I heart Youth Radio

Just thinking today about how awesome Youth Radio is. Thanks to them, this morning on my drive to the day job, I heard some young people's reactions to the CDC study that everyone has been so shocked about the last few days.

The study claims that 1 in 4 teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease and that the rate is close to 50% among African American young women.

My first thought: Maybe people will finally wake up and realize abstinence only programs aren't working! Maybe this will encourage more honest sex education. Maybe our country will invest in tons of prevention services and will make sure everyone has access. Maybe young people will be showered with knowledge, condoms, and everything else they need for safer sex.

My second (more realistic?) thought: Uh oh we're about to get bombarded with headlines shaming girls and calling them sluts.

My third thought: I assume all these girls aren't sleeping with each other so aren't they getting the STDs from guys? So what about them? We definitely don't need any more "CDC Shocker" scare tactic headlines about guys either, but why is all the attention and burden on the girls?

"Pregnant" Boys

What do you think about these new ads about teen pregnancy put out by One Milwaukee? Seeing an image of a teenage boy who appears to be pregnant is definitely attention getting, but I don't know if it does much more than that. And I personally wouldn't use the word "disturbing" to describe teen pregnancy.

Stacey over at Shameless has a good point: "I don’t like perpetuating this idea that if boys got pregnant, then socially we’d suddenly care about the issue."

What do you think about these ads?

“Chaste but Chic?” Gimme a break.

Have you been hearing about this so-called “modesty movement?” Of course I’m all for providing alternatives to Bratz style clothes (have you seen the latest Sticker Sisters t-shirts?), but this “modesty movement” makes me gag.

They’re trying to push a "chaste but chic" dress code on girls. Not surprising that this movement is connected to faith-based organizations and abstinence only advocates. But perhaps the scariest part is that the mother of the modesty movement, Wendy Shalit, is still trying to blame sexual harassment and rape on women’s "lack of modesty." And here I thought we were past that ridiculous idea that a women is "asking for it" if she wears a short skirt. Ugh.

Ann Ream (founder of Voices and Faces Project) says it well in the LA Times:

"Scratch the surface [of the modesty movement], and what's supposed to be good for girls reveals itself to be all about the boys: dressing in a way that doesn't over-excite them, demurring so that their manhood remains intact and holding tight to our sexuality until we find a husband who is worthy of that ultimate 'prize.'"

More
LA Times: "The false modesty movement"
Talk of the Nation: "Modern Girls and the Modesty Movement"