The pornography industry earns about $13 billion a year.

About 75 percent of prime time network television includes sexual content.

Why is it then that the “walk of shame,” still exists if society is exposed to so much sex?

We’ve all seen the walk of shame . or have done it ourselves. It’s fairly common on university campuses; however, it doesn’t always mean that someone had a one-night-stand.

It probably means they were extremely intoxicated the night before, but sex isn’t always involved. I’ve seen different walks of shame while living in Athens.

One “walk of shame” I’ve seen includes couples. I’ve walked by the condom aisle in Wal-Mart before and have seen a couple standing there making some choices. They seemed kind of embarrassed to be “caught.” I can imagine it’s kind of embarrassing to have some stranger see you and assume you are having sex.

I personally don’t think buying condoms should be shameful at all. If anything, kudos to you for being smart and protecting yourself.

The most popular walk of shame usually occurs on Baxter Street in the morning. There is occasionally a college girl walking back from Milledge Ave. in heels and a dress, which I’d wager is from the night before. She just never makes it back to her dorm room.

One can presume she had a one-night stand. But that’s not always the case. Maybe she just had a friend who lived on Milledge and decided she wanted to stay there. Either way, she takes the inevitable “walk of shame” the next morning.

I’ve also seen the walk of shame in class. One day a girl walked in wearing a huge Guy Harvey shirt and looked a little rough. She didn’t even have her own school supplies.

It was pretty obvious that she had lived an interesting night. She also looked as if she came right from her boyfriend’s house or some other guy’s place. Borrowed clothes, borrowed notebooks . OK.

Now I’m not trying to be condescending. Freshman year I walked back from Milledge myself with some other girls in the morning. I have also participated in the walk of shame.

Maybe it’s not a question of why the walk of shame still exists .maybe the question is why does it exist for women?

Porn and sexual content on TV are so profitable and abundant. Sex isn’t anything new to society. Why does it seem as if women are supposed to feel ashamed and men aren’t. Do they even have anything to be ashamed of?

Guys do, however, have their walk of shame, or walk of honor for that matter. I remember being a freshman and seeing guys walk out of girls’ rooms the morning after a fun night.

I also remember seeing guys walk out of Brumby Hall in the morning. For them, I bet it was the walk of honor.

Most people still have a feeling of guilt and embarrassment when they are “caught.” Whether that means they were caught buying condoms, walking out of the wrong dorm, or walking down Baxter in high heels and a dress, there is still a sense shame.

I guess the walk of shame really depends on if the guilt is self-inflicted or not. You can either choose to skulk throw the aisles with your box of Trojans and have your forehead scrapping the concrete as you walk back to your dorm, or you can embrace the situation at hand.

Remember, it’s only a walk of shame if you have something to be embarrassed about.

- Jourdana Passaro is a junior from St. Marys, Ga., majoring in risk management and insurance and magazines.