Comments on: Sex in America http://nslog.com/2003/01/18/sex_in_america The Weblog of Erik J. Barzeski Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:39:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: David A Gregory http://nslog.com/2003/01/18/sex_in_america#comment-223 David A Gregory Mon, 11 Apr 2005 05:37:25 +0000 http://nslog.com/2003/01/18/sex_in_america/#comment-223 The thing about our (US) culture is that we like to behave publicly and maybe think about ourselves in a much more conservative way than the average joe/jane actually lives. For example, a recent survey of evangelical christian youth (kids raised in and active in the evangelical churches) is causing quite a stir in the very conservative evangelical movement. They found that the youth answered with the party line (no sex, no to abortion, etc) when surveyed about beliefs but very different when asked about their personal behavior. Otherwise, they 'bought in' to the teachings but did not conduct their personal life any different than the kids of the society at large. They said one behavior set was correct, but admitted privately to very different behavior. I think that that is the US in a nutshell these days. The thing about our (US) culture is that we like to behave publicly and maybe think about ourselves in a much more conservative way than the average joe/jane actually lives. For example, a recent survey of evangelical christian youth (kids raised in and active in the evangelical churches) is causing quite a stir in the very conservative evangelical movement.

They found that the youth answered with the party line (no sex, no to abortion, etc) when surveyed about beliefs but very different when asked about their personal behavior. Otherwise, they 'bought in' to the teachings but did not conduct their personal life any different than the kids of the society at large. They said one behavior set was correct, but admitted privately to very different behavior. I think that that is the US in a nutshell these days.

]]> By: petrilli http://nslog.com/2003/01/18/sex_in_america#comment-222 petrilli Wed, 22 Jan 2003 18:45:25 +0000 http://nslog.com/2003/01/18/sex_in_america/#comment-222 There is a bizarreness to the sexuality of America. Men are taught that having lots of sex-partners is being a "stud," where-as women are conditioned to see that as being a "slut," which is "obviously very bad." The truth is that honesty with each is more important than the serial number assigned to them. If we were more honest about sex and sexuality, I think we'd see fewer problems, especially rape, in this country. As for the comment about "What [man|woman] would you sleep with if you had a chance?" I played a bizarre game at a party where everyone had to tell one of each they would pick, regardless of their "normal desires." It was amazing that myself and my friends had no problems coming up with one of each (and sometimes had a hard time picking just one), but some others who were not inside this group had the standard "oh my god, I'd never have sex with a ..." reaction. Which of course is BS, since we all have thought about it. Oh well, too much personal information, methinks. There is a bizarreness to the sexuality of America. Men are taught that having lots of sex-partners is being a "stud," where-as women are conditioned to see that as being a "slut," which is "obviously very bad." The truth is that honesty with each is more important than the serial number assigned to them. If we were more honest about sex and sexuality, I think we'd see fewer problems, especially rape, in this country.

As for the comment about "What [man|woman] would you sleep with if you had a chance?" I played a bizarre game at a party where everyone had to tell one of each they would pick, regardless of their "normal desires." It was amazing that myself and my friends had no problems coming up with one of each (and sometimes had a hard time picking just one), but some others who were not inside this group had the standard "oh my god, I'd never have sex with a ..." reaction. Which of course is BS, since we all have thought about it.

Oh well, too much personal information, methinks.

]]>