Here’s an article from Campus Ministry Update June 2007 published by Ivy Jungle:

“Porn Driven, Look-at-Me” Culture: The evidence of the mainstreaming of pornography is not hard to find in our culture today – from the provocative videos on YouTube to Myspace pages for adult film stars. Some researchers and observers continue to express concern over the impact on young people – particularly girls. “Sexiness” has become very important to girls, with an increasing push into raunchiness. High school counselors find themselves consoling teenage girls who have undressed and more in front of web cams. Employers are increasingly implementing dress codes. The American Psychological Association recently published a paper on the sexualization of girls. One great concern is that while boys tend to use pornography and other aspects of sex for their own pleasure; most girls who exhibit provocative behavior are doing so for the pleasure of someone else – often someone they don’t know well (or perhaps not at all thanks to the internet). Some women claim they have more power with their sexuality, but many researchers are seeing a very negative impact – especially among teenage girls. (AP June 4, 2007)

Here’s a semi-related photo I received via email some time ago:

© 2007 – 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

I found an interesting article in the Ivy Jungle Campus Ministry Update. They quote from an AP article of February 27, 2007:

All that positive self esteem teaching has sunk in among today’s college students. A study by a group of psychologists shows that college students today exhibit a higher level of narcissism and self-centeredness than those who have gone before them. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory has now been used by this group of researchers for more than 25 years. While the current students have a much higher self esteem, they also show tendencies to have romantic relationships that are “short lived, at risk for infidelity, and lack emotional warmth”, one of several indicators exhibited that show a high degree of narcissism. Lead researcher Jean Twenge has published her findings in “Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable Than Ever.” She has also stated that today’s technology – such as MySpace and YouTube only fuel this unhealthy narcissism.

Poor kids. Explains a lot.

© 2007 – 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.