No, he doesn't get full blame. But I think he stoked the fire during the late 90's. Of course, his claim would be that he didn't inhale either.

 

I grew up in the 80's and that was not the view of oral sex in my 80's.

 

My sons were growing up at that time. I don't give Clinton a pass, but he did not teach my kids their attitudes about sex. They learned it at home and I have NO problems with the way they turned out. Sorry, you give the government far too much power. I have a lot of problems with the casual attitude toward sex we see so much of today, but start with the parents. Teach them with discipline, example, and frank discussion. It works almost every time it is tried.

My sons were growing up at that time. I don't give Clinton a pass, but he did not teach my kids their attitudes about sex. They learned it at home and I have NO problems with the way they turned out. Sorry, you give the government far too much power. I have a lot of problems with the casual attitude toward sex we see so much of today, but start with the parents. Teach them with discipline, example, and frank discussion. It works almost every time it is tried.

 

I agree with what you said. The home is the best place to start. But I am sure that 98 can attest that in too many homes, that is not occurring. And since it is not, what they see societal role models do, is the the behavior they are going to probably emulate.

I grew up in the 80's and that was not the view of oral sex in my 80's.

 

Apparently your 80's was different from my 80's.

Clinton has nothing to do with the attitude of young people towards sex. That attitude started in the '60's. Add the crap kids see at the movies and on TV and you wonder why adolescents are having casual sex?

 

It may not have been Clinton's fault BUT when it is viewed as acceptable for the President of the United States to engage in it, a certain stamp of approval has been bestowed on it.

 

I was a Clinton supporter and the whole Monicagate fiasco had as much do do with changing my mind as anything. Clinton supporters regularly attempted to hide behind the "what he does in his private life is no one's business" ploy but by his own choice the President really doesn't have a private life. You don't want the scrutiny, don't apply for the job. To make matters worse Clinton first lied about the whole thing and then tried to downplay the significance of what happened. Only when he was backed into a corner did he even come close to admitting that he had done anything wrong.

 

What kind of a message would it have sent if instead of all the lying and obfuscation Clinton had admitted that he was wrong and apologized to the American people at the outset? Instead the message that came out loud and clear was that the President isn't bound by normal morality. Again his actions may not have lead to the attitudes about sex that we now have but I don't see how you can argue that his actions didn't give those attitudes a level of credibility that they didn't have before.

It may not have been Clinton's fault BUT when it is viewed as acceptable for the President of the United States to engage in it, a certain stamp of approval has been bestowed on it.

 

I was a Clinton supporter and the whole Monicagate fiasco had as much do do with changing my mind as anything. Clinton supporters regularly attempted to hide behind the "what he does in his private life is no one's business" ploy but by his own choice the President really doesn't have a private life. You don't want the scrutiny, don't apply for the job. To make matters worse Clinton first lied about the whole thing and then tried to downplay the significance of what happened. Only when he was backed into a corner did he even come close to admitting that he had done anything wrong.

 

What kind of a message would it have sent if instead of all the lying and obfuscation Clinton had admitted that he was wrong and apologized to the American people at the outset? Instead the message that came out loud and clear was that the President isn't bound by normal morality. Again his actions may not have lead to the attitudes about sex that we now have but I don't see how you can argue that his actions didn't give those attitudes a level of credibility that they didn't have before.

 

:thumb: What I was trying to say but you did a much better job than me.:thumb:

Personally I don't believe oral sex is "sex" b/c it isn't intercourse. I grew up in the 90's and my attitude towards this wasn't affected by Clinton. I'm not saying it's right to do it but I don't see it as "sex".

 

Blaming Clinton for the increase in young people having oral sex is frankly stupid. I hate to tell you, but kids have been doing that sort of thing for a long time and now we're getting reports on it. When I was in 7th grade some kids did that sort of thing and probably at earlier ages too. I'm sure an 11 or 12 year old isn't thinking "gee I'm going to go perform fellatio on my boyfriend b/c the president that was in office when I was four said it wasn't sex." Kids do it b/c it feels good and you can't get pregnant that way, simple as that.

