Laura Ingraham deplores sexting

Laura Ingraham has recently written a book about cultural decline and, in an effort to get us to buy it, has made some excerpts available on line.

I was surprised at how awful her writing is. I've never read anything of hers before, so I had no basis for comparison. I just expected better.

Anyway, in this excerpt she is writing about the practice of sending nude or semi-nude photos to other people. This is a reasonable target as it is not a smart thing to do and yet Ingraham does not seem to be able to put together a coherent criticism. The gist of her piece seems to be that it is better to hold something back if you really want to hook a guy. (A point of view I will revisit on Friday.)

Anyway, let's start at the top and work our way through:

A study by CosmoGirl and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies found that “20 percent of teens and 33 percent of young adults ages 20 to 26 have shared nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves either by text or posting online.” According to studies, teen girls are more likely to indulge in the practice.

Ah yes, always go to CosmoGirl  for your social science data. And teens would never exaggerate in a situation like this.

Okay, but even beyond that what ought to jump right out at us here is the claim that teen girls are more likely to send nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves. That needs explaining and Laura Ingraham has an explanation of sorts:

This whole sexting thing has become a type of courting ritual. The fellows want to eye up the merchandise to see if you’re worth the effort.

Based on what evidence does she reach this conclusion? The study itself (note this link will download a PDF) suggests otherwise:

71% of teen girls and 67% of teen guys who have sent or posted sexually suggestive content say they have sent/posted this content to a boyfriend/girlfriend. 

So, no it does not appear to be a courtship ritual for most as most people do it within the context of an already-existing relationship. It is one of the many many ways that young people find to be sexual without having sex (This is an aspect of the behaviour that ought to interest an organization that calls itself the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies more than it apparently does.)

Of course that still leaves 29% of teen girls who are sending sexually suggestive content to non-boyfriends (and perhaps to other girls). The study says that 21%of them sent sexually suggestive content to someone they wanted to date. That is interesting but we don't know that all of this was photos and we don't know if they were telling the truth to pollsters or themselves.

And what does "want to date" mean in this context? It could mean really want to meet and date or it could mean that a teen is simply looking fflex her sexual power a bit so she put the lure out there to see if she'll get a rise.

There is a much simpler explanation possible here and that is that girls send suggestive messages including racy pictures of themselves because it turns them on to do so. In addition to being simple, this explanation has the advantage of lining up with lots of other behaviour that anyone who has spent any time observing teen girls will have noticed. It makes them feel good to flash it around so they do it.

It probably also makes them feel good about themselves.

Sending photos is still a really stupid thing to do but I doubt teens need that explained to them. There are lots of stupid things that teens do in the full knowledge that they are stupid things to do. Why might a girl send a nude photo of herself despite the risk? Well, perhaps more precisely because of the risk.

Ingraham's instincts are good on this last point even if she doesn't connect the dots. She notes that lots of celebrities have had nude photos of themselves hacked off their phones.

And more than 50 Hollywood A-listers were stunned when hackers stole their nude photos off cellphones and computers. Some of those hit included Jessica Alba, Miley Cyrus, Scarlett Johansson, and Christina Aguilera. All of this could have been avoided had they not taken the shots in the first place. By their example, stars have encouraged this cultural narcissism masquerading as courtship.

You'll pardon me for thinking that these A-listers were perhaps not quite really surprised when these photos leaked out. No doubt girls with low cut tops are also shocked to discover that when they bend over they show even more and that guys look. Because it is simply inconceivable that girls' dress and behaviour might be designed to make "accidents" happen? No casual observer of human behaviour has ever seen any evidence of anything like that. Right?

And the celebrity connection suggests something about those girls who send photos to guys they don't really know. They are doing the modern equivalent of sitting at the counter of Schwab's drugstore in a tight sweater hoping to get discovered. This minority of teens don't fail to see that the photos could end up in front of the "wrong" eyes. That is what they are counting on. And they are fully aware that such photos could produce mockery just as anyone who enters a race knows there are many more losers than winners. Poor risk assessment skills don't come from a failure to see the chance of failure; they come from thinking that the possibility of winning is so wonderful that the risks are worth it.