What us the Metasexuality of the internet?
This began as a sort of joke, but warrants deeper thought. If sexuality is a personal trait then we share a cultural metasexuality through media. Sex organs and their deliberate obfuscation. Make for an obvious example. There more culturally specific memes. Oysters carry a certain connotation in Eurocentric culture, but not in Asian societies. However it gets interesting when we move to octopus tentacles.
This very specific sexual reference dates back to 19th century Japan from a print probably by Yositishi, depicting a fisherman’s wife. Yet it is a central theme in the metasexuality of the Internet.
How and why does a 19th century artist influence the sexuality of digital culture and more importantly how can something as mercurial as the Internet have a definable sexuality?
Let’s explore tentacles next.