home, cooped up like a caged rat. The only thing keeping me sane is remembering the good times..."

I thought about setting it a year or two in the past, but I'm not sure, it would still seem out of place. I'll think it through.

On this subject, has anyone else looked at their works posted in recent years which suddenly seem dated due to the current world situation?

This morning I was looking through my Incest Taboo story series 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend' from last year which is set in the Brisbane/Gold Coast area of Queensland, Australia in the present day at the time of writing - i.e. 2019.

In the story, characters go to work and attend classes as normal. They go to an Australian Rules football game and a junior soccer match, and others watch a Rugby League game on TV. Some of them go to a busy and crowded Gold Coast entertainment area for dinner at a restaurant, followed by a stroll through pop-up markets and a trip on a crowded tram where the girls sit on their boyfriends' knees. Two characters go to the movies in a busy Brisbane CBD, and a walk afterwards through bustling crowds. Tourism activities on the Gold Coast are described, with people going to theme parks and enjoying water-related activities like parasailing, water-skiing and jet-boating. One girl teaches a kids' ballet class. A celebration for the great grandmother's 99th birthday is held in very busy parkland near the Brisbane River. Some of the characters towards the end of the story go to a science fiction convention.

Less than a year later the story suddenly seems so dated despite the contemporary setting, especially having a birthday celebration for a 99-year-old woman in a busy park.