Here's the lead of a story in the Toronto Star about the kids today:
Middle-class Canadian girls are giving oral sex after school to pay for sweaters and handbags.
Well, that got my attention, how about you?
According to filmmaker (and former Toronto Star columnist) Sharlene Azam, oral sex has become so normalized among teens that, for some in her film Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss, it's being used as a barter tool.
So how has prositution developed in middle-class schools? Azam calls those teens who recruit fellow teens into prostitution "a new kind of predator."
Girls she spoke with for the film would speak casually about blowing five guys in one night.
"The reason they speak about it unflinchingly is because it has become as benign and as acceptable as kissing. This is what our culture has become. Think back to the '80s when girls would blush when talking about their first kiss. We are way past that point with blowjobs. The real question is, 'What's next?'"
Heather, 16, outright states she associates pleasuring the boys with power. Which begs the question, has feminism failed the girls?
"We failed our girls. What's happened to our girls? We have let Girls Gone Wild and the media culture define them."
Commenters on the interview with Azam are divided about whether parenting has failed, or this is nothing new and Azam is making a mountain out of a couple of run-of-the-mill high-school sluts. What do you think?
Related:
Polish Teens Work Hard for the Money