Perhaps I'm a little slow to have opened my eyes, and perhaps this entire node is out-dated before it's even been posted. Nevertheless, here we go.
It seems to me that, in the land of "We the People", there has been a disturbingly invasive trend of associating, as a singular criterion, sexuality and sexual deviance as the absolute measure of morality.
Homosexuality, bisexuality, promiscuity, bigamy, various paraphilia and nudity are all reviled here. People who openly embrace any of the aforementioned lifestyles are severely prejudiced against by the general populace.
You can watch all sorts of television shows where truly obscene levels of violence abound and there is copious foul language. Personally, I neither agree nor disagree with the lack of censorship regarding violence and language, but that hasn't kept me from noticing the extreme conservatism regarding sexuality and nudity on the TV. Sure, recently there have been shows with homosexuality for display on the air, but heaven forbid Janet Jackson's nipple guards be on the air a moment longer. I should think our collective head would have exploded at the open display of deviance. In the rest of the world, apparently nudity is commonplace on the TV. I'm not asking for porn, just consistency of censorship.
Want another example? Look at the last two Presidents of the United States. Clinton's indiscretion was sexual in nature. He engaged in an extra-marital affair. He was branded as immoral. He was tainted, to the degree that it spread to the entire rest of the Democrat Party. Bush (the latter, not the former) is believed to be leading a suspect war in which thousands of soldiers have died. There is, however, no suspicion on his morality. It is considered resoundingly clear. (Keep in mind that with this I am sharing what I perceive, and I do not intend this as an attack on his character. Merely an exercise in demonstration.)
I don't know. Just observations. I'm certainly not qualified as a sociologist, but I'd like to know what other people think on the subject.