George Orwell's Oceana

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In 1984, George Orwell tells the story of a love affair between two individuals by the names of Julia and Winston. In the fictional world of Oceana, it is illegal to make love for pleasure, so they must sneak behind the government’s back to do so. The constant sneaking around only to be caught and tortured wrung the humanity out of Winston and Julia. This behavior is similar to the modern-day act of sexting. If somebody were to look at a group of teenagers in any given area, how many would he predict have sexted? The statistics that he would see might shock him, but considering the epidemic that sexting has become, the statistics might not be as shocking as one would originally think. Sexting can most clearly be defined as minors taking nude or partially nude pictures of themselves and sending them to others, or forwarding received pictures to other people (Lounsbury et al). However, it can also be defined as the trading of sexual fantasies over text (Scurfield). Although sexting may not seem dangerous, the legal, emotional, and social consequences can be devastating to the point of dehumanization. In 1984, when Winston asks if Julia has had an illicit love affair before, she says that she has done it “hundreds of times—well, scores of times anyway” (Orwell). She has gotten to the point in which she does not think twice about the fact that her actions are drastically illegal. This, in a way, describes the epidemic of sexting. It has gotten to the point where nobody cares about the consequences because teenagers think they’re invincible. They don’t consider the possibility of getting caught. Some reasons behind sexting can include curiosity, feeling pressured, being in love, or a simple lack of ability to use good reasoning (Lohm... ... middle of paper ... ...id Finkelhor name some statistics on sexting. I will use these statistics to show just how commons sexting really is. Scurfield, Maureen. "Problems Caused By Sexting Nothing to LOL About." Winnipeg Free Press 22 Jan. 2014, sec. D: n. pag. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Scurfield, in her article, defines sexting as the act of "having verbal sex by text" and argues that sexting does, in fact, qualify as cheating in a relationship. To prove her point, she brings up the fact that it can lead to wanting more than just words and eventually to committing the full act. Scurfield writes for people who have had to deal with their significant others sexting with other people, and gives them advice as to what to do about the situation, always saying to break off the relationship. This article will provide me with some of the social consequences of sexting.

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