Sexing Up The Dossers

A conversation over lunch introduces me to the concept of "Sex hair", which my wife tells me is also called "Bed hair". This is a popular barnet treatment, whereby the young lady of the day spends three hours trying to get her hair to look like it might if she just spent 15 minutes in the sack with some sexy hunk (although, hunk is not the mot juste - that was a word used when I was a teen).
It raises the question of what sexual liberation has done. What has it done to the younger generation?
My thinking is that sexual liberation, of itself, has done nothing to the younger generation. What we often blame liberation for is actually the meeting place of two issues - "Irony" as the humorous genre of the day and the marketing of sex to younger individuals.
The latter first, because I'm a fuddy duddy, and like to do things backwards (oooh, reverend!). Sex is no longer just liberated as an idea (or, indeed act). It's now actively marketed towards young people. If she wanted, Emily - my five year old daughter - could have Playboy bunny dolls (not dolls of Playboy bunnies, but Bunny toys, in fluffy pink, with the deliriously fashionable logo. Of course, it's probably just a matter of time before I could buy Playboy bunny dolls...). Luckily, Emily doesn't know what she wants. But apparently, four year olds now want thongs (http://www.independent.ie/national-news/warning-against-sexy-childrens-clothes-1265024.html).
Sex is now being marketed toward children. Playboy do a range of pencil cases. Some 'musical act' (marketed with 'Pester Power') sing a song with the lyrics "I'm just a love machine/feeding my fantasy/Give me a kiss or three!" Nine year olds are wearing tops with Vs to get them comfortable with showing off their cleavage when they're older. And belly tops, so they learn to understand the allure of a sexy stomach. Much of this is excess, as they've been learning from the age of four that making sure you can get laid is of the utmost importance.
You can blame anything. You can blame everything. Sex is being beamed directly to our children's minds: Bratz dolls, Teen mags, soap operas, ads, ads, ads... if you're not doing it, you aren't doing anything is the message. But of course, I should lighten up. No one wants to see our seven-year olds in flagrante delicto. All of this, it's ironic, isn't it? It's funny because we don't mean it.
But do the kids know that?
The second problem, after the marketing of sex to children, is that of irony. Irony requires some level of sophistication to interpret. Toward adults, irony can split your sides, and leave you ROFL. Towards children, the best of irony may well be considered the 'truth' - the way it is, or the way people think it should be. Because irony - at its best - is subtle. However, children are not ready to understand the subtleties of irony because they don't have the experience or the education to see the point of it. So when you think "Won't it be funny to see Stacey-Jane in a thong" or "Why don't we put Britney-Christina in a basque for the birthday party?" They don't see the irony. They think: It's good to be sexy. Important. Vital. And if they figure out irony, they may well think "Oh, my parents don't want me to have sex. But if I do that guy, it'd be really ironic, because it's what they don't want me to do - and they always get a kick out of hearing about things they think shouldn't happen."
It all ends up with these kids getting promiscuous, getting pregnant or getting some STD. Or, it just ends up with these kids completely messed up in the head because they feel they don't want to have sex, but they should be. Kids are idiots. They are not fully-formed people, much as others would like to think they are. They need guidance and discipline. Of course, I may well just be being ironic...