Sexuality Archives - Page 24 of 28 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

Girl Auctions Off Her Virginity

Posted on: 09/12/08 5:58 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Wow… this is sad on so many different levels. This is from my local news here in Sacramento, our CBS Channel 13:

A Sacramento State grad is trying to make money the old fashioned way, by auctioning off her virginity to help pay for her graduate studies. And so far, bidding is up to $250,000.

The 22-year-old who is using the pseudonym Natalie Dylan for safety reasons is going through a legal brothel in Nevada to sell her virginity. “The main purpose of this is to finance a couple things in my life,” Dylan told CBS13. “I think empowerment of women is picking yourself up and doing something on your own to better yourself.”

Better yourself? I guess she missed the point of the 1993 Robert Redford, Demi Moore film, Indecent Proposal.

Dylan says she’s already taken a polygraph test to prove her virginal status, and is also willing to undergo a medical exam.

The auction will take place at the Bunny Ranch in Carson City, Nevada with bids coming in through their website. Owner Dennis Hof tells CBS13 that eBay rejected the auction, so he’ll handle the entire process.

Here’s the kicker.

Hof says Dylan is a bright, beautiful young woman who’s going to consider a number of factors in her decision because she wants her first time to be a positive experience. “Natalie is a very smart girl. All she wants to do is get her master’s degree in family and marriage counseling and be a psychologist. She’s selling her virginity to accomplish that,” Hof told CBS13. “She’s smart enough to sell it. This is empowering her.”

Hmmmmmm. (click here for the entire article and the news video- the opinions people share in the video are intriguing!)

(thanks to Brandon for forwarding this)

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Post VMA Regrets?

Posted on: 09/11/08 9:08 AM | by Jonathan McKee

There’s a lot of hype this week following the “purity bashing” and “slut bashing” that went on at the MTV Video Music Awards this past Sunday night.

If you missed the craziness, David and I summed it all up in our Post VMA Thoughts article Monday.

Basically, the host of the show, British comic Russell Brand, bashed purity all night, using the Jonas Bros as the main target of his jests. Then Jordin Sparks snapped back with a few thoughts of her own, defending purity pledges and ending with, “Not every guy and girl wants to be a slut.”

Now we’ve seen a myriad of articles and blogs chiming in on the aftermath. OMG! Yahoo reports:

The Jonas Brothers have no beef with Russell Brand after he mocked their virginity on Sunday’s 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.

“For us it’s cool to see that he recognizes we are gentlemen,” Nick Jonas told BBC’s Radio 1.

Sparks says that she wishes she would have worded things differently, but doesn’t regret that she said something. Hollywood Insider gives the scoop:

Attending the show for the first time, the American Idol winner went off-script after being agitated by host Russell Brand’s repeated mocking of the Jonas Brothers’ promise rings. “It’s something I feel strongly about,” she tells EW.com. “I wish I would’ve worded it differently — that somebody who doesn’t wear a promise ring isn’t necessarily a slut — but I can’t take it back now. It was a split-second thing, and it came out kind of wrong. Still, I don’t regret it.”

I don’t regret that she said it either. Her comments can’t be torn out of context. She stood up after 90 minutes of crude jokes, sexual references and racy songs… her comments were the lone voice siding with purity (because no one else spoke up). Her message had to be that polarized to even break through the smoke. It didn’t insinuate that people who aren’t virgins are sluts at all. It communicated that those who were making it light that night probably were sluts.

It was a risky move for Sparks. It wasn’t a popular opinion to verbalize. It was the highlight of the show.

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MTV VMA’s Poke at Purity All Night

Posted on: 09/8/08 8:10 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Last week we prepped you for the MTV Video Music Awards show that aired last night, one of the most reflective and predictive youth culture barometers of the year. This year, British comic Russell Brand was the host… and I guess he was intimidated by the purity pledge of the Jonas Bros.

The Jonas Bros are not only the hottest thing to arrive to the tween world since Miley, they actually have a pretty clean slate. Last night Brand ridiculed the Jonas Brothers’ public stance on sexual purity. All three of these pastor’s kids wear a promise ring and have vowed to remain celibate until marriage.

In his opening remarks, the British funnyman pointed out to the audience,

“In case you are unaware, each of the Jonas Brothers does wear a tiny ring as a mark of their commitment to God. I’d take it a little bit more seriously if they wore it on their genitals. And also, it is a little bit ungrateful, cause they could literally have sex with any woman that they want…they’re just not gonna do it. That’s like Superman just deciding not to fly and to go everywhere on a bus. Bless em, though, them lads.”

The jesting went on throughout the evening, until American Idol icon Jordin Sparks hit the stage and had a chance to retort. All these details and more in this week’s Youth Culture Window article on our website.

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Predicting the Content of This Year’s VMAs

Posted on: 09/3/08 1:07 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Last year’s MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards) were one of the most sexually charged award shows I’ve seen (I talked about it here). This year, it will be interesting to see if they continue down that route. We’ll find out this Sunday night.

