There are probably at least two factors, as someone who is unfit to comment this confidently on the question.
On the one hand you have a coming of age of kids who were exposed to a high dose of Warner Brothers smut.
Many of them are coming of age at the same time as the internet, making it easier for a niche community to form or be found and grow.
This seems totally plausible but again, I’m bereft of actual knowledge on this topic and I’m at least partially trying to provoke someone better fit to the question to educate me.
andros_rex@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
The explanation everyone is missing here is the Hays Code.
Pre code movies from the 20’s and 30’s can be quite racy, even occasionally including things like gay people.
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Oh certainly. I do recall several cartoons (reruns from ‘40s and earlier) that had deer or other animals turning into smokin’ hot pinup farm girls luring inept farm boys on the hunt or to explain the male animal’s lust. Then again, the appearance was often brief and they tended to not be three dimensional characters like modern ones.