In the past, western culture has been criticized for being too promiscuous, however, it seems the United States has paid little attention to such accusations. These criticisms have come from many different areas of the world and have mostly focused on womens’ clothing even though it seems the entirety of western culture is focused on “being sexy”.

When looking at different cultures, there is a stark difference between them and the U.S., or western culture. The U.S. is more sexualized than other parts of the world and in no way do we hide it.

This can be seen as both a bad thing, and a good thing. In most cases, it is viewed as a bad aspect of western culture due to the trending term, “slut shaming”. Of course this term has been hyper-focused on women but men can be shown in the same light.

In the current generation, skin is something that is shown as much as possible, but you have to be thin to be able to flaunt it. A demoralizing factor to the western culture is that weight is a number that should be low, and not just for health reasons but to be beautiful. Beauty, a concept of it’s own, is something the people of this culture crave.

So, in essence, western culture cares about their appearance. The problem is, do we care too much?

Sometimes the hunger for looking good is taken too far when some of us try to tear each other down, our egos taking over. That’s when the “slut-shaming” begins and the “I need to be thin” thoughts obtain control. It seems to be a societal norm that women are most affected by the need to look good.

Men can feel the same way, more so about their bodies and it’s just as hard to be Ken as it is to be Barbie. With gender identity aside, it seems difficult to fit into a culture that idols its “stars” and yet highlights slandering articles about them at the same time.

The good aspect of being in a country that’s very openly sexual is that people are not afraid of such a natural action between two people. Having sex isn’t so unheard of and neither is it taboo, anymore. For instance, this generation is part of such a hook up culture that might not be as outwardly talked about, as it should.

With Tinder and other dating apps, there are plenty of ways for this generation to “get it on” and show some skin. It’s no surprise that young adults want to have sex considering the amount of skin they see on a daily basis. Advertisements on TV and billboards host scantily clad men and women for all types of products. Television in general has a plethora of shows and movies that portray scenes that used to be exclusive only for the porn industry.

So, why does our own culture deem us as bad when its the culture itself that has created us? It seems that without such an immersion of these sexual aspects and easy access to them, would we be such a culture focused on sex and “looking good?” Moreover, isn’t it the older generations doing the criticizing? This generation is told by its parents and elders alike to be innocent mostly because they grew up in a different time.

Criticisms aside, western culture is a luxury even if you are constantly judged for what you do. A generation raised with the Internet and new technology every year, it has made us into the generation full of information, whether it is useful or not. It seems to have even influenced the way we live our lives by if we choose to live a promiscuous life or not.

I’m not sure when having sex became a subject not to be talked about outwardly, but that time has ended. Something so natural should be talked about. It should be welcomed.