Why do I wonder if it will be different? Several reasons:

1. The emergence of Miley and the Jonas Bros.

The fact is… two of the most popular artists of today are pretty dang clean. Miley has had her scandals, but overall I think she brings a positive element to music. She is up for the best new artist category for her “7 Minutes” video.

The Jonas Bros are not only from a Christian family (more about them in our Youth Culture Window article here), but their music and videos have maintained a pretty clean slate. Their “Burnin Up” video is actually up for the coveted “Video of the Year” spot.

2. The recent Teen Choice Awards were as clean as I’ve seen them.

Every year we review three shows that we feel are the biggest youth culture barometers: The MTV Movie Awards, The Teen Choice Awards, and the MTV VMAs. And every year all three are depressing. But this year’s Teen Choice Awards was actually clean. It still featured shows kids shouldn’t watch and awarded celebs who are not positive role models… but the “show” was actually clean (my Youth Culture Window article on that show here). That’s the first time in a while. So it will be interesting to see where this year’s VMA’s fall.

But I’m probably pre-mature if I predict a clean show this year. After all, just a couple months ago we saw MTV’s Movie Awards and they were far from clean (you can read our Youth Culture Window article on that show here).

So what do you think? Do you think this year will go dirty as usual? Or might they clean up a bit? David provides the list of nominees and gives us his two cents in this week’s Youth Culture Window article.

One interesting note is the five finalists for video of the year. Of the top five videos, only two of them are really sexually charged. Here’s the list:

Chris Brown
“Forever”

Jonas Brothers
“Burnin Up”

Pussycat Dolls
“When I Grow Up”

Britney Spears
“Piece of Me”

The Ting Tings
“Shut Up and Let Me Go”

Can you guess which two are?

Now… one of the remaining three isn’t great. Typical R&B. Lyrics like “ecstasy, pleasure, all night” scattered throughout the song. A pretty clean video, not much more than dancing, kissing, embracing…

But then two of them are pretty fun.

You can take a peek for yourself here on MTV’s page.

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Reality Television at Blame

Posted on: 08/22/08 9:14 AM | by Jonathan McKee

There really isn’t all that much I can add to this Media Life Research article:

Reality television has already been blamed for many societal ills, from the dumbing-down of television to the rise of the faux celebrity culture (think “Surreal World” contestants). Is it also responsible for promoting promiscuity?

Yes, says a new study from the State University of New York at Buffalo, at least when it comes to online social networks. The study blames heavy reality TV consumption for the proliferation of “promiscuous friending,” or being more likely to engage in friendships with people with whom you have no off-line relationship. Heavy reality TV viewers have larger social networks than average and share more photos online. What’s more, heavy reality TV viewers may adapt personality traits associated with celebrities, such as sharing personal information with all those online friends. The researchers say reality TV even may be to blame for the erosion of the distinction between the everyday world and the celebrity world. (click here for the entire article)

It’s always fun when I see research confirm my own observations.

(shout out to Anastasia at YPulse for the link)

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Disney Panties Pulled From Shelves

Posted on: 08/18/08 9:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

And to think, I was surprised when I saw junior high girls walking around the mall with the word “juicy” imprinted across their butt.

Disney just came out with a new line of High School Musical panties for kids (as in, 7-years-old)… with the words “Dive In” on the front of them. The funny thing is, apparently, (according to this NYMag Fashion article) the way it was packaged, you don’t see the words until you open up the package… or until your 8 year old walks into the room wearing a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt and her new undies bearing the message “Dive In.”

Anyway… Disney issued a statement:

“Unfortunately, an oversight was made and the text on the underwear was used out context.” (Reuters, 8/16/08)

Yeah… right! Maybe they need to have my high school son and his friends on their committee. I can’t even say the word “balls” at soccer practice without getting a chuckle. Who the heck is missing the connotations of the words “dive in” on the front of a pair of panties? Perhaps they need to hire the 5th grade boy wearing the South Park shirt that lives down the street from me to start screening this stuff.

Ironic: Disney is apologizing for these suggestive panties… but aren’t they just following suit from other designers out there (like Beyonce’- I blogged about that before)? I seem to not be alone in that opinion.

Hmmmmmmm.

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Rihanna Knocks Katy Perry Outta #1

Posted on: 08/14/08 10:54 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Katy Perry (I Kissed a Girl) has been riding the #1 spot on the Billboard charts for 7 weeks now, but this week Rihanna’s Disturbia bumped her down.

Months ago I blogged about Perry’s song, I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It, a blog that has attracted over 10,000 web views and hundreds of heated comments (some of which I didn’t even bother posting). I have been frustrated with the song because of its “do what feels right at the moment” message that kids love hearing.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that its replacement is anything of redeeming value.

