Begging for a break from the bullshit from Liberal Street Fighter
How pathetic are adults in this country? The wailing and gnashing of teeth over My Space, Facebook and other social networking places is long past old. This morning, on Weekend America, I was treated to a overheated discussion about the impact of these websites on summer camps. Yes, summer camps. Screening counselors to make sure they don’t have any “shameful” pictures on their personal sites before they’re hired (one counselor talked about how she took pictures of herself down where she was holding a beer, at a party, IN COLLEGE). Hell, supervisors talked/bragged about scanning through campers websites!!!, to keep the kiddies safe, of course, and to find out who they needed to keep an eye on.
Oh, forfend that children, teenagers, might ask some questions, explore their sexuality, take their first faltering steps toward being well-rounded adults who actually INHABIT their bodies, genitals included.
Wait, parents, teachers, camp counselors and ministers insist, IT’S DANGEROUS OUT THERE. Just watch Dateline, they cry. Those terrible internets are awash in predators. Of course, in order to protect the young and growing, they must be coddled and watched. No privacy can be allowed, since they might stumble into the path of some nut who will lure them to Israel. Of course, 9,999 times out of 10,000, they’re going to hook up with someone their own age, but why let some rational thought get in the way of some good hysteria? It’s better, safer, to just insist that they DON’T TOUCH, anybody, until they’re married or something.
Why are we so fucked up about sex?
How is it, exactly, that young human beings are supposed to grow into healthy and happy adults in a country that insists on this weird puritanism? Only a couple of generations ago people were already married and parents by the age where today we still treat them as fragile little dears who have to be sheltered from icky and messy life. Hell, some of the nuts in this country would prefer that girls risk eventual cancer than to allow us to do ANYTHING that might even HINT that they will have sex some day.
Whether we were hiding in the woods with the neighbor girl, or sneaking under the bleachers, or playing doctor in the basement, teenagers have explored their bodies on their own. How else to parents propose they’ll learn? Do they really think that abstinence is really going to work? Like it worked when THEIR parents insisted on it? Since we shroud REAL information about it behind shame and restrictions imposed by rightwing religious nuts, what do expect to happen? Do any adults remember the intrusive thoughts driven by hormones? I know that it’s fashionable to blame it on popular culture, like MTV or hip hop or movies or comic books or Elvis’ hips, but this drive is part of being human. Remember how the hell it felt?
Get over it. Your children are sexual beings. Teach them to respect themselves, and that includes teaching them NOT TO HATE THEIR BODIES. Where does all of this shame or paranoia get anyone? The natural course of hormone-driven maturation is going to push them to experiment, to touch and taste and sometimes hurt themselves. MySpace is the new backseat. Deal with it. Part of becoming a healthy adult is making some mistakes when you’re young. Maybe if we weren’t such hypocritical assholes about sexual health, if we actually trusted women (and lets face it, most of this hysteria is to protect GIRLS … no one is really all that worried about boys) to make their own decisions, own their choices about their bodies, children would make better choices themselves. After all, it is the kids who’re most swaddled in ignorance who’re most likely to make the worst choices. Trying to bank that fire is very likely to end up getting your kid burned.
So please, enough hysteria about MySpace and the rest of them. Oh, and no more breathless fearmongering stories about missing, violated and pretty white women. Enough with the fear and loathing over our animal natures, because it is by integrating them with the rest of our natures that we can hope to find happy, full lives.
Grow the hell up.
