Last week two things happened. One two contestants got kicked off Big Brother and a high school kid complimented my blue velvet jacket by saying "That's a pimpin' jacket". Which for the uninitiated means "Hey, I like your jacket it looks like the kind of jacket a man who exploits women for money would wear".
My favorite Big Brother moment ever was watching last year's housemate Tim Brunero talking to a group of supposedly sexually experienced female housemates. With a totally deadpan face he made up ridiculous statistics about the habits of masturbating men, including (if I remember correctly) that 10% of men need to put bulldog clips on their nipples when they masturbate. The women not only believed everything he said but did not even question what he said for fear of appearing ignorant about sex, which is of course exactly how they appeared.
What happened last week on the Big Brother house was again due to a lack of knowledge about sex and the opposite sex. Similarly, that "Hey that's a pimpin jacket" is a compliment perhaps too is indication of the reality that young people know little about sex and the opposite sex (like hundreds of generations of young people before them)
Recently there has been both a rise of raunch culture and a glorification of the young especially when it comes to sex and being sexual. The rise of raunch culture means that anyone with a high speed internet connection or a little imagination while they're watching Saturday morning music videos means that it's easy to feel like you're getting a lot of information about sex. Alas what's happening is that people are only getting information about male fantasies portrayed as if it was what sex and women are actually like. Further more I get the feeling that most people under over 30 now assume that those under 30 would know more about sex than they do.
So should we call to ban Big Brother? I don't think so. Instead I'd like to call for more education for young people about what the opposite sex is like, what the opposite sex likes and what sex is like. An uninvited slapping of your genitals on someone's face is not funny and never appropriate and, telling me that my jacket makes me look like a pimp is not a compliment.
I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to take some high moral ground here. I don't feel outrage about these two events but more sadness. Sadness that I think these people are not going to experience the best that sex has to offer.
My favorite Big Brother moment ever was watching last year's housemate Tim Brunero talking to a group of supposedly sexually experienced female housemates. With a totally deadpan face he made up ridiculous statistics about the habits of masturbating men, including (if I remember correctly) that 10% of men need to put bulldog clips on their nipples when they masturbate. The women not only believed everything he said but did not even question what he said for fear of appearing ignorant about sex, which is of course exactly how they appeared.
What happened last week on the Big Brother house was again due to a lack of knowledge about sex and the opposite sex. Similarly, that "Hey that's a pimpin jacket" is a compliment perhaps too is indication of the reality that young people know little about sex and the opposite sex (like hundreds of generations of young people before them)
Recently there has been both a rise of raunch culture and a glorification of the young especially when it comes to sex and being sexual. The rise of raunch culture means that anyone with a high speed internet connection or a little imagination while they're watching Saturday morning music videos means that it's easy to feel like you're getting a lot of information about sex. Alas what's happening is that people are only getting information about male fantasies portrayed as if it was what sex and women are actually like. Further more I get the feeling that most people under over 30 now assume that those under 30 would know more about sex than they do.
So should we call to ban Big Brother? I don't think so. Instead I'd like to call for more education for young people about what the opposite sex is like, what the opposite sex likes and what sex is like. An uninvited slapping of your genitals on someone's face is not funny and never appropriate and, telling me that my jacket makes me look like a pimp is not a compliment.
I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to take some high moral ground here. I don't feel outrage about these two events but more sadness. Sadness that I think these people are not going to experience the best that sex has to offer.
2 comments:
Chris, that is spot on. Having just entered my very first relationship at 31 y.o., I can truly appreciate the sentiments you are expressing. While we have decided on abstinence until marriage, the passionate expression within our relationship is entirely based on what pleases the other. So when you say we need education that focuses on the opposite sex, it seems to be the same as saying that love must not be divorced from sex. For to do so turns beauty to ugliness.
Someone is echoing my life, 5 years behind...
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