I was really glad to see that The New York Times picked up on the misplaced moral panic over teenage sex.
Parents have worried for generations about changing moral values and risky behavior among young people......The talk show host Tyra Banks declared a teen sex crisis last fall after her show surveyed girls about sexual behavior. A few years ago, Oprah Winfrey warned parents of a teenage oral-sex epidemic.
The news is troubling, but it's also misleading. While some young people are clearly engaging in risky sexual behavior, a vast majority are not. The reality is that in many ways, today's teenagers are more conservative about sex than previous generations.
But what reporter Tara Parker-Pope left out is that this isn't just about panic over teen sex - it's about about panic over girls having sex.
After all, it's not boys who are being called prostitots and "girls gone wild." It's not boys who are targeted by abstinence only education and purity balls. And it's definitely not boys who have been the subject of books like Prude, Unhooked and Girls Gone Mild. It's us.
But that aside, it was refreshing to see a story about how well young people are doing. And they are. Teenagers are using contraception more (if they haven't been privy to abstinence only education, of course, in which case they don't use contraception and have increased rates of oral and anal sex) and more effectively.
Now if we could just get the media (and conservatives, and anti-feminist authors) to stop obsessing over young women's sex lives...
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"Teenagers are using contraception more (if they haven't been privy to abstinence only education, of course, in which case they don't use contraception and have increased rates of oral and anal sex)"
Hey Jessica,
I'm so glad you posted this story. Quick technical question for you -- do you have a cite for the study that links abstinence-only education with decreased contraception usage and increased rates of oral/anal sex? My understanding was that abstinence-only education programs have no impact (positive or negative) on teen behavior (I am basing this on the 2007 meta-analysis, Emerging Answers, done by Doug Kirby). Is there credible research that states otherwise? I love to hate on abstinence-only education (in fact, I'm writing my dissertation on it), but I want to make sure I have my facts straight. Thanks!
Ruby, links added!
Thanks!!
I'm really glad to hear this. I agree, it is pretty creepy that people are so hyperfocused on female teen sexuality. I read both Prude and Girls Gone Mild, by the way. GGM was ok from what I remember, but Prude had so many problems it wasn't even funny. The author at one point claimed that the middle and southern states were the "real" America and that they shouldn't let trendy liberal states on the coasts bully them into telling their daughters it was ok to be promiscuous, blah blah blah. The author also believes that some religions and religious values are more right than others (um, guess which ones) and wants to put religion back in schools. And of course, at least 200 pages had to be devoted to demonizing feminists :) Don't get me started on all the faulty reasoning. I read that book over a year ago and I still cringe thinking about it. So I guess I recommend it for that reason!
Many of these books are not so concerned with whether the quantity of teen sex has increased, but rather whether the nature of the sex has changed. They argue that sex has become more casual, which is not inconsistent with the NYT article.
"After all, it's not boys who are being called prostitots and "girls gone wild." It's not boys who are targeted by abstinence only education and purity balls. And it's definitely not boys who have been the subject of books like Prude, Unhooked and Girls Gone Mild. It's us."
Yes, it is you, thats because girls and boys are DIFFERENT. They are viewed differently they are treated differently the expectations torwards boyz and gurls are different. Its just the way the world spins since homo sapiens hit the scene some odd 10.000 years ago.
Do you realize exactly how ignorant your comment reads?
That boys and girls are different and are therefore viwed differently by society ? No I do not. Its just the way it is out there. Even the author agrees with me.
That boys and girls are different and are therefore viwed differently by society ? No I do not. Its just the way it is out there. Even the author agrees with me.
That boys and girls are different and are therefore viwed differently by society ? No I do not. Its just the way it is out there. Even the author agrees with me.
um, i'm not sure if you're trolling or just didn't write that post clearly enough or what, but no one is denying that expectations for girls and boys are different. we don't think they SHOULD be. we're opposing those different expectations and think they're bullshit. see the difference?
But many men and women DO want to meet the "traditional" expectations. There are many men and women who want to be manly, or womanly. But I agree society should accomodate men who want to be womanly and women who want to be manly and I feel now it sort of does mostly.
The thing is, what counts as "manly" and "womanly" are really quite arbitrary, and vary quite a bit from culture to culture.
exactly.
no one is ragging on anyone's choice to wear high heels or watch sports center or whatever else. it's that the words "manly" and "womanly" themselves don't mean jack shit. there's no like, cosmically ordained law that associates having a vagina with liking those drinks that come with little umbrellas in them. breaking down gender roles helps us all in the end.
er, when I initially said engaging in traditionally masculine or feminine behaviour was a lifestyle choice, I was speaking for those who do have a choice about it. Obviously that's not everyone. Some people really just have to do what they have to do, and in no situation should they be judged as people on their gender presentation.
Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Why can't society stop focusing on how much sex teens are having and start focusing on how much SAFE sex they're having??
but don't you see? if girls are good enough at being gatekeepers, then boys won't be having the sex either, and will be forced to go home and take a cold shower...
Why should only girls be gatekeepers? You don't think horny teen girls want to jump a dick?
I think voiceofreason was using sarcasm there.
It is really creepy that so many people are so interested in if teenage girls are having sex or not. I wish that article had said that.
Yea it is really creepy.
Amen!
I think that women are considered to be engaging in "risky sexual behavior" when giving blow jobs, but their male partners are not. And "risky sexual behavior" translates loosely into "slut". I don't think boys are considered to be engaging in sexual behavior at all unless there is genital-to-genital action and someone actually catches them in the act. Up to that point, I think society just thinks it is normal, male, teenage sexual hijinks.
Society seems to view any woman who engages in fellatio as a slut. Maybe some of this puritanical moralistic BS should be targeting boys in a hard-core anti-blow job campaign.
Yeah. That'll happen.
are women are greater risk of disease than men when women perform oral sex?
The article also fails to recognize the existence of queer people. Not only did the author forget to mention the heterosexist attitudes of the sex-scare crusaders, she also discussed sex in strictly girl/boy terms. Further, she continued to frame sex that isn’t girl/boy, PIV sex as a) not real sex and b) morally reprehensible. (see below)
“National statistics on the behavior have only recently been collected, and they are not as alarming as some reports would have you believe…About 16 percent of teenagers say they have had oral sex but haven’t yet had intercourse.”
(subtext: oral sex is BAD BAD BAD. And intercourse is real sex, and oral is fake. Silly lesbians- your sex is fake, no YOU are fake. actually why are we talking about you anyway? we were pretending you don't exist)
You are reading way too much into her quote. There was nothing offensive or judgmental about what she said, she was just stating the statistics that they have right now.
But.. but… haven't you heard of those rainbow parties all the kids are having?!
I honestly think that most of the moral panic around this issue is based on parental fears that their children are getting more action than they ever did.
hahahaahahaa. I have nothing substantial to add, but this comment made me LOL
Interesting. Your link to Advocates for Youth says that teen pregnancy is down and contraceptive use is up, which is the opposite of what the NYT article says. Different sources? Different interpretation of variables?
This is slightly out of left field, but I truly believe that the Surgeon General who promoted masturbation (can't remember her name, but it was during the Clinton years, I believe) had something like the right idea. If abstinence-only education doesn't work (and it doesn't seem that it does) and education concerning contraceptives is still too controversial to become mainstream (still not understanding why), then what's wrong with promoting a little self love?
P.S. I'm only half kidding.