Bracelet or Sexual Resume?

September 14, 2009     Posted in Reality

rubber braceletsWhenever I find myself at the mall (which, unfortunately for my savings account, is way too much), I can’t help but stop in Claire’s to pick up some super cheap studs and a few headbands. (Don’t judge.) And every time, without fail, there’ s a group of trying-too-hard-uncomfortable-in-their-skin preteens buying up those ugly jelly bracelets like its their job. Flashbacks of my own horrible purchases (and the terrible need to sell my soul to be part of the click) force me out of the store as quickly as possible, as I chalk up the rubber things as a fleeting fad in preteen fashion.


By Brianna

But a recent article now has me thinking that these girls are a whole new generation of slut, wearing their sexual history on their sleeves.

The gist of the article is that a middle school in Colorado has banned rubber bracelets because they believe the students are participating in “snap games.” No, that’s not some sort of game where you pull back the rubber bracelet and snap your friend’s wrist to make her scream bloody murder. It’s actually when students wear different bracelets to represent their participation in certain sexual acts.

Pause.
WHAT!?

I always thought these bracelets were sorta ugly, but knowing they actually represent BJs on the bus and getting down and dirty with a boy at a bar mitzvah makes me feel all kinds of gross and old. Back in my day we wore the rubber bracelets to support a meaningful cause. We had ones in remembrance of 9/11 and we had pink bracelets with the cancer ribbon to support loved ones battling the disease. We didn’t walk around with an arm full of “Suck the Penis” bracelets pledging our allegiance to the adolescent sex cause.

But what’s worse than actually taking part in this fad is the fact that administrators think banning the things is going to put the kabosh on recess romps. I’m positive that most of these girls are just wearing the stupid bracelets so that they don’t get ousted by Slutty Stacey at the next lunch table meeting. And the ones who actually are participating in this game can just text their new boyfriend their sexual resume instead of displaying it publicly on their arm.

Seriously, can we get these kids some damn sex education, please? Maybe focusing our efforts on teaching girls how to use a rubber instead of banning rubber (bracelets) would be more productive…

(Also productive: starting this fad on a college campus. If those college boys joined in it might save us all a lot of time weeding out the manwhores….)

30 Comments on "Bracelet or Sexual Resume?"

  1. x says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 200910:22 am 

    This has been around for like a decade. still whorish, though.

  2. Ness - Sheridan says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 200910:58 am 

    This was a fad when I was in middle school. We all used to wear the bracelets, but NO ONE we knew played the "snap game". So I think it's a little unfair to generalize the people who wear the bracelets as sluts, when the fast majority of them aren't playing the game.

    But, they ARE fugly…

  3. Katee says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 200912:01 pm 

    sadly, i have to say that its been around forever

    i bought them before knowing

    and actually got a talking to from a friends mom

    saying i was too young to be partaking in that kind of trash

    i stopped wearing them then and there

    and i am sooooo glad

  4. Erich says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 200912:50 pm 

    the answer is not sex education, its abstinence, how many of the girls are having sex and prob gonna have an unwanted baby. Guarentee that little girl and her punk ass teenage man aren't goona be the ones taking care of it. And you wonder why the world is going to hell.

  5. Ellie says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 200912:57 pm 

    Seriously, you just caught on to this? The "adults" were freaking out about it when I was in middle school – 8 years ago.

    Old people are always looking for something shocking in teenagers. What does this sound like? Oh, yes, rainbow parties. That was another thing that never really existed but adults thought happened.

    Wikipedia and snopes.com (both not particularly fabulous resources, but certainly better than panicked parents) both call "sex bracelets" urban legends that nevertheless caused several schools to ban them in 2003. It seems that the rumor has raised its head again. This article is silly, as is the article you responded to. Maybe you should try doing additional research sometime.

  6. Ellie says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20091:03 pm 

    Correction – by "article you responded to" I meant the New York Times article, not the Jezebel article. The Jezebel article actually has good comments.

  7. Katelyn says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20091:05 pm 

    I was in the 7th grade in 02-03, I lovveedd Jelly Bracelets, I didn't even know why we couldn't wear them until a TEACHER told me the "story" behind the colors and whatnot.

    Shows how stupid adults are. I doubt kids really even took part in that crap back then. At least I didn't.. =

  8. Becca says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20091:21 pm 

    The most reality I've seen in this urban legend has been in a Degrassi episode. I can't believe people are still buying into it.

  9. jane says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20092:10 pm 

    yep. old. and not true.

