Expat Laura
emotional promiscuity
2004-04-13 | 6:19 p.m.

Have we become an emotionally promiscuous society?

Let me explain. I have been reading people's diary entries. And gawping. I'll just give you a taste of the good stuff:

last three words. why don�t we just not speak. just not speak any words. not speak any words that hurt. words that hurt can create real pain.

And this boring, repetitive mush has got me thinking. (For one, if you're going to try and write in a stream-of-consciousness style at least do it properly, like Light Falls Up does).

So, if the sexual revolution in the '60s made it acceptable to be sexually promiscuious, is the 21st century the beginning of an emotional revolution? Are we, in fact, becoming emotionally slutty exhibitionists, who take pleasure in advertising our emotional lives in public places?

Being emotionally promiscuous is something I think most people have experienced at some point - although it seems to be the more extraverted people who are the most emotionally revealing. Perhaps this makes sense - with extraversion is it possible to say there's a bigger ego (?) that craves attention...and this is sated through demonstration of emotion in a public arena.

I believe that as Generation Z (the sexually and emotionally promiscuous ones), we are in debt to the technology which has allowed us to broadcast the most intimate details of our lives to strangers. I can't remember the time I last physically sent a letter but I know I sent an e-mail 5 minutes ago. So in the age of 'global communication' and living in a global 'village' - what can we expect in the future?

Being emotionally 'loose' is a sure-fire way to attain instant notoriety and fame as an imbalanced nut. Note the difference between being emotionally slutty and emotionally secure - emotional sluts tend to reveal everything to anyone, whereas someone who is emotionally secure may save it until they know that person better. I know I can be an emotional whore sometimes, and who says it's a totally bad thing? I'm not going to beat those who choose to reveal intimate, personal details about themselves over the net. But, with reference to those who write heartbroken, painful, poorly constructed entries with full knowledge that your enemies and your nemesis will read them: why, woman, why?

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