Mr. Pinup

By Kate Harding

In a recent episode of the new TV series “Glee,” the high school glee club at the heart of the show put on, as Heather Havrilesky described it, “a hilariously lewd and dorky rendition of Salt ‘n’ Pepa‘s ‘Push It’” during an assembly. (The show’s writers have yet to produce a better line than ever-indignant cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester”s response: “That was the most offensive thing I’ve seen in 20 years of teaching. And that includes an elementary school production of ‘Hair.’”) The performance is cooked up by the kids behind their advisor’s back as an alternative to his song pick, Chic’s “Le Freak” — which has become old-fashioned, unsexy guaranteed humiliation for the modern teen — to give their fellow students “what they want: Sex.”

Although “Glee” has been rightfully called out for getting a lot of things wrong (e.g., treating a wheelchair-using character as a comedic prop, too often reinforcing negative stereotypes while ostensibly sending them up), teen sexuality is one thing it consistently gets right, even within an over-the-top, credulity-straining universe. The pregnant celibacy club president is only the most obvious example of the show’s unapologetic acknowledgment that teenagers (even the girls!) think about sex, want sex, have sex when they get the opportunity — and, left to their own devices, come up with hilariously lewd and dorky choreography.

Back in the real world, though, dirty dancing among minors is still seen as the outrageous result of popular culture that’s just gone too far. The L.A. Times reports today on high schools that are forcing students to sign contracts agreeing not to dance in a sexually suggestive manner before they’ll be allowed into a low-lit streamered gym on a Friday night. The kids, they like this “freaking” that comes from that terrible hip-hop culture! It must be stopped! Few parents and administrators seem to find any humor in the fact that we’ve been having the same national conversation for at least a few generations now.

via Broadsheet – Salon.com.