NPR Listeners Don't Like "Coarse" Quote About Virgins

<snip>

A phrase from a TV writer included this so-called "witty aperçu:"

The entertainment industry loves virgins. I mean, everyone loves virgins, you know. There's something enjoyable about, you know, screwing someone the first time, and the entertainment industry has that attitude about writers.

A number of listeners were offended by that quote. Senior Editor Bill Wyman responded to the listeners this way:

We were concerned about the "virgins" quote, too: it was blunt, and coarse. But the piece was about a meeting between the old and the new Hollywood, and we thought the quote shed light on the way some people in the industry think, better than anything our reporter could have said. Of course, the quote also stood out because a good deal of the coverage one sees on the entertainment industry these days is really just elaborately choreographed publicity for Hollywood's wares; in a week during which the frenzy over the Friends finale demonstrated this point over and over again, we wanted to inject some reality into the coverage. But we didn't mean to offend, and we appreciate the time listeners took to respond.

http://www.npr.org/features/columns/column.php?columnId=2781901

That whole "Virginity ring" thing (you know, no sex until your married 'cos it's wrong) is speading to the UK, where we have a small (ahem) prob with teenage parents.

1) I object to people repressing sexuality back to a place where it was cosidered imoral and it should be kept behind the marriage bedroom doors.

2) over 80% of people who take the "virginity pledge" have sex before their wedding day.

3) Of those who do, something like 40% have unprotected sex the first time that they have sex, vs. 20% those who don't make the "pledge"

As that Chinese guy said in "7yrs in Tibet" - "Religion is poison." Or Marx: "Religion is the opiate of the people". It turns you over, hammers some sh*t into you and expects you to keep going.

Screw religion and belief. Surely it's better to have ideas?

I mean, he's a writer. He should have been able to come up with a better way to get his point accross.

(Warning: Crude ... and Pompous, so very Pompous)

When the Demons and the Angels wrestle in the soul, is it tragedy or is it sport?

The reason why we cringe when we hear archaisms used metaphorically is that we are not really free from the bondage of the past. And that's why these literary tropes should be used -- they force us to confront the atavistic violence we are all heir to.

Virginity as a cult started a long time ago, when a pre-sexual girl entered the priestesshood of sacred prostitutes. Her cherry -- her maidenhead -- was an offering to the Gods, and her sexual desirability was used sacrificially to the benefit and blessing of the nation. "Holy hookers" were common in the pre-Christian, pre-Islamic, and pre-Indo-European world, were held in the utmost esteem, and if you'll notice, every one of their main points of faith have been inverted and defiled. Young women must now be sexless until marriage -- which makes them high-mojo targets for men who want to steal their power through a girl's vagina.

Blunt, coarse, filthy, possibly sexist -- yes, indeed. Simply pretending we are "better" won't work. No matter how effective our anti-perspirants and feminine hygiene products become, we're still barbarians, and if we don't come to terms with that, we won't inherit the stars -- we'll inherit a poisoned Earth and collective extinction.

"Men and Girls" ... fierce, empowered Womyn ... "How to Seduce Any Chick in 20 Minutes Using Neuro-Lingusitic Programming!" ... Hitlery KKKlintoon ... "Sisterhood Is Powerful!" ... The Surrendered Wife ... lesbians in combat boots who don't shave their armpits ... doesn't it make you want to hurt something?

Do you wonder why so much of this is inflammatory? Look into your own. No one shits clean, and no one escapes the lash of the dark side of Humanity without ulcers that fester under the clean bandages of civilization. Have you figured it out yet? Tragedy? ... or Sport?

Nope; I haven't, either.

--bkl

and nicely put. bravo!!

i think the NPR writer's statement was excellent.