the purity myth
catefrances
Posts: 29,003
thoughts?
http://www.mommyish.com/2011/12/08/stuf ... inity-387/
I first read The Purity Myth by noted feminist Jennifer Valenti when I was a young independent lady making my own life in the Big Apple. But upon finishing, I thought that the core elements of this book should be shared with much younger girls. Some parents like to believe that their little girls won’t be divided into a whore/virgin dichotomy until high school, but as The Purity Myth can attest to, this “good girls” and “bad girls” split actually happens much younger.
Even fast-paced metropolitan cities still float mythologies that virginity is a young girl’s most important attribute — above scholastic achievements, generosity, and other values that she chooses to pick up a long the way. Young girls abstaining from sex for other personal reasons is an entirely different issue from an entire culture that gleans a girls’ integrity from her sexual activity — while for boys, sex never seems to be a prominant factor in determining their moral character.
All these complexities are discussed and analyzed in The Purity Myth along with “purity balls” — organized parties in which daughters make promises to their fathers to remain virgins until marriage — and the actual definition of “virginity.” Spoiler: there isn’t one! According to Valenti and her research, there is no medical definition of virginity and the concept continues to be “riddled with ambiguity.”
The Purity Myth has now been developed into a film with Ms. Valenti narrating her findings up on the big screen, pointing out that our girls are more than “virgins” and “whores.” Reducing girls to these tropes ignores the accomplishments that they’ll ultimately make in their lives and dismisses them as complex people.
Within the trailer is a clip from one of Jessica’s TV appearances in which she boils down the purity myth to this concise explanation:
The purity myth is the lie that women’s sexuality has some bearing on who we are and how good we are, because really I think we all know that young women are so much more than whether or not they have sex. We really should be teaching our daughters that their ability to be good people should be based on their intelligence, on their compassion, their kindness, not what they do with their bodies.
Jessica’s argument takes on new resonance in light of the recent decision to overrule the FDA in allowing Plan B for American girls, allegedly for safety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96n25hvuOTw
http://www.mommyish.com/2011/12/08/stuf ... inity-387/
I first read The Purity Myth by noted feminist Jennifer Valenti when I was a young independent lady making my own life in the Big Apple. But upon finishing, I thought that the core elements of this book should be shared with much younger girls. Some parents like to believe that their little girls won’t be divided into a whore/virgin dichotomy until high school, but as The Purity Myth can attest to, this “good girls” and “bad girls” split actually happens much younger.
Even fast-paced metropolitan cities still float mythologies that virginity is a young girl’s most important attribute — above scholastic achievements, generosity, and other values that she chooses to pick up a long the way. Young girls abstaining from sex for other personal reasons is an entirely different issue from an entire culture that gleans a girls’ integrity from her sexual activity — while for boys, sex never seems to be a prominant factor in determining their moral character.
All these complexities are discussed and analyzed in The Purity Myth along with “purity balls” — organized parties in which daughters make promises to their fathers to remain virgins until marriage — and the actual definition of “virginity.” Spoiler: there isn’t one! According to Valenti and her research, there is no medical definition of virginity and the concept continues to be “riddled with ambiguity.”
The Purity Myth has now been developed into a film with Ms. Valenti narrating her findings up on the big screen, pointing out that our girls are more than “virgins” and “whores.” Reducing girls to these tropes ignores the accomplishments that they’ll ultimately make in their lives and dismisses them as complex people.
Within the trailer is a clip from one of Jessica’s TV appearances in which she boils down the purity myth to this concise explanation:
The purity myth is the lie that women’s sexuality has some bearing on who we are and how good we are, because really I think we all know that young women are so much more than whether or not they have sex. We really should be teaching our daughters that their ability to be good people should be based on their intelligence, on their compassion, their kindness, not what they do with their bodies.
Jessica’s argument takes on new resonance in light of the recent decision to overrule the FDA in allowing Plan B for American girls, allegedly for safety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96n25hvuOTw
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
and a woman's supposed role in our species is to bear the child of that male.
it's going to be a long time before it's socially acceptable for a woman to be confidently openly sexual and not married.
I have never been that kind of guy. My "number" is extremely low compared to most guys I grew up with. I view guys and girls who have high numbers (at a young age) the same. People who are looking for something emotional and compensating through the sexual.
But that's just my armchair shrink opinion.
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