Within the Pleasure Principle - on the Social Change of Sexuality in Modern Society

The following essay analyses processes of sexual change from a social theoretical and especially systems theoretical perspective, and connects these to forms of differentiation in modern society. In an ideal-typical understanding the leading role differences and schemes, which determine(d) the relationship of occidental societies and of the sexual, are being discussed. It is shown that sexuality in modern society is mainly oriented towards the difference of desire/satisfaction and the paradigm of orgasm. A shift in favour of the primate of sexual pleasure and sexual self-reference occurred. This change is being illustrated by analysing phenomena such as masturbation, pornography and Prostitution - all of them contributing to sexual change as well as representing indicators for such trends.