We Don't Mean to be Prude

I think that is the problem these days.  No one means to be prude.

We place this phrase in front of things we say as a blast shield to protect ourselves from heavy rebuttals from people whom we are calling out for doing inappropriate things.  We do this, rather than truly believing it and, in the following case, coming to the defense of those that are exploited.

I just saw an article about how 17-year-old Dakota Fanning was put on the February cover of Cosmopolitan.  It has naturally already been the source of much debate between conservative groups, news sources, and liberal entertainment outfits.

New York Magazine writes, "We don't mean to be prude, but isn't she like, 17?"

I don't get why they don't mean to be prude.  If you were really concerned that an underage girl was put on the cover of a sex-focused magazine, you would just call them out.

But this way, you coin a cliched phrase, appear to be the good guy who gave one of your contemporaries a quick, just-for-thought jab, and move on.  But all you are really saying is, "in our hearts we may really believe this is wrong, but we don't want to seem uncool!"

They went on to finish their epic defense of this girl, who they admit Cosmo dressed in bunny ears in one photo (as if most people don't understand that connotation), with a middle-of-the-road attempt to quickly end the article, move on to the next topic, and not stir the pot.

So... they kind of said something profound?  I guess?  At least that's what we think now that the phrase "I don't mean to be prude" has become so abused that it just sounds like a good thing to say.  But if you think about it, it really doesn't mean anything except, "I am ashamed of walking the hard line and too nervous to own my beliefs."

Maybe if Americans did mean to be prude we would have less teenage girl actresses and singers serving as sex icons to men of all ages and to young girls starving for male attention.  Maybe these actresses and singers would be less inclined to grow up and feel like they need to keep pushing the sexual envelope to keep getting the attention they have been conditioned to need.

Maybe if America stopped consuming ad infinitum, and started thinking, caring, and serving ad infinitum, this stuff would work itself out, slowly.

But as long as we keep demanding, taking, wanting, and fighting for everything that is ours, everything that is our right and what we think we deserve, we will never mean to be prude.

And that is a problem.