Posted on 07/14/2011 11:52:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Cellphone cameras are fantastic gadgets. They allow us to capture those fleeting moments when a traditional camera would take forever to fish out. In a pinch, they’re a wonderful way to quickly share images with family and friends. But getting a nude photo of someone you barely know standing in front of a mirror is not one of the images we had in mind.
“Sexting” is the transmission of explicit to downright pornographic images (usually self-portraits) via a cellphone or the Internet. The practice is so pervasive among teens that states such as Texas and New Jersey are attempting to decriminalize sexting for youngsters. Should these efforts fail, the kids would have to be charged with possession of child pornography (since the images are usually of themselves or acquaintances), an offense that could get them added to the registry of sex offenders. A study by CosmoGirl and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies found that “20 percent of teens and 33 percent of young adults ages 20 to 26 have shared nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves either by text or posting online.” According to studies, teen girls are more likely to indulge in the practice.
Sweetie, unless your ambition is to be the Playboy Playmate of the Month, might I suggest that you spend a bit more time adding to your résumé and a bit less time photographing yourself in the buff? This whole sexting thing has become a type of courting ritual. The fellows want to eye up the merchandise to see if you’re worth the effort. As an old chef once said, “A sure way to kill the appetite is to give away too many hors d’oeuvres.”
But the teens are only partly to blame for the explosion of sexting. They are merely mimicking what they see their heroes doing. In early 2011, nude pictures and videos of music star and woman beater Chris Brown surfaced online. Brown claims an ex-girlfriend leaked the material, though some reports suggested that he may have leaked them himself as a publicity stunt. NFL legend Brett Favre went for his own three-point conversion when he allegedly sent photos of his upright to a Jets “game-day hostess.” And more than 50 Hollywood A-listers were stunned when hackers stole their nude photos off cellphones and computers. Some of those hit included Jessica Alba, Miley Cyrus, Scarlett Johansson, and Christina Aguilera. All of this could have been avoided had they not taken the shots in the first place. By their example, stars have encouraged this cultural narcissism masquerading as courtship. It’s not flirty, it’s filthy — and it always leaks out.
There was a time when people got dressed up and had conversations to see if they were compatible — now they examine tan lines. Though there could be one advantage to the exposure: People will develop a new esteem for the option of seeing you clothed. I was recently told about one girl who tried to laugh off the nude picture of her circulating on campus. She announced to a college guy who had seen one of her salacious photos, “Bet you didn’t know I was a natural brunette.” To which the guy replied, “I didn’t know you had stretch marks on your hips, either.” If you’re actually interested in the guy, clothing can be your closest ally.
— Laura Ingraham is host of The Laura Ingraham Show. This is an excerpt of Of Thee I Zing: America’s Cultural Decline from Muffin Tops to Body Shots, written with Raymond Arroyo, released this week by Threshold.
What is a three-point conversion?
It’s when, after a touchdown, you run the ball into the endzone by putting it into a Cessna and doing a three-point landing in the endzone lengthwise.
A two point conversion is an after touchdown football play in which the scoring team runs or passes the ball into the end zone in lieu of kicking the point after touchdown.
I think that “three point conversion” is a play on words meaning something tricky.
I am so glad that I got out of the dating game prior to cell phones and Facebook.
I find 21st century “courting” rituals to be soulless and vapid.
Mila Kunis on Casual Sex: ‘It’s like communism—good in theory, in execution it fails’
...
I was fascinated to see, among younger women, a nostalgia for ’50s-era attitudes toward sexuality. The older writers in my anthology are raunchier than the younger writers. The younger writers are obsessed with motherhood and monogamy.
Just as the watchword of my generation was freedom, that of my daughter’s generation seems to be control. Is this just the predictable swing of the pendulum or a new passion for order in an ever more chaotic world? A little of both. We idealized open marriage; our daughters are back to idealizing monogamy. We were unable to extinguish the lust for propriety.
...But casual sex with partners you barely know is disgusting and dangerous. Honestly, even with a condom one might as well be sticking their privates in a blender — the damage done would be comparable. How is it a pro-sex or cool or sexy position to want to engage in behavior that can destroy one’s ability to enjoy sex?..
And yes, after multiple generations that exploded the divorce rate in this country, you’ve got plenty of young people who are taking the institution of marriage a bit more seriously. (But don’t expect this to necessarily translate to being against gay marriage.)
The idea of being married to one person for 100 years or so (yes, the increase of technology is going to radically extend lifespan over the 21st century) sounds fine to me. Building a marriage is building a family — and institution-building is what Civic generations have been known for throughout American history.
Mila Kunis was born in 1983. Don’t be surprised if you start seeing more of this kind of thing in the coming years as more Gen Ys begin to rise into prominence in the culture. It’ll be much easier to see once the Gen Ys born in the mid ’90s get older.
http://pajamasmedia.com/lifestyle/2011/07/13/mila-kunis-on-casual-sex/
What's there to look forward to if a girl sends you a naked pic of herself after you've chatted with her five minutes on facebook?
The more I learn about the current adolescent culture, the more appalled I am.
When I was a teenager in the 1960s, we girls would have died of shame if a boy had seen us in our underwear, let alone naked. An errant bra strap that found its way from under my sleeveless blouse onto my arm practically had me fainting on one occasion.
The left has been quite successful in obliterating a sense of modesty in girls. Very sad.
What do you do if a teen sends her explicit pictures to a young man over 21?
A friend of ours actually fell in this trap - he didn’t delete the picture, and her parents found out - had the guy put in jail for “child porn”.
Can’t you get in trouble for pictures you’ve already deleted? Don’t phones (mini computers nowadays) keep these things in memory?
“What’s there to look forward to if a girl sends you a naked pic of herself after you’ve chatted with her five minutes on facebook?”
I’m reading “Brave New World” right now, as my daughter has to read it before school starts (high school senior). They don’t even have THAT much foreplay - pretty much drop & go for it. All the clothes have easy-access zippers. Just a depressing book.
Colonel, USAFR
USA has reached(fallen) into unbridled lasciviousness: movies, most TV show/ads, newspaper/magazines, Photo ads scattered thru-out the malls; all filthy. Web articles for mortgages have a nearly naked man and woman in a extremely provacative pose to catch the eye. How and why do we chose to live in such depravity.
Commerce thrives on open sexual inuedo, USA has become one big consumer device.
All this in front of everyone one of us, whether we like it or not. Not to meantion children, from the day they are born.
Sex was created to bring families together; man has chosen to pervet it into depravithy.
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