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Writer's picturekelliebooksblog

Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape by Peggy Orenstein

Updated: Apr 17, 2020

HarperCollins Publishers, 2016


Describes the “new sexual landscape” (hook-up culture, rape culture, drinking, consent, etc.) based on interviews of American teenage girls.


“Peggy Orenstein sheds light on an important and too often misunderstood topic. Her reporting shows how a healthy and direct approach to sexuality is a key component of gender equality.” Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.


Be sure to read Yvonne's comment below, it gives a much more complete view of the book.

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kelliebooksblog
kelliebooksblog
Apr 17, 2020

Your comment should be the post, thank you so much. I'm going to tell readers of the post to be sure and look at your comment.


I'd also like to add something Eunha said about the book:


"I thought the book was interesting and gave me a view of today's hookup culture. I don't think it is an anlaysis that everyone can relate to, but helpful to understand...I was only slightly exposed to certain things like frat parties and the like. The book makes you feel like everyone is in the hookup culture and only slightly points out that if you haven't kissed a boy by tenth grade, that's OK...In my small entourage, I don't know many who are part…

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yvonnelemonnier
yvonnelemonnier
Apr 15, 2020

I think the internet, easy access to porn and a deformation of feminism are motors of the hookup culture, but I found Orenstein's descriptions of teen girls' experiences to be sad. They seem to be more about pleasing rather than pleasure, and the pre-hookup binge drinking seems to magnify an emotional distance in relationships that smartphones already contribute to.

I was more interested in Orenstein's analysis of societal and gender roles that lead girls to being manipulated, sexually harassed, and assaulted, in spite of feminism. Although women may have gained increased equality in education and in the workplace, they have unfortunately not done so in sex; girls' physical satisfaction is still secondary (see her metaphor about the glass of water).…

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