OK, I’ll just say it. The “hawk tuah” thing disappoints me. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please go look it up and watch the stupid video. I am not explaining it here.

You won’t have to look far. There are memes, merch, reels, and car window decals. What this random chick said in a moment on June 11th has become a HUGE thing in only 9 days. Madness!

I will say this…I am not a prude. Do whatever you want. Must we talk about this freely and eagerly, though? Please hush, Ladies. Please. Hush.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give a crap about such things, but this one got me in a tizzy. I’ve been in the kid business for a long time. I have heard it all. I knew who was smoking weed, who was snorting coke off the high school bathroom sink, and who was having sex with whom. Kids will tell you things if they trust you.

They used to “keep it on the down low” mitigating fall-out from word getting around, but not anymore. No, ma’am. They talk about it all with no shame whatsoever. Look at Ms. Hawk Tuah. I guess they walked so she could run. Sex talk is free and abundant.

It also got my dander up, because she’s a pretty girl who could be any one of our daughters. Bright, lovely, up and coming, a party girl enjoying herself…who knows all about The Things apparently. Now she’s a meme. It makes me think about our kids and what I hear from young people now.

YOUNG PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT SEXUAL ESCAPADES.

Yes, Ma’am, even the angelic-looking high school girls you sit down the aisle from at church are talking about it. The boys in their pink chino shorts and loafers are talking about it. The skater kids, the bookworms, the goths, the preps, the redneck crowd, they are all talking about it. It’s bantered about in locker rooms. Heck, it’s a normal topic of discussion in the band hall. MIDDLE SCHOOLERS are talking about it.

YES, MIDDLE SCHOOLERS.

You would clutch your pearls if you knew the things middle school girls hear…and DO…already. Starting at about 10 years old, if kids go outside the house into a kid-centric environment, they will hear it, see it, and learn to do it.

KIDS ARE DOING ALL THE THINGS.

There are no limits. From oral sex to full-on sex, with the opposite gender, with the same, teenagers are exploring and gloating. There are few, if any, limits. All sexual activity is acceptable and “normal”.

KIDS ARE GLOATING.

One’s “body count” is a thing. (That’s how many people someone has engaged in some kind of sexual activity with.) Bragging and one-upping is common conversation between friends and in groups. It comes up effortlessly with lots of excitement and giggles, gasps and grins.

KIDS TALK ABOUT IT A LOT.

What did y’all do? Do you know what he did to me? Guess what we did this weekend? He has already slept with, like, 9 girls! Sometimes I give, and sometimes I receive.

KIDS SEND AND SHARE PICS.

Girls send nudes, no question. It’s commonplace. And I can name at least three teenage girls I know personally who received unsolicited dick pics from boys. I can even name a few boys who have received unsolicited dick pics from boys.

I’M…GETTING OLD?

People…never in my days…never in my 17,839 days exactly…have I ever shared ANY details whatsoever about intimate moments with anybody. Anybody. Not so much as a “we kissed” or “we held hands”…nothing!

When did this become ok? When did we stop teaching kids that some moments are private? Some “skills” are better left in one’s private arsenal? Some things are sacred?

When did “how many” become a thing everybody talks about (and knows about!), instead of just a disgusting thing those couple of chauvinist guys back in the day kept track of somehow?

I almost liked it better when girls who slept with ten guys were considered “whores” and dudes who slept with ten girls could proceed merrily without the label. Was it fair? No. It’s because they DIDN’T SHARE quite so much with EVERYONE. Nobody told, or they just told a guy friend or two, and there was a Bro Code. And if the info of his frequent romps got out, he DID get a reputation for being a player. Chicks could then do with that info what they would, pursue or avoid, like a warning label.

Can I also ask…did young people forget that EVERYTHING is recorded? This “hawk tuah” girl, I understand, has taken down every social media account she has ever had. The world is looking for her! She will forever be the “hawk tuah” girl, too, and all because she had no sense of shame in the moment, perhaps too much pride in her “skills”, and zero regard for being a Lady. (I’ll capitalize that word deliberately.)

I beseech you to go grab your teenager right this second and have a convo. Yes, be responsible, and work to avoid potential pregnancy. Of course, watch out for sexually transmitted diseases (In 2022, 49.8% of all STD cases were among people ages 15-24). But also…

Precious Girl and Beautiful Boy, please know when to stop talking. Please. Keep your private, intimate moments to yourself. Remove yourself from such conversations. Confide in only the truest of true friends, if you must, but don’t share quite so freely. Keep your sexual activity off the internet and social media. We don’t care, and it’s disgusting to hear about.

You are valuable. You are worthy of more. You will spend years dealing with shame and struggling to re-establish self-worth. You will get used up, then boasted about in crowds. Your social media foolishness will turn you into a forever meme. You will become a trucker hat, a t-shirt, a reel, a window decal on a lifted 2011 Chevy Silverado 1500!

Part of me feels for this girl. The other part of me wonders if her mother is mortified. Maybe its just me thinking about being a girl her age, or maybe thinking that she could be my girl, and how awful it might feel now after saying something crass so jubilantly in the moment.

If we start with our own children, can we fix it somehow? I don’t know, but it’s not my brand of “Southern Charm” or “slightly risque” as this blogger put it.

eletees.com / baoen.bonn@gmail.com

“An Undeniable Viral Sensation

The Hawk Tuah Girl meme has the internet in a chokehold. The combination of the ridiculousness, mystery, and a dab of Southern charm has turned a simple street interview into the viral phenomenon that will likely dominate social media feeds all summer and well into the prime tailgating season of fall.

So next time you see “hawk tuah” popping up in your newsfeed, you’ll have a better understanding of the playful and slightly risquĂ© origins of this viral trend. Whether it’s her DGAF personality, the Southern twang, or the sheer audacity of her statement, the Hawk Tuah Girl is getting every second out of her fifteen minutes.”

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