Netflix, Stop Putting Me And My Anti-Baby Having In A Box

There's an article in The New Yorker this week about teen pregnancy in traditionally red states vs. traditionally blue states. It's called "Red Sex, Blue Sex", and, while it's not the most enlightening thing in the world, it does offer up some thoughts on why "blue state" teens just say no to doin' it—or at least doin' it without a condom. (Why does it feel funny to type the word "teens?" It makes me feel 50.)

Some of these differences in sexual behavior come down to class and education. Regnerus and Carbone and Cahn all see a new and distinct “middle-class morality” taking shape among economically and socially advantaged families who are not social conservatives. In Regnerus’s survey, the teen-agers who espouse this new morality are tolerant of premarital sex (and of contraception and abortion) but are themselves cautious about pursuing it. Regnerus writes, “They are interested in remaining free from the burden of teenage pregnancy and the sorrows and embarrassments of sexually transmitted diseases. They perceive a bright future for themselves, one with college, advanced degrees, a career, and a family. Simply put, too much seems at stake. Sexual intercourse is not worth the risks.” These are the kids who tend to score high on measures of “strategic orientation”—how analytical, methodical, and fact-seeking they are when making decisions. Because these teen-agers see abstinence as unrealistic, they are not opposed in principle to sex before marriage—just careful about it. Accordingly, they might delay intercourse in favor of oral sex, not because they cherish the idea of remaining “technical virgins” but because they assess it as a safer option. “Solidly middle- or upper-middle-class adolescents have considerable socioeconomic and educational expectations, courtesy of their parents and their communities’ lifestyles,” Regnerus writes. “They are happy with their direction, generally not rebellious, tend to get along with their parents, and have few moral qualms about expressing their nascent sexuality.” They might have loved Ellen Page in “Juno,” but in real life they’d see having a baby at the wrong time as a tragic derailment of their life plans. For this group, Regnerus says, unprotected sex has become “a moral issue like smoking or driving a car without a seatbelt. It’s not just unwise anymore; it’s wrong.”

ANYWAY, the article also talks about this 2005 documentary The Education of Shelby Knox about a religious high schooler in big ol' Texas who speaks out against abstinence-only ed. Clearly, I feel like I should have already seen this, and Netflix agrees. It also recommends me the film, based on other business I've liked:

Now wait just one minute. Mr. Movie Rental Service thinks I'll lurve Shelby's antics because of my affection for:
1) Stuff White People Like-worthy TV shows (see: The Wire, The L Word, Arrested Development)
2) Crazy Liberal Documentaries (see: Jesus Camp, An Inconvenient Truth, Bowling for Columbine)
3) Gay Movies (see: Brokeback Mountain, All About My Mother)

You know what? FINE, Netflix. You win. Now send me the moooovie.