Lepidopterous would assume breeding, right? Even the most casual of those in his article seem to be avoiding that. And I do find it encouraging how open and aware they are these days about sex, even if I'm a bit distressed about how casual they are about it. Makes me feel old too.

I liked the history lesson myself, although I note that most of the sources seem to be people writing in to a particular magazine, which didn't seem like an entirely characteristic sample. And I admit this article's source's may be suspect, but he did at least talk to teens in multiple parts of the country and seemed to be talking to an awful lot of sources. Certainly not a local hoax. I question whether they're right too, but that's always a question in stories like this -- in fact, shedding light on the inconsistencies in what the sources are saying is even part of the reportage.

Particular quote that stuck out was the guy who couldn't get hookups with girls his age, talking about being able to get underclasswomen "because they look at us like gods, and of course we are". That was pretty sad. It speaks a lot to how this all plays into a complicated game of self-esteem (and in some cases self-delusion).