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Abstract
One of the most ambiguous events of recent times is the appearance in the public and cultural arena of a phenomenon that the masses call "sex." There was the scene in Little Vera [Malen'kaia Vera] that caused such a fuss, then headlines in popular newspapers with such shameful titles as "In Favor of It," soon followed by a "turbulent stream" of erotic novels and pornographic magazines, the "liberation" of our cinema and the video boom, and the establishment of the Libertarian Party of Sexual Minorities. Verbal taboos were broken, and a wave of facts, themes, and relationships, previously banned from discussion, inundated the man in the street. The range of information has greatly expanded, causing a kind of metonymy to take over our minds (it is still with us). The "information explosion," which did in fact occur in the mass media because of the incursion of sexual themes and which has affected both high and popular culture, is moving into an even more rigid and conservative sphere, where it is shaping attitudes, setting norms, and even influencing actual conduct.