It is two o'clock in the morning. Cities around the world are asleep. The streets are empty. But millions of fingers are still gliding across mobile screens. Someone is searching for love on a dating app. Someone is watching explicit content. Someone is converting their looks into "likes" on social media. And someone else is caught between loneliness, attraction, and desire. So has the world genuinely caught a fever for s*x?

Today, s*x appears everywhere: in films, advertisements, web series, songs, fashion, and social media. The body has become a product. Attractiveness has become capital. And desire has become a marketplace. Call someone "s*xy" today, and they take it as a compliment.

Naturally, a question arises: has humanity become more sexual than before, or has s*x become more visible than before? The truth, perhaps, lies somewhere between the two.

S*x is not merely a physical act. It is the foundation of life's continuity. Nature designed it for reproduction. But human beings have layered it with love, pleasure, power, identity, art, entertainment, and commerce.

These days, s*x is a multi-billion-dollar global industry; a source of entertainment, and for many, a marker of social status and personal achievement. But has it always been this way?

History shows that human attitudes toward s*x have shifted continually. In ancient Greece and Rome, love, beauty, and desire were central themes in art and literature, openly depicted in sculpture, painting, and poetry. S*xuality was treated as a natural part of life. Then things changed.

As Christian influence spread across Europe, efforts grew to confine s*x strictly to marriage and procreation. Through the medieval period and later the Victorian era, control over desire intensified in the name of morality, and women's desires, in particular, were viewed with suspicion and treated as sinful. Some religions and civilisations came to view s*x itself as sin. India's story, however, took a different path.

Composed roughly two thousand years ago, the Kama Sutra remains one of the world's most talked-about texts. But contrary to popular belief, it was never simply a manual of s*xual positions. Its author, Vatsyayana, presented it as a guide to the art of living, covering love, attraction, conversation, social conduct, aesthetics, marriage, and emotional balance.

Most notably, the Kama Sutra gives weight to a woman's desire and her pleasure. By the standards of many societies of that era, and arguably even some today, this outlook can be considered remarkably progressive. So what changed to bring s*x into such open discussion across the world today?

Public commentator Prof Paras Nath Chaudhary points to the s*xual revolution of the 1960s as the single biggest turning point. The widespread availability of the contraceptive pill freed millions of people, for the first time, from the constant fear of pregnancy. The traditional link between s*x and reproduction began to weaken. That is where the larger social shift began.

People grew more accepting of premarital relationships. The average age of marriage rose. Education and career took priority. The internet dissolved cultural boundaries. Pornography, dating apps, and social media gave s*xual expression a visibility it had never had before. Virginity became a dated value.

Today's young people are growing up in a world where s*x is present everywhere. But there is another side to the story.

Several studies suggest that actual s*xual activity among teenagers and young adults has declined in some countries. Rising awareness around s*xually transmitted infections, consent, personal safety, and mental health appears to have shaped behaviour. In other words, the discussion and visibility of s*x have grown, but that does not mean every individual has become more s*xually active than before.

Social activist Padmini Iyer argues that excessive commercialisation has turned s*x into a product. Comparison culture on social media, unrealistic expectations, and pornography addiction can all weaken real relationships. Many young people, she notes, are also struggling with performance pressure, body image, and a lack of self-confidence.

Dr Gopilsami, s*x counsellor, on the other hand, contends that openness frees people from shame and guilt. Accepting consent, gender equality, and diverse s*xual identities are among modern society's genuine achievements. In his view, silence causes more harm than honest conversation, which instead builds understanding.

This is where an interesting contrast emerges between modern Western thinking and the philosophy of the Kama Sutra. Sociologist TP Srivastava observes that the modern Western outlook often emphasises individual freedom and personal satisfaction above all else; the individual's desire is treated as paramount. The Kama Sutra, by contrast, treats pleasure as part of a broader life balance. There is pleasure, but also responsibility. There is attraction, but also emotional connection. There is desire, but also restraint and balance.

Perhaps this is why many scholars believe India's ancient philosophy still holds relevance today. Social worker Vidya adds that human biological nature has not changed much over thousands of years; what has changed is the environment around it. Technology has made access to desire easier. Contraception has reduced old fears. The internet has made fantasy global.

Yet one question remains as significant today as it was centuries ago: is s*x merely entertainment, or is it something far greater?

History, culture, and human experience all suggest it is not a matter of the body alone. It carries emotion. Relationship. Responsibility. Sensitivity. The continuity of life itself. Some philosophical and spiritual traditions even regard it as a source of spiritual energy.

The world today has moved well beyond what was once considered "natural" s*x; from questions around non-human intimacy to LGBTQ+ identities and beyond.

Perhaps the modern world's greatest challenge is finding a path between freedom and balance; building a bridge between pleasure and responsibility, and reconciling the marketplace with human sensitivity.

Because s*x is a natural part of life, but the moment it becomes merely an object of consumption, its human depth begins to disappear. And, perhaps this very debate is only going to intensify in the years ahead.

In the end, the question is not really about s*x. The real question is how we understand what it means to be human.

Disclaimer: The article is a commentary on social trends.