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This article was linked to recently on Penelope Trunk's blog. For those that are familiar with her then this kind of article shouldn't be much of a surprise. I

by Ennis 17y ago

This article was linked to recently on Penelope Trunk's blog. For those that are familiar with her then this kind of article shouldn't be much of a surprise. I'm posting this because it's an extremely well written article with intelligent social commentary. Very thorough and articulate reasoning. If you are going to comment please do so on the social nature and implications - ignore silly comments.

frossie 17y ago
I am sorry to say Caitlin Flanagan is one of the the reasons I dropped my subscription to the Atlantic. I find her views are so coloured through her own experiences and opinions (with which I invariably disagree) that they completely distort any chance of objectivity in her writings. So I guess we differ about the intelligent social commentary part - it's opinionated, but I never get the feeling it moves the debate forward. As to the subject matter: personally, I think stuff like this is just a symptom (not a cause) of the fact that in large sections of society we are no closer to gender equality than we were half a century ago. The damage has been done long before girls become old enough to engage in sexual behaviour, and focussing on sexual behaviour is a red herring, though it can make for dramatic reading and heated conversations.
- Ennis 17y ago
  I also disagree with most of her arguments. That's not to say she's wrong though. I wouldn't have expected the Atlantic to be objective in any case. It's a bunch of editorials and letters wrapped up in glossy paper. I disagree with you about the gender gap. I guess she also made that point among others. I don't think there is a gender gap, at least not significant. The most important point that she makes is about society turning individualistic and away from communal activity - which is true. She is just exploring another effect of this happening. Putting in tech terms, I find it hard to see every member of a family in the 1950's to carry cell phones - if cellphones existed back then. There would likely be one cellphone that the family shares - kids take it when they go out... Technology is definitely accelerating the move to more individualism. Not sure how far it will go though. Will each member of a family have a separate mailing address and mailbox even though they live in the same house? There used to be 1 television in the house and now that the cost is much lower there is one in every room..

by Ennis 17y ago

frossie 17y ago

I am sorry to say Caitlin Flanagan is one of the the reasons I dropped my subscription to the Atlantic. I find her views are so coloured through her own experiences and opinions (with which I invariably disagree) that they completely distort any chance of objectivity in her writings. So I guess we differ about the intelligent social commentary part - it's opinionated, but I never get the feeling it moves the debate forward. As to the subject matter: personally, I think stuff like this is just a symptom (not a cause) of the fact that in large sections of society we are no closer to gender equality than we were half a century ago. The damage has been done long before girls become old enough to engage in sexual behaviour, and focussing on sexual behaviour is a red herring, though it can make for dramatic reading and heated conversations.

Ennis 17y ago
I also disagree with most of her arguments. That's not to say she's wrong though. I wouldn't have expected the Atlantic to be objective in any case. It's a bunch of editorials and letters wrapped up in glossy paper. I disagree with you about the gender gap. I guess she also made that point among others. I don't think there is a gender gap, at least not significant. The most important point that she makes is about society turning individualistic and away from communal activity - which is true. She is just exploring another effect of this happening. Putting in tech terms, I find it hard to see every member of a family in the 1950's to carry cell phones - if cellphones existed back then. There would likely be one cellphone that the family shares - kids take it when they go out... Technology is definitely accelerating the move to more individualism. Not sure how far it will go though. Will each member of a family have a separate mailing address and mailbox even though they live in the same house? There used to be 1 television in the house and now that the cost is much lower there is one in every room..