No, he doesn't get full blame. But I think he stoked the fire during the late 90's. Of course, his claim would be that he didn't inhale either.

 

I grew up in the 80's and that was not the view of oral sex in my 80's.

 

That's probably the key factor. In your circle it was most likely not. In mine it was. It doesn't make one of us heathen and the other not. It raises the issue that the world is smaller than it used to be and exposure to everything is more readily available than ever before.

 

In my little town (sing Paul Simon Song here), we had one shop that sold porn magazines. A few convenience centers might in the 80's but I don't remember them in the 70's. Porn movies were in theaters, not the back rooms of video rental stores let alone on the computer. All of these have as much or more blame in the discussion as Clinton. He is the poster child but the real culprit is the shrinking world and easy access to sexual visuals and attitudes.

That's probably the key factor. In your circle it was most likely not. In mine it was. It doesn't make one of us heathen and the other not. It raises the issue that the world is smaller than it used to be and exposure to everything is more readily available than ever before.

 

In my little town (sing Paul Simon Song here), we had one shop that sold porn magazines. A few convenience centers might in the 80's but I don't remember them in the 70's. Porn movies were in theaters, not the back rooms of video rental stores let alone on the computer. All of these have as much or more blame in the discussion as Clinton. He is the poster child but the real culprit is the shrinking world and easy access to sexual visuals and attitudes.

 

And as All Tell indicated a President who gave it credibility.

I see where you are coming from and no one was more angry than me (at least no one who had voted for him) when all of this took place. I was angry because I had to explain words like sex, adultery and oral sex with my 8 year old son who could not understand why people didn't like his president. (I did not explain everything but all he needed to know in his terms)

 

However I grew up in the 70's and that attitude on oral sex was pretty common and then some among my peers in Central Kentucky. So to blame it all on Clinton is an over reach. To say he didn't help matters is an under reach.

 

 

We're probably about the same age (I may be a couple of years older than you). The attitude in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD in the late 60s and early 70s was probably very similar.

 

The bolded part of your quote pretty much hits the nail on the head.

So, it is just coincidence that the view that youth have now is the same view the President had when they were growing up?

 

I wasn't very old around that time and I could not care less what our President said or did at the time.

I wasn't very old around that time and I could not care less what our President said or did at the time.

 

Curious to know your age. And curious to know if you had determined that oral sex was not sex. The argument has been presented on here that the young adults who were 10-11 at that time would have already determined that oral sex is not sex.

I was 12/13... And I didn't pay much attention to it....

 

LBBC, It has been that way since the 60's Free Love.. And will continue to be that way.

 

Do you think the kids that have grown up under Bush will have Casual and/or Oral Sex???

 

The Parents have alot to do with it!!!!!

Frankly, I don't think that the majority of the 10 y.o. in the nation at that time could have picked our president out of a lineup. (No pun intended).

I'm with HHSDad on this one. I'd blame Hollywood well before I'd lay this one at the feet of Slick Willy.

I remember after Clinton said this, I saw two polls concerning that very question. In both polls, most ADULTS did not consider oral as being sex.

 

The parents, if they get involved and talk to their kids, have some influence, more so that any government official. But on the other hand, as I am sure 98 may agree with since he deals with youths, parental involvement helps, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee the kids will do what their parents want them to, if you act like its taboo, they will be curious and go off on their own.

I was 12/13... And I didn't pay much attention to it....

 

LBBC, It has been that way since the 60's Free Love.. And will continue to be that way.

 

Do you think the kids that have grown up under Bush will have Casual and/or Oral Sex???

 

The Parents have alot to do with it!!!!!

 

I was a child in the 60's

a teen in the 70's

an adult? in the 80's

 

Yes the attitudes about sex and sexual behavior changed a great deal over those years. The whole point about Clinton (at least from me) is not that he caused an increase in the behavior, rather that he gave it a stamp of credibility that it didn't have before.