I’d be interested in reading the entries in the contest below.

Dating via Skype; “hooking up” vs. dinner-and-a-movie; not to mention date rape drugs, are a very different scene than when I was single. And the freedom to be who you are, especially for same-sex, bi-,  and transgendered people, gender-neutral and gender-queer–so many more choices named and sometimes celebrated. How many of us would have seen ourselves as non-binary, given the choice? Who had the courage to name that, even in the blazing 60s? Shulamith Firestone and others, yes, perhaps pointed the direction, but how much farther we are along the road.

But young people are very different in other ways today, too. From challenging a teacher’s pronoun use to calling someone out on Instagram, new models prevail.

For all the fuss made about sexual assault on campus, for example–and fuss NEEDS to be made about it, of course!–I know young women who are not only more assertive, but also more attentive to what’s happening to their friends at parties; and I know young men who resist the rape culture. Far more young people are taking care of each other than we know about, I believe. How else have things changed that we don’t often hear about?

And how have they stayed the same? I must admit I was somewhat shocked recently when a nephew went on a soul-searching trip to Nepal. I expected, I suppose, the mind frontier must have changed by now. But I suppose self-diminishing peaks and fresh oxygen never go out of style.

Is a rose still a rose, a kiss still a kiss, a morning-after still as awkward? Yes, I’d like to read and learn. Any lit recommendations along these lines would be appreciated.

Modern Love College Essay Contest

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/02/05/style/modern-love-college-essay-contest.html
Deadline: March 15, 2015
NO ENTRY FEE

From The New York Times: “We’re inviting college students nationwide to open their hearts and laptops and write an essay that describes what love is like for them today.” Prize: “The winning author will receive $1,000 and his or her essay will be published in a special Modern Love column [in] May 2015, and on nytimes.com”