Young people are apparently not having sex, or dating, or drinking, or going clubbing. Every other person – well, 1 in 8 Americans – is on Ozempic. And looksmaxxing is pushing beauty practices to dangerous extremes, emphasising attractiveness that’s online-approved over fulfilment that’s physically-felt. Looking around, we seem to find ourselves in the midst of a pleasure recession.
Our bodies were once thought of as centres for sensory delight, yet they’re now largely seen as systems to optimise and invest in, discussed in the co-opted language of venture capital. A piece published in The Guardian last month defined this state of joyless self-indulgence as the “era of decadence without pleasure”. A culture that views restraint as a virtue to flex.
Across human history, bliss has sprung from two primary sources: food and sex. Both release powerful chemicals into our bloodstream: dopamine, endorphins and oxytocin igniting sensations that span euphoria to serenity. But new technology threatens these organic systems, interrupting them with ensnaring loops of shallow, synthetic delights.
Detail from Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights (circa 1490 and 1510)
We fill ourselves up, yet still crave more. The answer to enduring, satiating pleasure is delayed gratification and an intentional pursuit of it. A theme we explored in our Spring 2026 BRIEFING, outlining how brands can re-introduce friction to spark more rewarding experiences.
Pleasure can be simple, like little treat culture, or grand, like extravagant summers spent on the Côte d’Azur. But what’s increasingly apparent is that pleasure has become more about self-obsession than collective joy. Brands occupy a powerful position to relight the fire.
The Big Eroticism Shortage
The psychotherapist Esther Perel’s book, Mating in Captivity, reflects the pattern that she’d kept encountering in her practice: couples, very much in love, but not physically intimate. 20 years on, data shows this dwindling flame has only spread. According to the Institute for Family Studies, weekly sexual activity among U.S. adults fell from 55% in 1990 to 37% in 2024, while 24% of 18 to 29 year olds had no sex at all in the past year, doubling since 2010.
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