[jankotek]

Bullshit. I was born in communist Czechoslovakia. It is like celebrating North Korea, because their army has 30% women. Sex was one of a few available entertainment options.

It was difficult to get basic hygiene products (tampons, toilet paper).

[vidarh]

They're not "celebrating" it, unless you seriously think the NY Times have suddenly decided communism on any shape or form is great. They are just not pretending that no joy was possible, or that there were no positive aspects at all, and not insisting on ignoring the few positive aspects.

E.g. it is a matter of fact that a lot of legislation relating to women's rights have been rolled back in many of these countries for example.

And your statement that sex was one of very few available entertainment options would make sense as an explanation if we can see this same outcome in e.g. third world countries compared to developed countries.

It would be interesting to see if that is the case. Maybe you're right that it is simply due to lack of alternative entertainment.

> It was difficult to get basic hygiene products (tampons, toilet paper).

And nobody is saying otherwise - this is entirely irrelevant to the article.

[jankotek]

I think I am reading different NY Times. They never wrote how communist goverment in Romania banned anticonception, abortions etc... But maybe that makes sex more exiciting :(

And please educate me what women's rights post-communist goverments took away.

[greglindahl]

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/21/world/romania-s-communist-...

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/25/world/romanian-orphans-pri...

[vidarh]

Why don't you read the article.

[js8]

> Sex was one of a few available entertainment options.

I honestly wonder, what's so much better about today's entertainment that people prefer it to sex?

I was also born in communist Czechoslovakia. Yes, it was dull, although I was too young to speak for sex. From what I heard, it was a weird mix of conservative and liberal morality.

I personally think that people were simply more content with relationships they had. Today, people are dazzled by the paradox of choice, because their life heavily depends on good choice of the partner (as I already remark elsewhere in this discussion).