September 2nd - the release of Restless Virgins in paperback - is only a few days away. So, too, is the season premiere for Gossip Girl.  Thanks to my friend Dan in Chicago for pointing out this billboard advertisement:

It’s a genius move on the part of the CW network, which broadcasts the show. I bet few people (nevermind teenagers, about whom the show is based) can resist giving the ad the once-over. There’s the post-coital scene. And the play on words. So, the obvious question: Is the ad appropriate?

The semi-nudity doesn’t bother me. The capitalized quotation does. The Parents Television Council is a non-profit advocacy organization that has long railed against lots of sex, violence, and other racy things on TV. Here, it is unwittingly helping to promote the very titillating stuff it wants to kick off the prime time air.

I understand that the entertainment business is a business for the CW, but I think using the Council’s message is a hit below the belt, so to speak.

It’s the back-to-school energy that has sparked all my interest in retail. A couple of days ago it was the Gossip Girl window display at Bendel’s, and today it’s Abercrombie & Fitch. This time, it wasn’t just a visual attraction, but an olfactory and aural one as well.

We all know Abercrombie mixes the exclusive appeal of a country club’s grill room (dark wood, plaid everywhere) with the sexy draw of a hip party (dark lighting, loud music). But seriously: When did A&F turn into a nightclub, replete with velvet ropes, a line wrapping around the block, and bouncers? Not to mention all that cologne which, I swear, must be channeled through the air conditioning ducts.

The crowd standing patiently in line was largely adult, speckled by the requisite kid here and there. Four very attractive and chiseled boy/men casually hung out by the door wearing dark jeans and dark polos, selectively admitting those in line. After all that waiting, the prize? Even more sensory abuse - and finally, clothes to buy. Hooray!

Of course, this concept is not new. A&F has been doing this sort of gimmick for over a decade; it’s also the same store that charged people for its racy store catalog (the A&F Quarterly) back in the day. I have to wonder why so many parents still take their kids shopping here. Hasn’t the gimmick run its course?

They’re everywhere: on TV shows like Gossip Girl and Beverly Hills, 90210, plastered across your favorite magazines, even gallivanting around your local streets with their best friends and crushes, wearing the latest trends and preparing for the new school year. Teenagers are the obsession of pop culture, but that’s nothing new.

A recent Boston Globe article reminds us that, regardless of the decade, teens have always been fascinating to the American public. Think: Babes in Arms (1939), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), not to mention the slew of 1980s Molly Ringwald flicks. Though mid-1990s TV shows like My So-Called Life (my all-time favorite) and Freaks and Geeks didn’t make it very far, teens today are an important key to media success.

The end of the article raises an interesting point: “How much unvarnished truth can audiences take?” And, furthermore, how much of what we watch is actually true? A new generation of talented young things will always emerge—and that’s a good thing—but how many more Miley Cyruses before we reach saturation? If you’re not quite there yet, check out the new documentary film American Teen, which follows the lives of a group of high school seniors (sound familiar?) in Warsaw, Indiana. I will, too. Let me know what you think, and watch this space for more.

It was very exciting to wake up this morning and see Restless Virgins in the Daily News!

Your weekly must-have: ‘Restless Virgins‘

‘Gossip Girl,’ about students at an elite prep school on the upper East Side, is all sexy, edgy and titillating. Meanwhile, ‘Restless Virgins,’ about students at an elite prep school outside Boston, is rather sad. What’s the difference? Reality, mostly.

Read the full article.

Spotted, on the corner of 55th and 5th: Gossip Girl. At Bendel’s. Not just at, but all over Bendel’s. OMG.

Ok, so it wasn’t the real, mysterious Gossip Girl, but a window display at Henri Bendel featuring the television series - a staged scene of fashionable models to advertise the show’s upcoming season premiere on September 1, with GG-inspired words (XO, OMFG!) plastered onto the large window in bright pink. No racy sex scene, no flagrant drug use, no big deal.

Yet as I walked by the store, I was struck by the number of adults pointing at the display and taking photographs next to it flashing various expressions of shock, lust, and oddly enough, family wholesomeness. I wish I had my own camera – the tableau was quite something – to capture all the tourists, BFFNs, RUUP4ITs, and ASAFPs!

Who came up with all these acronyms, anyway: Trendy 16-year-old New Yorkers or creative 50-year-old marketing gurus from LA? Was this prominent window display intended primarily for adults, and not teens? If so, did high-schoolers walk by and roll their eyes?

I didn’t have time to stick around and check this out, so I’m not sure. But if anyone – in high school or not - can clue me in as to what FGDAI means, and can tell me that the Gossip Girl window display enticed him or her to buy something at Bendel’s, maybe I can find some answers. XO

A daughter sits on the couch, hands clasped, listening in utter agony to her mother:

“In my day, it wasn’t like nobody did anything. But certain things, you only did with certain people. I’m not talking about certain things. I’m talking about certain other things. Nowadays, it seems like people do certain things with people because they think that those things are less intimate than certain other things rather than vice versa.

Got it? Good. This cartoon by Roz Chast, which I first read in the January 21, 2008, issue of the New Yorker, epitomizes the horrified teenager and the caring yet out-of-touch parent in the midst of the infamous sex talk. In RESTLESS VIRGINS, there were few conversations between mothers, fathers, and children, but this marked absence signals an important teachable moment. In a few weeks, the new school year begins, and teenagers around the country will descend upon classrooms, locker rooms, sleepovers, and unchaperoned parties–yours included.

So talk with them about those “certain other things,” because sex is (or will be) part of every teenager’s life. Discuss social life, schoolwork, and friends as well, but I’ve learned from teens that it’s important to listen, too. And if you need a daily reminder of what not to say, you can always reread the cartoon.

Lots of people have been up in arms this week about Ali Lohan and her rumored breast implants. Lindsay Lohan, for one, is outraged. She called a reporter a “pedophile” for inquiring about Ali’s chest. Little LiLo is 14 years old, and by all means, still developing. But how young is too young for a boob job?

Breast augmentation was the most popular cosmetic surgery for women in 2007, according to the American Society for Plastic Surgery. Also last year: 7,882 girls aged 18 and under had the surgery. That’s just slightly less than the 8,209 aged girls 18 and under who had Botox injections. And how young is too young for that?

It seems beyond weird that teenagers are getting such invasive cosmetic enhancements, whether or not Ali Lohan is among them. I remember when I was in high school, getting a bikini wax was risque enough. Yet this spring I read that eight-year-olds are now getting waxed. This doesn’t make me feel dated, just confused.

The paperback of Restless Virgins hits stores on September 2nd! Nearly a year has passed since our book first came out, and we’ve had many conversations with teens, parents, teachers, friends, and readers. They’ve all asked us to share our thoughts on sex, high school, and pop culture, and with the paperback launch coming up in a few weeks, we decided to take these conversations online.

Welcome to our new blog. We’ll bring you interesting news stories and trends, and hope you’ll do the same.  If there’s something on your mind, please share it with us. If you have a question, please ask us.  Watch this space for more!

Highlights