Posted on 01/13/2009 6:28:35 AM PST by Graybeard58
To the cheers of social scientists, Britain has been named the most promiscuous major industrial nation based on the "international sociosexuality index," which measures attitudes toward one-night stands, casual sex and numbers of partners. (The United States finished sixth.)
Researchers say Britain's ranking is empowering for women because it means they now are as able as men to engage in no-strings sex. "Historically we have repressed women's short-term mating and there are all sorts of double standards out there where men's short-term mating was sort of acceptable but women's wasn't," said lead researcher David Schmitt, a psychology professor at Bradley University in Illinois. They attributed Britain's ranking to the decline of religious scruples, the highly sexualized culture and other factors. All good things, apparently.
Missing from the study and the fawning news coverage were the collateral-damage data:
The Health Protection Agency says sexually transmitted diseases in Britain have never been higher. STDs in 2006, the last year full data were available, were up 6 percent over 2005; of the 380,000 new cases, 200,000 occurred among 16- to 24-year-olds.
Britain is fast becoming the abortion capital of the world. Government statistics show abortions in 2007 increased by 2.5 percent; the number performed on girls under 16 jumped 10 percent. Its abortion rate is No. 1 in Europe and No. 3 in the world, behind only the United States and Australia, where rates have been falling steadily for years.
The teen-pregnancy rate is soaring and is the second highest in the world behind the United States, a UNICEF study found. The spike is occurring even though the government has spent more than $100 million in the last three years to cut the rate in half by 2010.
The most recent report on social trends by the Office for National Statistics found a record 1 in 4 children in Britain live in households headed by a single parents — overwhelmingly single mothers. That's three times the proportion of 1972, while the rate of two-parent families has fallen from 52 percent to 37 percent, a new low. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says Britain's welfare system is second only to Ireland's in making it more lucrative for single mothers to stay on the government dole. And predictably, single mothers and their children continue to suffer from some of the worst social and cultural pathologies.
How exactly is any of this empowering for women?
An abstraction used to make a point you're not grasping. Marriage restricts more bad than good and liberates more good than bad. Feminists want one side of the equation but not the other. They don't get the irony that by pushing their agenda in the short run, they kill it in the long run.
Right you are. That very natural male feeling of “loose women are OK by me” lasts as long as emotional early adolescence does; for some, of course, a lifetime. But it’s usually superseded by the perspective of being a good brother, a good neighbor, a good father, or a good lover.
It still take two people to 'mate'.
bttt
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Yes, the traditional view of marriage was there to put restrictions on men’s actions. It said that in order to participate in a sexual relationship; a man had to grow up and take on the adult responsibilities of caring for a wife and a family. Today, men are told to remain at the adolescent stage for years or even decades, yet still having access to sex. It provides the instant gratification, but only by on the whole stagnating male maturity.
When there were fewer men, after the war, they took advantage of the changed sexual attitudes of the women, and got this whole thing rolling. Out of wedlock childbirth started increasing, without any seeming negative repercussions, and a generation or two of that would do the trick.
We've seen this same thing happen in our own country, with the advent of welfare to unmarried women with children.
As a man, if find that (common) attitude disgusting.
Africa and Latin America have lower teenage pregnancy rates than USA? As said, I’m skeptical.
According to Wiki, the highest teen pregnancy rates are in Niger, where 53% of women have given birth before the age of 18.
The US teen pregnancy rate, which includes the ages of 19 and 19, is 8.6%. Slightly lower than Niger’s. But we do lead the world among “advanced” countries. USA, USA ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy
The whole point of feminists pushing easy sexuality for women is that they want God OUT of the picture. To hardcore feminists, God is a negative, because belief in Him causes people to rein in their more base instincts, which to feminists is a BAD thing. God is patriarchal, thus 'man' centered, which is anathema to feminism. They want people to engage in whatever behavior makes them feel good, and to be able to do it without consequences. That's why they push abortion; it enables women to have all the sex they want, without the consequence of children.
I didn't know she started out on the Benny Hill show! When I looked at the picture, and before I read your comment, I was trying to place her, then, in my mind, I heard her voice, from the few times I've seen parts of the show, and realized who she was.
Benny Hill was ok, but we could only take it in small doses. A little TOO sophomoric for us.
Prescient, wasn’t it?
How many of those teen mothers in Niger are actually married? Very few of those in the US are.
Finally. Someone with a sense of humour.
Do you find sex disgusting?
First, what exactly is irrational about my attitude?
Second, what’s rationality have to do with it anyway?
Acording to Wiki, 87% of women in Niger are married by the age of 18. That's probably a higher percentage than ever get married here.
That certainly gives a different spin on 'teen pregnancy', which, to most Western readers, assumes 'unmarried'.
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