But perhaps the problem is not so much this ‘me culture’, but the lack of another ‘me culture’. Yesterday, the social commentator Polly Toynbee said on this programme that good sex education was about giving girls the chance to say “no”. It is interesting that girls, post-feminism, should not be able to stand up for themselves. Yet sexual freedom appears to have made it harder for them to admit they don’t want to have sex, especially when they are bombarded with sexual imagery, and pressured by their peers into believing it’s great to be having sex.
Young people often lack confidence, and young teenage girls in particular can lack self-esteem. There’s certainly a ‘me culture’ today that’s an entirely self-centred one. But there’s another ‘me culture’ that’s about having regard for yourself, having a strong sense of your own worth. When people quote Christ saying love your neighbour as yourself, the emphasis is usually on how you treat others. But his words also make clear that you cannot reach out to others unless you love yourself.
Read it all.
Catherine Pepinster: Teenage pregnancy is a complex issue
But perhaps the problem is not so much this ‘me culture’, but the lack of another ‘me culture’. Yesterday, the social commentator Polly Toynbee said on this programme that good sex education was about giving girls the chance to say “no”. It is interesting that girls, post-feminism, should not be able to stand up for themselves. Yet sexual freedom appears to have made it harder for them to admit they don’t want to have sex, especially when they are bombarded with sexual imagery, and pressured by their peers into believing it’s great to be having sex.
Young people often lack confidence, and young teenage girls in particular can lack self-esteem. There’s certainly a ‘me culture’ today that’s an entirely self-centred one. But there’s another ‘me culture’ that’s about having regard for yourself, having a strong sense of your own worth. When people quote Christ saying love your neighbour as yourself, the emphasis is usually on how you treat others. But his words also make clear that you cannot reach out to others unless you love yourself.
Read it all.