Especially in a culture like that of America, where people seem unable to be frank about sex, everything must subtly be about sex, and the closer to it without breaking taboo, the "cooler" it is.
This raises the interesting question of why people in America can't seem to be frank about sex. Personally, I attribute it to the way that religion--particularly Christianity--has permeated our society and seems to have convinced us that sex is ultimately something shameful.
...then again, I'm a teenager. Even I can't quite tell whether or not that's just the testosterone talking
To make an example, look what "dancing" has become in modern society. School dances are little more than a poor excuse to get as much body-to-body contact as possible without breaking the social standards.
You hit the nail right on the head there. But then again, high-schoolers and college students will be, respectively, high-schoolers and college students. Hormones are nasty little suckers, and, in an age as
permitting as ours, I think this sort of thing is to be expected. I'm not saying it should be this way, and I'll freely admit that I'm not sure exactly how it should be, but it is as it is, for better or for worse.
Ever more common are simply political boy/girl pairings so as to not feel "un-cool", without any feeling, pretentious or not, on either side. Social hierarchy then becomes a lively business of rumor, fueling the societal stereotypes.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.
As soon as sex is achieved (or it seems unachievable) the guy loses interest and leaves, to be replaced by another "valiant suitor" (to use an archaic term).
One of my friends has told me the same thing, that relationships tend to deteriorate when the people involved have sex. Then again, perhaps that's the way we're built. Or perhaps it's the way society has shaped us, and, either way, there's not all that much we can do to change it.
As for the main topic, well, if they're willing to go through that, well, why shouldn't they? It reminds me of the Klondike Bar commercials--you know, "What would YOU do for a Klondike Bar?" If they're willing to sacrifice their own dignity, why should we tell them they can't? "Let people live however they will as long as they aren't hurting anyone else" is the general principle behind my moral philosophy, and I fail to see how this would hurt anyone other than the women involved. And they presumably knew what they were getting into.
As for how this reflects on society, DTBK's post says a lot of it. As a culture, America places a taboo on sex, and, as a result, everyone is obsessed with it. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever found a better way to make people want something than to refuse to give it to them: reverse psychology is the name of the game. Perhaps the best thing would be for Americans to learn to be open about our sexuality. I personally think that if we could be more relaxed about it, then there wouldn't be nearly as much fixation on it. I also find it profoundly ironic that, because of the issue of reverse psychology, the forces responsible for placing the taboo on sex are the ones inadvertently causing it.
Then again, as I've said, perhaps I'm not qualified to speak on this topic until these damn hormones leave me alone. If you believe so, then just ignore this post
None.