Rihanna is definitely one to watch (I often recommend that parents and youth workers keep their eyes on certain artists, because their kids are), with two hits in Billboards top 10 right now, and rapidly becoming one of the most popular female artists:

Rihanna’s “Disturbia” puts an end to the seven-week run at No. 1 by Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” on the Billboard Hot 100, rising 3-1 after selling 148,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s Rihanna’s fourth chart-topper here, tying her with Beyonce and Mariah Carey for the most by a female artist this decade. (Billboard)

Most of us know Rihanna from her song Umbrella… eh, eh, eh… but she is proving to be far more than a one hit wonder.

Her song Disturbia is interesting. The lyrics are very vague. The video is typical of Rihanna’s videos– highly sexualized. But this one has a dark edge.

It’s no surprise that Rihanna is popular. She’s pretty, she’s got talent, she’s partnered with some of the best (Jay Z, Chris Brown) and she’s usually provocative. It sells!

Hmmmmmmm.

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30 Day Sex Challenge

Posted on: 08/12/08 10:07 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Okay… this got my attention, a sermon series titled “The 30 Day Sex Challenge.” RelevantChurch.com, a Tampa area church, has the reputation of being… well… relevant. In this recent sermon series they gave a challenge: Married couples commit to having sex for 30 days, singles commit to abstinence for 30 days.

Pretty cool.

I called David Smith (David is our THE SOURCE speaker and writer who edits our games and event ideas, manages content, and authors the Youth Culture Window article most weeks) yesterday (he’s from Tampa) and asked him if he had heard of the church and the challenge. His response: “Yeah, I meant to bring my wife there that month!” 🙂

David emailed me a little more about this church. I thought you all would find it interesting:

“Relevant Church meets in The Italian Club in Ybor City (pronounced Eebor). Pastor Paul Wirth and a small staff lead the church of about 200 people, comprised mostly of 18-30 year olds. The very name of their church describes the way they operate, with relevance. They use rock music during times of worship, rely on a heavy use of videos in service, and place an emphasis on preaching towards needs. It truly is a place “Where Culture Meets Christ.”

They have all but mastered publicity. With most of their sermon series, they typically launch a new website. (Check out www.showyourmarks.com, their MySpace profile, or their Facebook page.) Almost every student at USF has seen their cool and catchy signs posted around campus. Their latest “sermon series” involved the whole church going to the movie theater together each Friday night to watch a film…so they could discuss its possible relevance to their faith lives on Sunday morning. (They watched The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, X-Files, Hancock, Wall*E, Kung Fu Panda, and The Dark Knight.)

Though they have two services meeting each Sunday, they are not afraid to mix things up on the weekends. Within the last month, they took advantage of the summer season, and moved their entire worship service over to the beach. There they taught on baptism and joined 15 people to the church through baptism.

Without a doubt, the church is most famous (or infamous) for their sermon series “The 30 Day Sex Challenge.” It received ample coverage by the local newspapers, radio stations, and TV news teams. Even though their book by the same title has yet to come out, a majority of people (and churches) in the Tampa Bay area have forged an opinion on Relevant Church and its message.”

Hmmmmmm.

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Expressos Gone Wild

Posted on: 08/6/08 2:27 PM | by Jonathan McKee

This CNN report is sad and hilarious at the same time. I never would have even fathomed this: half naked ladies serving expressos.

The funny thing was the different responses that people from the town (Belfair, WA) had.

“I feel that we are looking at essentially a drive through strip joint. Not appropriate!”

“This is all a bunch of overreaction.”

Click here for the CNN video (it’s clean).

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Good for Miley

Posted on: 08/5/08 9:15 AM | by Jonathan McKee

When Miley’s in the headlines… I’m always a little worried. Miley is a good clean girl, but she’s a teenager who’s grown up in the spotlight. That’s a tough gig. And she’s made her fair share of mistakes. Haven’t we all?

I’ve blogged about Miley’s ups and downs before, but today I’m compelled to share, Miley made me proud twice yesterday.

1. Miley didn’t fall into the trap of controversy by kissing the girl…

Miley might have had the opportunity to join the legacy of Madonna and Brittany on stage last night with Katy Perry. Media Life Magazine provides the details in their article about all the buzz:

Between that infamous Vanity Fair photo shoot and the suggestive pictures that have been floating around the internet, Miley Cyrus apparently feels she’s done enough to sex up her image this year.

The 15-year-old pop star, who hosts Fox’s “Teen Choice Awards” tonight at 8 p.m., turned down an offer from “I Kissed a Girl” singer Katy Perry to recreate the infamous Britney Spears-Madonna liplock from the “MTV Video Awards” a few years back.

Whew! We’ve had enough of Katy’s influence this year.

2. Miley brought good clean fun to last night’s Teen Choice Awards.

The Teen Choice Awards is not always an easy pill for parents to swallow ( a show that twice over the years has topped the Parents Television Council’s “Worst Family TV Show of the Week”). Last night, Miley was a breath of fresh air on the show.

Today I’ll provide all the details in my annual review of last night’s show in our Youth Culture Window article (posted tonight). But it was nice to have a host that not only avoided risque humor (like past hosts), but when winning her own award, gave a huge thanks to “the most important man in my life, who I love so so much, and thats Big Jesus Christ up there (pointing up).”

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