A creative thesis in this article here. With subheadings like “Broccoli, Pornography, and Kant” how could you not read it? She’s asking an interesting question:

…What happens when, for the first time in history — at least in theory, and at least in the advanced nations — adult human beings are more or less free to have all the sex and food they want? This question opens the door to a real paradox. For given how closely connected the two appetites appear to be, it would be natural to expect that people would do the same kinds of things with both appetites — that they would pursue both with equal ardor when finally allowed to do so, for example, or with equal abandon for consequence; or conversely, with similar degrees of discipline in the consumption of each.

In fact, though, evidence from the advanced West suggests that nearly the opposite seems to be true. The answer appears to be that when many people are faced with these possibilities for the very first time, they end up doing very different things — things we might signal by shorthand as mindful eating, and mindless sex. This essay is both an exploration of that curious dynamic, and a speculation about what is driving it.

This does seem to raise one of the great ironies, and it’s one I encounter often enough. Many will watch very closely what they consume when it comes to food (organic, naturopathic, special diets, etc.) but show less concern for who they sleep with. (Then again there are those who just consume a whole lot of both–maintaining consistency, at least.)

This came up on Roadkill Radio last night too, where I talked about People for the Ethical Treatment of People (buy a shirt)–the irony that many will maintain a high level of concern for eating organic, but not think too much about the invasive and destructive surgery called abortion.