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{"id":198,"date":"2012-05-24T08:47:04","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T12:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cultivare\/?p=198"},"modified":"2012-05-24T09:05:01","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T13:05:01","slug":"selling-your-virginity-the-reality-show-that-almost-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cultivare\/2012\/05\/selling-your-virginity-the-reality-show-that-almost-was\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling Your V-Card? The Reality Show that Might Have Been"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Here\u2019s that casting call (as noted on breitbart.com <\/a> and the Christian Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cDO YOU WANT TO TAKE THINGS TO THE NEXT LEVEL? LIKE, ARE YOU READY TO HAND OVER YOUR V CARD? OR DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND WHO IS READY TO LOSE IT?<\/em><\/p>\n

Young adulthood is a time for exploration. New relationships, fresh experiences and sexual firsts\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Now MTV is looking to frankly capture that journey in a new series called My First\u2026We\u2019re looking for adults who are ready to go all the way. Let MTV come along on your journey\u2026 as you try to lose your virginity! (Note: We will be filming whether or not you accomplish this goal\u2026 but NOT the act itself. Duh.)<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are 18 years or older and are willing to candidly allow MTV to accompany you on the journey toward \u201closing it,\u201d please send us an email.\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not given to chasing MTV shows around with a shaking Bible. If savvy execs want to subject curious, bored eyes to the high fashion of Jersey Shore, <\/em>so be it. These features of popular culture offer a way-too-easy target for irritable Christians, when there is plenty of serious injustice in the world (and in our neighborhoods) to get riled up about.<\/p>\n

We can perhaps give credit to MTV for yanking the idea after some heated reaction from the public. But had they pressed forward, this would have taken reality TV to another level. This is not just about cranky, holier-than-thou folks trying to protect their children from \u201cthe real world.\u201d This is about the\u00a0commodification <\/em>of sex in the mainstream: young people are lured by the promise of five minutes of fame to \u201csell\u201d their potentially most precious, most intimate experience of human development and relationality. <\/em>Sex, or in this case the loss of virginity, becomes a commodity to be bought and sold, like sugar, wheat, or cell phones. Are you ready to hand over <\/em>[sell] your V-Card? <\/em>For now at least, the better angels of mainstream society still recognize that virginity is not a product to be bought or sold. Nor is sex a quest to achieve, under the watchful eye of the public.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"