I just watched a 'documentary' on MTV about (and titled) 'The New Virginity" concerning the growing trend towards purity rings and vows of celibacy.
hmmm.....
I think I have to think about it some more, but wanted to record my initial reaction. My generation was the first real venerates of the 'just say no' era. First, we were saying no to drugs, and then we were saying no to sex. And then when all that failed, we were told to use condoms to save our lives. Teen pregnancy was most definitely not cool and AIDS had become a disease that affected more than just the gays. Of course, no one believed they would get AIDS, but who wants herpes?
And of course, we did not necessarily say no to drugs either, but I guess the use of drugs, alcohol and sex were normal (?) as in sometimes, frequently, daily, hourly or not at all.
What?
Of course there must be a delineation between boy sex and girl sex. Boys were allowed, and in many cases encouraged to do it. To swagger about the schools, lying or being honest in exploiting their conquests and forever (or at least until graduation) tainting the image of the girl who did it with them. For the girls, well there were those who did it, and those who did not. AMong the ones who did it, there were the girls who only did it with their boyfriend, and those who would be less discriminating.
I was the girl who only did it with her boyfriend, and never casually. But I had a lot of boyfriends I guess. SO what? That's not the point. The point I am making is that sexually may not have always been treated with respect, we teens may not have always made the best decisions, but we had it, did it, talked about it, cried about it and laughed about it.
I wonder about young women who are currently trying to sort through adolescence. There is so much emphasis on the act of getting married as in the commerce surrounding the wedding day with not nearly enough emphasis on the marriage itself, and an insane trend towards the sexy maternity figure. Clothes and fashion speak to the plump full breasts and covered tummies of mommies to be. Not to mention the myriad of teens girls choosing to have babies at an age when they have never had a job, lived outside their childhood homes and certainly have never taken care of themselves.
I know I am not saying anything that hasn't been said more eloquently elsewhere but I wanted a moment to begin voicing my objections to not only concealing the importance of sexuality, even as teens, but also the lack of responsibility being heralded by these teens who are rushing to meet adult milestones without an iota of knowledge to become self-sufficient.
There is a strange divide among celebrities- 'older' women trying to have babies, and young, practically still teens, getting married.
My biggest criticisms fall to the hypocrisy and manipulative behaviors that show young girls wearing thong and padded bras while wearing their diamond purity rings. "O Daddy, you know I would NEVER do something like that!" And yet STD's are at an all time high, teen pregnancy is the new accessory and kids are getting married at 19 or 20 years old.
I cannot, however, blame these kids. It is the parents and schools that started it.
