“In my parents’ day and age, (unmarried teen parents) were sent away, they were shunned, they were called what they are. There was at least a sense of shame.

“There’s no sense of shame today,” Liston continued, according to the The Gazette of Colorado Springs. “Society condones it. … I think it’s wrong. They’re sluts. And I don’t mean just the women. I mean the men, too.”

If it’s used as a generic expletive well then the person who does lacks a little creativity.

But as a frank description? Sorry, if the shoe fits…

It’s like I told a previous boyfriend – once you utter the “dirty” word, be it “asshole” or, you know, “slut,” the parties being addressed have shut down.

Think of it. If someone came up to you and said,

“Look, bitch — ”

Everything after that dash is nearly lost in the noise going on in your head because, MY GOD DID YOU HEAR THAT? S/HE CALLED ME A BITCH!

This is how I also explain to my children that “dirty” words are most inappropriate conversational language. Sure, nothing can replace a good “DAMNIT!” here and there, but in conversation, it tends to dominate the message.

Sorry for posting a comment on a long-ago post, but language always interests me. )

At the same time, I’ve noticed something lately…and I’m not saying this about anyone here, it’s just a general comment… Most of the people who have been complaining about the adolescent nature of 20-somethings and the protectionist nature of our society also complain about the high rates of teen pregnancy and insist on calling teens “kids.”

Teen pregnancy rates are at the lowest they’ve been in decades. This is due to better education and better access to preventative measures and prophylactics (rather than emergency 72hr or 90d treatments). At the same time, teens are accomplishing more than they ever have before, entirely on their own. All one has to do is look at a recent trend towards articles in finance magazines which discuss the top 10 millionaires under the age of 30. Most of those millionaires started when they were 16, 17, 18, or even younger.

This is not to say that all parents should let all teens do whatever the heck they want, and it is, in the end, up to the parents to decide what is best for their son or daughter, but to say that all teens are still just kids and need to be protected is a bit heavy-handed.

On a different note, while I’m not going to say at what age I started having sex, because that’s my business, I do wish I had started earlier. I feel like I missed out on an important lesson on the topic of appreciating one’s body, and my issues could have been nipped in the bud much earlier if I had learned to be comfortable being naked with another person.

Kat’s last blog post..Game weekend

Several have said they wished that they hadn’t gotten pregnant or that their daughters hadn’t gotten pregnant so young, and no one will deny the beauty and value of a child, whether born to an old married woman or a young unmarried child.

And I don’t like name-calling, as I said earlier. But what about the disconnect between the reality of children having children and our inability to call it anything other than “bad timing” or “bad choices”? Should there be any shame? (I know, I know how hard their lives are and I don’t want to add to that. I’m questioning whether societal attitudes might reduce the number of too-young mothers?)

Anne’s last blog post..What Kind of Culture is Anti-Adult?

Jeff’s last blog post..If Album Covers Were Animated

You’re exactly right. I wasn’t sleeping with everyone under the sun. I had one partner and it turned out he was planning on getting me pregnant. I found out later that he got a friend pregnant about 5 months after I had my daughter. He’s a form of predator.

Chelle’s last blog post..Urgent! Family Needs Your Help!

I did use the system for my daughter and I but I never took advantage of it. I have told her over and over that even though I love her to the end of the universe and back it would have been much easier if I’d had her later in life.

I have explained to her that I want her to do good in school (which she does now), go to college, get a great job, find out where she wants to live and have a career before she even thinks about settling down. I think she’s finally figuring out that this is a good idea, to establish herself, find out who she is, and not turn out like my sister (4 kids, 4 different fathers). I stopped at one. If my honey and I get married someday (which I’ve explained I won’t have another unless I’m married) we may have a child.

Somebody being unwed and a teenager and pregnant doesn’t mean it was multiple partners that got them there.

And if you’re going to insist on using the term “children” to describe anyone under the age of, what, 20? God, the idea of calling a CHILD something as harsh as a SLUT seems… well, venomous, I guess.

Miss Britt’s last blog post..And now for a fluff piece on Abortion

Sex as a teenager was slutty behavior, period. Especially when all your friends (male and female) know that you “put out” almost before you did…

Even though it was because I wanted to be “loved”…

kimsch’s last blog post..3,2,1 Blastoff!