We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City, just across the street from Washington Square Park. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.
Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside.
The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.
HAS THE INTERNET RUINED ROMANCE & RELATIONSHIPS?
...OR IS THIS JUST A "CYBER-SEX PANIC"?
INTRODUCTION:
In this group discussion, we'll team up with the "Skeptics in the Pub" meetup and explore a range of allegations about the supposedly negative effects that the internet and smart phones are having on our society's sexual norms, dating habits, and marriage & divorce rates.
In the first section, we'll explore the social & psychological effects of widespread free pornography on the internet. We'll look at allegations that porn is addictive, that it harms romantic relationships, and promotes sexual objectification of women.
In the second section, we'll look at claims that online dating sites & hookup apps have created a dramatic decline in committed dating - a.k.a. the "dating apocalypse" - and replaced it with a "hookup culture" of casual sex, open relationships, and exploitative arrangements like "sugar dating". We'll also examine the oft-heard claim that social media & online dating sites present too much temptation for monogamous couples and has increased cheating, breakups & divorces.
In the third section, we'll look at parental fears that the internet has stolen children's sexual innocence by exposing them to a decadent "raunch culture", and that smart phones have bypassed parental supervision & encouraged an underage "sexting epidemic".
In the fourth section, we'll consider the seemingly contradictory claim that the internet has created a decline in sexual activity among Millennials - a.k.a. the "sex recession". As we'll see, some technology critics allege that this is indicative of a broader shift away from face-to-face interaction & relationship formation that could pose problem for our society, perhapeven leading to a "demographic death spiral".
In all four sections, our main goal will be to try to separate the facts from the media spin, and we'll try to identify whether or not the news media has generated a "cyber-sex panic" (my term) on these issues. Essentially, we're asking if our society might be in the grips of a "moral panic" - i.e. a form mass hysteria that causes people to overestimate certain kinds of dangers - in this case, the dangers posed by the internet & smart phones to our sexual norms.
We'll also address the ethical issues underlying the political debates about when, if ever, the government should intervene to promote a specific view of sexual morality and/or to try to alleviate negative social side-effects of disruptive technologies, such as declining marriage rates & birth rates.
RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:
Back in July of 2017, we had a meetup entitled "The Economics of Sex" which addressed some current political debates surrounding sexual norms, dating & marriage from an economic & game theoretical perspective. We looked at how birth control split the dating & marriage markets, why the odds of finding a suitable mate declines over time, and how one's "sexual market value" is affected by 4 factors: beauty, age, socio-economic status, and race. https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/wxsktmywkbmb/
Then in August of 2017, we had a meetup entitled, "Sex, Demographics & Declinism" where we discussed concerns over how marriage & child-rearing has been delayed for white collar workers, how the marriage rate has declined for blue collar workers, how the divorce rate has declined but remained relatively high, and how birth rates in the US are teetering on the brink of sub-replacement rates, leading to a demographic decline that can only be prevented through mass immigration. https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/241373059/
Back in March of 2018, we had a meetup entitled "Understanding Gender-Based Violence" where we discussed the data on sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual harassment in the workplace, and some broader concerns about the effects of "raunch culture" (e.g. porn, sexually explicit music, strip clubs, etc.) on the rates of violence against women. https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/xvbrznyxgbmc/
Back in June of 2018, we discussed the research on different parenting methods, most of which suggests their effects are exaggerated. This may relate to the concerns about child-rearing in the internet age we'll discuss in Section 3: https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/251066458/
