In case you were wondering, the answer is no: archaic, irrational and destructive attitudes toward and ideas about sex are not dead, but are alive and well in the youth of France. VIGNEUX-SUR-SEINE, France — The boys were patient, standing in line and waiting their turn to rape. [NYTimes]

In the recent court case, the assault on the two girls was either oral or anal; vaginal sex would have stolen the girls' virginity, which apparently was not the goal of the attackers. "In many cases, the violence of a band of young men against a girl is considered a rite of sexual initiation to prove one's manhood," said Hugues Lagrange, a sociologist at the Center for Scientific Research in Paris who specializes in adolescent sexuality. "In the boys' minds, if a girl's virginity is respected, then nothing bad has happened."