Nexxxt

So, I was sitting here, flipping through my usual page of headlines over at Fark, reading this article about, well, being provacative vs. being empowered, and thinking about an e-mail a friend sent me earlier, on top of some spiritual questions that have been popping up for me recently. The e-mail was just one of those chain forwards that goes around and around and around, assuring it's own survival by demanding the reader pass it on to so-many friends, you know the sort. I read them anyway, if I have time, because every once in a while they have a decent message. This one did. It was the story, I'm sure you've heard it, about some mouthy teenager going off on an elderly gentleman about why his generation will never be able to understand the up-and-coming one. 'We've been raised with cell phones, computers, people walking on the moon, neurophysics.." Blah, blah, blah, the kid goes on about all the great things he grew up with that this old-timer wouldn't know much of. After he pipes down some, the gentleman looks up at him and says, "Son, it was MY GENERATION who invented those things so YOURS could grow up with them! Now, what is it you're doing for the generation after yours?"
Needless to say, it makes a good point. When I joined the Army, I was filled with girl-power and pride in my country and myself. Surely, I thought, I am helping to pave the way. Sitting here, at 1:30 in the morning in my ACU uniform and suede boots, behind my big Army Clinic desk, I question that. What is it, exactly, that I'm doing for those girls I see come into the clinic? The young ones, with their mothers or fathers, or the teenage girls who come in looking a little sheepish as they sneak condoms out of the bowl on the desk and scamper out, or the ones I see playing basketball in the gym? What am I doing for these girls, or their male counterparts, or anyone who is not already at the same place in their life as I am? I suppose my interest has been renewed at my finding The Baha'i Faith, which is a complex, but incredibly peaceful and accepting religion, not to mention the fastest-growing on the planet earth. A large focus for the Baha'i is doing good for others, especially those of future generations. Humanity is finally maturing, we know, so it is time to take a different approach, and to help the world bloom into what we know it can be. Each religion has been a different stage of our race's (the human race, that is) maturity, and it's time to own up for the world around us, and take care of one another. While this has never been something I didn't believe, it is a great source of strength for me to find people who feel as I do. Not to say I haven't met individuals, along the way, but never such a community as this.
I wonder, when I look around at the attitudes of women and girls younger than myself, to what degree have I effected these attitudes? I see such a huge amount of disrespect among these people- for themselves, others, their seniors, their juniors... And it seems so endless. My generation has been so notoriously selfish, and I can't help but wonder if that self-focus will ever be turned... I want so much to see that attention that is so painstakingly applied to oneself be held up against what these people see others go through... Being stationed in Korea has given me some small idea of how big- and how small- the world really is. I lived in ten states in the good ol' U.S. of A, but no matter how far into the ghetto you go, there's just some things you will never understand about the rest of the world. Not everyone sees things like we do, even the ones with comparable lifestyles. The differences go much deeper than Democrat VS Republican, or Crip VS Blood, even. There's so much in this world to learn, so much to know, so much to teach. There is so much each of us can do just to make this world even a little bit better for somebody. In an age where the basic courtesies of saying hello to someone when you begin speaking to them, or referring to your seniors as ma'am or sir are completely blown off, how can we be so astonished that there are children exploiting each other sexually, and little girls wanting to show off their quickly-maturing parts? How can the big things continue to amaze us as they occur, even as we totally dismiss the very basic parts of every day respect and courtesy? Without a foundation, everything is bound to crumble.
I'm not one who touts religion as being an absolute neccesity. I have been bound to my own faith, before I knew that what I believed had a name. I know full well morals, respect and caring are not limited to those who claim a religious strain as their own. What I don't understand is why we are letting these things slip away so quickly, and why no one seems to be doing anything about it.

Sex And Fear

Here's one that hit close to home for me, in an odd way. This teenage boy was pretending to be a fellow student, a female one, to get naked photos or videos of male classmates, in order to blackmail them to have sex with him, which he also photographed and video-taped. You can put any label you want on this, that is rape. I am not one to use that word for much- if you drink and sleep with someone, they didn't rape you, you got drunk and stupid and slept with someone you shouldn't have. I'm not much for the pity party on young adults behaving irresponsibly and calling it rape to cover their asses. At the same time, I'm not one to say that is all it ever is. There's a very fine line. Here's a little tidbit only a few know: I lost my virginity to a rape at age 14, and it was someone I knew.
I know parents for generations have been having the "bathing suit areas" discussion with even the youngest of children, but touching is no longer covering it. Hell, SEX isn't even covering it anymore. We need to be telling our children that, no matter what, they will be okay and we will still love them. We need to realize that these kids aren't staying kids anymore, they are trying to come out of the womb adults, and there's just not much parents and adults can do to stop that. What with the nanny state being what it is, spanking your 4 year old causes terror in the minds of many adults. While I don't claim to be entirely in aggreeance with that mindset, it is something the adults of today need to come to terms with, in some ways. This isn't the world we grew up in. You can't lock your child in their room forever. Hell, grounding your child may not work these days.
The parents are not always to blame. These boys were frightened that there would be some sort of negative reprecussions- obviously afraid of huge reprecussions to let it get this far- and were too afraid to stop it. Girls are not the only ones vulnerable, and the parents don't always have the ability to find out. Your child doesn't have to spend the night at someone's house to have sex, or do drugs. All they have to do is step out of the house. We can't stop the future generations from growing up too fast, but that doesn't mean we can't stop them from fearing how they will be treated if things like this get out. It is against all parents' instincts, but the only solution is to start seeing them as what they are- little adults. You know your child. If you're one of those parents that tells everyone else how smart your kid is, how fast they learn, then you know that you need to be teaching them ahead of the curve. Tell them they can say no, tell them to protect their bodies, no matter what they have said or done before, tell them that saying no is okay. Don't let them question who's in control of their own bodies, because even you, as a parent, ultimatley don't have as much say over their bodies as they do.
Perhaps this was more rant than article, but it needed to be said.

Trashy (Electronic) Romance Novels

Stumbled across this little thought over on Fark. I've been looking at the Kindle, lately. For those of you out of the technological loop, the Kindle- which just produced it's second generation- is an electronic book... You can download e-books off a number of websites, nearly every bookstore that has a website seems to be getting a peice of this action, and just hook up your kindle, and away you go. No cover art, no nosy people, no boxes of books to dispose of, for those of us who are avid readers. It's a great idea, in all honesty.
The interesting part of it is that, for those that enjoy a little descriptive narration in our literature, it's that much easier to read our- I mean, their- trashy romance novels without being questioned!
Even aside from the beautiful no-questions-asked part, it's really a pretty cool idea. I know, especially being stationed in South Korea, I get frustrated trying to wait patiently for my books to arrive in the mail, and then have a hell of a time trying to figure out what I'm going to do with them once I've read them. There don't seem to be a whole lot of folks who read much here, so even passing them along is unlikely. Not bad...

'Balls Deep' Has Taken On A Whole New Meaning

Mr. Wen Hsueh, a 28 year old Chinese man, has more balls than you. Want proof?
This gentleman was sitting in a teahouse in China, with a number of other people, including a ten year old girl when a bomb was thrown into the teahouse. It exploded, and sent ball bearings flying. Mr. Wen, H. (I'm under the impression that Wen is his family name.) ended up with what is described as being dozens of these in his buttocks- a condition so painful he passed out almost immediatley, it seems- which will take a minimum of two surgeries to remove.
Am I allowed to show this to the next jerk who comes in here with some paper-cut-like injury whining and complaining at the top of his lungs?