Modern women: Living for the moment

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I mourn for the women of today"

Melinda Tankard Reist, Australian feminist author and commentator said these words and I have to agree with her entirely.  I too mourn for the modern woman.  They are making a terrible mistake in the actions they are undertaking - all in the name of having a "good time".   My definition of "having a good time" (both now and when I was a young woman) is very different for the modern young woman.  Now it means heavy drinking, sex with strangers, drug use, wearing clothing that reveals as much as possible and taking risks that put their lives in danger. 

They don’t seem to understand (or want to understand) the long term consequences of their actions, they live for the moment.  The fact that the alcohol they are consuming (to the point of alcoholic poisoning) is causing damage, is simply not important to them. I believe the risk taking to the extreme is part of the thrill—the high—its the drug. The fact that they can be raped and taken advantage of doesn't seem to worry them. I cannot comprehend why they value their own lives and bodies so little.  It is part of the "I can do anything I want" attitude of the modern generation.

According to a recent newspaper article
In less than a generation, the binge-drinking epidemic, hyper-sexualised raunch culture and social media have collided, drastically changing young women’s behaviour and leaving them vulnerable to an array of physical- and mental-health issues like never before. “The problem is just enormous,” says Gordian Fulde, the director of emergency medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital, which treats about 100 alcohol and drug-affected young women each weekend, a number that is rising each year. 
“If you had a census of the number of girls who have hangovers on Sunday mornings, it’d be astronomical,” says Fulde, who sees the evidence for the alarming statistics every day. Fifteen-to 18-year-olds have the highest rate of hospital admissions for drunkenness of any age group; by the age of 18, one in three teens is drinking at a high-risk level compared to one in 10 two decades ago.  For young women, the risk of being admitted to hospital with alcohol-related liver disease has steadily increased in the past decade.
These young women are heading down a dangerous path of long term health problems. And I can't help but wonder about their children they will one day give birth to and what affects it will have on the baby. Worse still, what happens if they become pregnant and continue to drink.  Fetal alcohol syndrome has lifetime affects on the child.  It is a tragedy waiting to happen. 

As part of this thrill, girls are losing their virginity at a much younger age, 14 wouldn’t be considered too young anymore (and I can see this dropping down to 12—the first year of high school). According to this article it appears to be a badge of honour to have sex as young as possible and I wouldn't be surprised to find that most parents don't have a clue what their daughters are up to.  If they do they wouldn't know how to stop their daughters behaving in this reckless and immoral way.

Sex isn't about love, romance or pleasure . . . it is just sex.  It is prostitute without being paid. According to a recent Australian and New Zealand public health report, 61% of all year 12 girls (aged 17-18) are having sex (compared to 44% of males). Of these girls, 27% are having sex with multiple partners (eg 3 or more).  As expected, sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise and between 2001 and 2005, rates of chlamydia in females aged 12 to 24 have almost doubled (from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare).   I wonder what it is now in 2011?
Why . . . are they doing this?  What has led to this decline in morality? Ok, that was a very silly question to ask.  I know why and it makes me so sad.  Without Christ in their lives or in our society we are sliding down the slippy slope towards complete disaster.

To those with daughters, I pray with all my heart that your daughters are keep safe in the Lords arms and do not wander.  The world is a wick place and much worse than when I wandered from Christ 27 years ago. The dangers are far worse now than before.

~oOo~

Comments

  1. It does seem that the age gets younger and younger. However, having said that. When I graduated from high school (at 16) 21 years ago--most of the girls in my class were having sex (myself included--sadly). Binge drinking was quite common and casual sex was on the rise then. Working as a youth pastor for the better part of six years (2002-2008) we did discover that a great many of our 12-14 year old girls were sexually active and that they thought oral sex wasn't really sex. This was in a church youth group. It is a huge worry and one that I think parents and churches in general are too afriad to address the issues--it's unpopular to talk about abstinence from sex and alcohol. It's a "cringe factor." Thank goodness we have never been afraid to be unpopular--we talk about it and we pray for our children every day! I hope my kids will learn from my mistakes.

    PS--just for refernece, my son's birth mother is about to give birth to her 6th child (at age 27--she should know better) all of whom have been born with cocaine in their systems and all have been removed by the state from her care. My daughter's birth mother just gave birth her 4th child in June--all have drug and alcohol exposure in the womb. She is also 27. She has also lost custody of all of her children. I don't understand why at their ages they haven't learned the consequences of their choices.

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  2. Bonnie – only the other day I heard a very sad story of young mother (19) who won’t look after her baby probably—just doesn’t seem to have any mothering instinct at all— goes out partying and drinks to all hours and just won’t take any responsibly. So the grandmother takes care of the baby in the evening as she works during the day (but won’t force her daughter to change her behaviour) and the father of the baby (also 19) takes care of the baby (now 7 months) every second week. The younger sister (aged 17) of the mother also cares for the baby - its been a very good lesson for her sadly. They are all hoping that the father will get full time care as he is very dedicated and wants to do the best – he is a very good dad. The story was so sad to hear – but you must be use to it now.

    Do these mothers ever think of the affect of their choices on their babies lives? Or are they just too stoned/drunk to care?

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  3. Girls were losing their virginity first year of high school when I was at high school ~ nearly 40 years ago. Now I know of girls who are sexually active in primary school. That is scary but if we sexualise our whole society, what do we expect? I have been blessed with my girls but finding a Godly young man to partner them is getting harder & harder.

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  4. I went to a quiet country primary school where we never talked about sex and didn't know much either. As for secondary school, it was all girls, probably went on but no one mentioned their sexual activities. It wasn't discussed as a badge if honour as it is now.

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  6. It's very very very sad! I think it's also a lack of respect for oneself that leads to some of these actions sadly.

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  7. It is so very sad to see the way females have degraded themselves so badly en masse... Many years ago, the feminine movement began to give women more power and "respect", and yet people can't seem to realise that this is exactly what is going on today - it's gone a full circle to the point where women have lost so much respect - only this time it SEEMS as though they have done it by choice! I think it's terrible!

    Also, society in general (and the feminine movement) has a lot to answer for on this subject - generally speaking, people tend to do things with a kind of "mob mentality" - meaning, if it became trendy, women would start being more chaste, just like when it became trendy, women gave up their chasitity in search of "love" and "self-worth" and popularity. Women themselves probably don't want to live such a loose life - it is because it has been almost *expected* of them that it has become such a huge part of society - at least that's what I believe. It's gotten to the point where that's the way they think they do want to live like... but I'm convinced if we took those women away from media, away from popular opinion, away from peer pressure etc and counselled them on the subject, most probably would be MUCH happier living a more conservative and faithful life. The way they are living in today's society brings nothing more than shallow and very temporary "happiness" - so temporary that they have to be constantly searching for the next high or the next sexual partner. They are consumed with it.

    So very sad.

    Today's society reminds me of Sodom and Gomorrah - only today it's not just homosexuals living that way, it's evident in general society! And it also is reminiscent of Rome many centuries ago when every person lived their own way for their own pleasure. Neither part of history had a happy ending.

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  8. Clara - I think the "mob mentality" (mates) is part of the problem. Girls that perhaps in the past wouldn't behave in this party fashion do now because their friends do.

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