  10. brenda says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20093:06 pm 

    jill, you are a complete and utter idiot. Brianna rocks, and i think someone is just a little jealous that we (the readers, which includes you seeing as you read this article AND the Kanye article) read her stuff. if YOU have a problem, stay off collegecandy.com, and go read a book about lynching knots you racist, bigoted idiot. i feel sorry for people like you, you never had a chance because of your backwards raising… i pity you, you sad pathetic little worm…

  11. brenda says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20093:09 pm 

    oh and something thats been around since 1900?? did your mama tell you that around the dinner table with the possum stew she would make?? sad, sad little girl…

  12. brenda says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20093:13 pm 

    like i said jill, stay off collegecandy.com if you have such a problem with Brianna. besides, someone with the IQ of an amoeba shouldnt speak, you sad depressed little girl.

  13. brenda says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20093:15 pm 

    IDIOT, you said 1900, they said about 10 years ago! wow, youre really stupid arent you dear. did they hold you back a few grades whilst you were in high school?? please, i dare you to do something stupid. im mexican, proud of it. what are you gonna do about it?? absofuckinglutely nothing you racist piece of shit. haha, its so sad how your parents raised you to be this closed minded…

  14. Alice says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20093:28 pm 

    BTW Brenda, when Jill said 1900, she was making fun of Brianna for being slow on trends by exaggerating the length of time.

    I wouldn't take either side, but it's a ridiculous point, an exaggeration.

  15. brenda says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20093:36 pm 

    hey jill, how would you know what i smell like fuckface?? besides, sad little girls like you little miss countryfuck shouldnt talk, i think your mom and dad must be brother and sister, since your IQ and colloquialism seems to be that of people who like incest. tell your mom and dad that im sorry they had a fucked up child. they should have named you Bobby Boucher!

  16. R says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20094:16 pm 

    We used to wear these bracelets all the time but the colors didn't have meanings. The idea was that if you were hooking up with a boy and they "accidentally" broke one of the bracelets you were supposed to have sex with them. We were all innocent enough so if bracelets ever broke that was pretty much the end of the scandal.

    But yes, this story has been around for a very long time.

  17. J says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20094:45 pm 

    Urban legend! As far as I know, nobody has ever done this in real life…

    Generally speaking, any "shocking" news story about teenage sexual behavior doesn't apply to at least 99% of real teenagers.

  18. Laura says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20096:00 pm 

    yeah, like everybody else said, this has been around since i was in middle school (late 90's), it's not news by any means… any 2 second google search could have told you that

  19. Maria says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20097:03 pm 

    actually, this was around for around 7-8 years ago. they were really popular in elementary school and i learned that it was a sexual game from my mom when she wouldn't let me have some. then learned the game from a friend who wore them. the colors represent diff sexual acts, such as black means "all the way." To play the game, someone breaks off a bracelet. depending on the color, you do that sexual act with that person.

    not promising correct, this is just what my friend told me who wore them. …she wore all black and red…and was friends with another girl wore the whole damn rainbow…

  20. jeff says:
    Mon, 14th Sep 20098:38 pm 

    i have heard about this urban legend for years and jill did your family ask permison form the natives to move hers in theary your are a desandant of illegals and your races ways is a discrase to the white and the whole human race

  21. brenda says:
    Tue, 15th Sep 20095:51 am 

    finally, someone speaks sense! thanks jeff!

  22. Johnnie says:
    Tue, 15th Sep 20096:29 am 

    Erich….you must be joking…you are so grossly misinformed on the objectives of sex education it is ridiculous.

  23. m0ng00se says:
    Tue, 15th Sep 20096:38 am 

    Hmmmm… sure makes shopping easier!

  24. vanessa says:
    Tue, 15th Sep 200911:04 am 

    this topic is so old, seriously collage candy?

  25. Danielle says:
    Wed, 16th Sep 200910:17 am 

    yeah this was the case when i was in i was in middle school 8 or nine years ago. they even had an episode of george lopez about it.

  26. Payton says:
    Wed, 19th May 201011:40 am 

    One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.

  27. hmmok says:
    Fri, 11th Feb 20119:14 pm 

    i like them because i think there cute. I don't participate in the game. Not everybody who wears them are sluts. not nice to judge…

  28. wristbands says:
    Wed, 23rd Feb 20119:47 am 

    I like the band colors.

  29. brianna says:
    Sat, 10th Dec 20111:07 pm 

    i knew about bracelets since i was in 5th grade and my sister couldn wear them and i knew about the meaning and stuff since the fifth grade because my cousin told me. but im allowed to wear them because my grandma doesnt care anymore because were older

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