The odd thing is, my generation who were young in the '80s and '90s were not remotely prudish.
I think you misunderstood me. I came of age in the late 60's and 70's. I had more unconventional adventures in that time -- and really, really wild adventures such as backpacking for a year through South America, and, later on, to Asia, smoking tons of weed, and, yes, having lots of sex, sometimes, even, with strangers. Many, if not all, of my friends were the same. We were anything but prudish.
My so-called "prudishness" now comes from the revelation that as much as those years contributed to my attitudes today, there's no way I would repeat any of it (except the actual travels -- now that was important), or want my children or grandchildren to repeat it in the style of what is on offer today. Because today's offerings are simply awful in comparison. Modern life is a mess. That's what I base my prudishness on.
The sex was nothing. It did not bring me happiness. If I could go back now, I would give the younger me a big slap and say, stop it. It's not worth it. That's why I roll my eyes at people boasting of their sexual exploits, thinking it makes them interesting or unconventional. The wildness, quirkiness, rebellion, defying convention trust me, I was on top of the game! was not IT.
Today there seems a sense of desperation that was lacking in my day. The sexualisation of everything, the pushing of boundaries into ever more outlandish directions such as men becoming women it all comes from a sense of directionlessness. If that is even a word.
I am far closer to IT in the quiet, celibate country life I now live in retirement. Been there, done that. You (pl.) may call me a boring old crone but I bet I can run rings around you as far as pure LIVING is concerned, and who cares if I have no selfies to prove it.
And I don't mind being called a prude; I use it on myself. It's not an insult. We have to stop thinking of ourselves as boring, just because we aren't flipping somersaults in clown costumes with purple hair. It's all an attempt to make oneself more interesting. If you have had, or are having, a truly interesting life, you can be as quiet as you want and it doesn't matter what others think -- because it is inside you, you don't have to demonstrate anything.
So I do understand the need to defy convention so many young women today feel. But I feel a certain deeper malaise, and I think there will come a day when many of them will look back and say, "was I out of my head?" I did too, in some respects (I cringe at the thought of certain men I got too close too), but today it is much worse. I feel terrible for those young people who go so far as to mutilate their bodies because the regret will be unbearable a few years down the line.
But you live and learn and sometimes you just have to go through it.