I'm embarrassed for my generation if the most they can muster in defense of such alarmingly idiotic (not passing moral judgments here, just saying, getting that drunk is possibly the most flamingly stupid thing you could ever do) is that they hope one day they won't be judged for their behavior.

WAKE UP girlies. The day you can do whatever the hell you want without being judged for your actions is the day anyone can do whatever they want without being judged. That includes theft, rape, murder, as well as bombing foreign countries. I guess we're already well on our way there.

These so-called liberated individuals have simply become slaves to their own toxic addictions, and their perverted worldview that they ought to be able to engage in whatever drunken, dangerous activity they want to because the Man is just trying to keep them down.

True freedom lies in the recognition and acceptance of responsibility. I'm embarrassed to be part of a generation that might believe otherwise.

I don't know what an appropriate judgment of these people would be. I think others could legitimately judge young people's maturity and responsibility based on photos like these (and even moreso based on the fact that they seem to be proudly posting them for the world to see). I myself don't judge them except that I think their actions are extremely foolish and possibly dangerous. I am an undergraduate student right now and there is a very striking difference between the kind of binge drinking for the sole purpose of getting wasted and moderate social drinking for the purpose of enjoying other people's companionship over a pint or a glass of wine. Unfortunately I see all too much of the former. I cannot speak for other campuses, but here, the majority of students drink vodka shots. This is because they don't drink for the enjoyment of it... they hate the taste of alcohol and are essentially ignorant of the different kinds available to them. They are simply drinking in the way that will get them "buzzed" or even "wasted" fast enough so that they can be less inhibited and have a better time.

In good faith I feel very sorry for people who do that, many of whom are (or were) my friends. Surely it does not fall into the realm of rational behavior for someone to get so wasted that they cannot remember anything the morning after, or wake up in a strange place, or simply pass out. Surely it is not normal that such a situation is lauded as a really good time. I feel, therefore, that other factors must be somehow involved... issues of self-esteem, the inability to meaningfully interact with people while sober, peer pressure, being a rebel for rebellion's sake, and so on. So to be honest I pity people who engage in this sort of behavior. And I pity people who mistake such behavior for self-expression or freedom. I agree that we should live in a society free of stigma against something such as reasonable drinking, but I think young people should also be free from needing to imbibe to have a good time.

To Holly... sounds like a good time to me :-P

See, that is an issue of similarity in background, though. Of course you are more likely to trust someone who has done similar things to you. I, having never engaged in such activity, am far less likely to trust a mature adult who admits to having done such things in his or her past. I feel very distanced from my parents, for example, when they talk about their drinking and partying years, because that is something I have never experienced, nor have I experienced the desire for something like that. I don't understand the drinking/drugging/partying mentality at all, never have, never will. So obviously I will trust and understand someone like me and you will trust and understand someone like you.

When I was a junior in high school, I was so fed up with the absolute boredom that I would fake sick to try to get my mom to call in for me every once in a while. Of course, my mom being the smart woman that she is, saw right through me and eventually she got fed up with it. After a long argument, we finally agreed that I could have one "mental health day" for each month of school, and she would call in for me, no questions asked. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Now in college I have no reason to skip because the courses are interesting and the professors engaging.

But I imagine there is a significant number of women who are working in boring, monotonous jobs (secretary, clerk, assistant, file-pusher, etc) who need an extra break every once in a while.