Purity Balls: What?
Purity Balls , regardless of how the name sounds, is not the satirical term for some new kinky sex toy. No, in fact, it is the name of yet another crazy thing that fundamentalist christians practice.
Essentially, these creepy, over-involved fathers take their young daughters, all dressed up in their Walmart finest, to a ball where the daughters pledge their virginity and "purity" to their father until the day they get married.
Here is the pledge the daughter makes:
"I pledge to remain sexually pure...until the day I give myself as a wedding gift to my husband. ... I know that God requires this of me... that he loves me, and that he will reward me for my faithfulness."
Here is the pledge their loving "daddies" make:
[I] choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity....I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and as the high priest in my home.
This can all be summed up in one word. Ew. Wedding GIFT? HIGH PRIEST of their homes? I am sorry, I must have COMPLETELY missed the fact that apparently, I live Victorian England. Or Afghanistan circa, well, 2006.
To really drive my point home that this entire thing is totally disturbing, I give you this next quote. If doesn't at the very least vaguely gross you out, then get thee to Kansas or some other useless, bible thumping state:
"How can you measure the value of your eleven year old looking up into your eyes (as you clumsily learn the fox-trot together) with innocent, uncontainable joy, saying, 'Daddy, I'm so excited!' wrote Wesley Tullis in a letter describing his grateful participation. 'I have been involved with the Father-Daughter Ball for two years with my daughters, Sarah and Anna. It is impossible to convey what I have seen in their sweet spirits, their delicate, forming souls, as their daddy takes them out for their first, big dance. Their whole being absorbs my loving attention, resulting in a radiant sense of self-worth and identity. Think of it from their perspective: My daddy thinks I'm beautiful in my own unique way. My daddy is treating me with respect and honor. My daddy has taken time to be silly, and even made a fool of himself, learning how to dance. My daddy really loves me!"
To be honest, the overuse of the word "daddy" is what really gives me the skeeves.
The whole idea of it just pisses me off. Next thing you know, they are going to be having a "Chastity Belt Ball" just to make SURE "daddy" can keep his precious little daughter's purity under lock and key until some douchebag comes along that he can transfer his property, ahem, I mean daughter, to. Cause, you know, an impure daughter just isn't worth as much one that hasn't been tainted by an evil penis that her vagina didn't get sold to in marriage.
There are many aspects of our society that show just how little progress we have made in the way of women's sexuality and mens inherent fear of it. This is merely one (albeit one of the more disturbing ones) example. Instead of teaching their daughters about healthy ways to express their sexuality, they are basically telling them that it's not their decision to make, and only a "special man" like their father or husband, can have control over it.
It doesnt matter that over HALF of girls who take "purity" or virginity pledges recant them within a year. As Mark Morford of SFGate.com explains
"No wonder over half of all teens who take any sort of virginity pledge end up breaking the ridiculous vow within a year (says a new Harvard study), and fully 88 percent end up having sex before marriage anyway. What's more, such silly pledges only result in more oral and anal sex among teens who try, vainly, to adhere. They also marry younger, have fewer sexual partners (read: less skill) and yet have exactly the same rate of STDs as kids who are smart enough to avoid such pointless pledges in the first place."
Yeah, exactly. Do these idiots need any more proof that their ignorance filled policies simply do not work? Like I said in an earlier post, facts, figures, and you know, a little thing called reality don't seem to stop this assault on rational thought.
What I want to know is, why aren't they pledging their virginity to their mothers? Additionally, why don't the sons pledge their virginity to their mothers. Hmmmmmm.
The answer to think is pretty simple and most likely obvious to anyone who has given even the tiniest bit of thought to gender relations in this world.
Women can NEVER, EVER have control over their own sexuality, much less a man's. The father transfers his control of his daughter's sexuality over to her husband while the double standard states that their son's sexuality doesnt really matter because he's a male who ostensibly controls his own. Also, men can do whatever they want when it comes to their own sexuality with no social assumptions or repercussions at all. Duh!
Of course, I could get in to a whole slew of issues regarding all the socio-economic, racial, and nationalistic boundaries when it comes to men's obsession with female sexual purity, but that's what I did my undergraduate thesis on, and I dont feel like writing 110 pages worth of shit here.
This guy says it better and covers more points then I can right now at 12am.
What this all really amounts to is why we call these parts of the country "fly-over states". Thanks, but when I get on a plane I really prefer not to land in hell.
Essentially, these creepy, over-involved fathers take their young daughters, all dressed up in their Walmart finest, to a ball where the daughters pledge their virginity and "purity" to their father until the day they get married.
Here is the pledge the daughter makes:
"I pledge to remain sexually pure...until the day I give myself as a wedding gift to my husband. ... I know that God requires this of me... that he loves me, and that he will reward me for my faithfulness."
Here is the pledge their loving "daddies" make:
[I] choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity....I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and as the high priest in my home.
This can all be summed up in one word. Ew. Wedding GIFT? HIGH PRIEST of their homes? I am sorry, I must have COMPLETELY missed the fact that apparently, I live Victorian England. Or Afghanistan circa, well, 2006.
To really drive my point home that this entire thing is totally disturbing, I give you this next quote. If doesn't at the very least vaguely gross you out, then get thee to Kansas or some other useless, bible thumping state:
"How can you measure the value of your eleven year old looking up into your eyes (as you clumsily learn the fox-trot together) with innocent, uncontainable joy, saying, 'Daddy, I'm so excited!' wrote Wesley Tullis in a letter describing his grateful participation. 'I have been involved with the Father-Daughter Ball for two years with my daughters, Sarah and Anna. It is impossible to convey what I have seen in their sweet spirits, their delicate, forming souls, as their daddy takes them out for their first, big dance. Their whole being absorbs my loving attention, resulting in a radiant sense of self-worth and identity. Think of it from their perspective: My daddy thinks I'm beautiful in my own unique way. My daddy is treating me with respect and honor. My daddy has taken time to be silly, and even made a fool of himself, learning how to dance. My daddy really loves me!"
To be honest, the overuse of the word "daddy" is what really gives me the skeeves.
The whole idea of it just pisses me off. Next thing you know, they are going to be having a "Chastity Belt Ball" just to make SURE "daddy" can keep his precious little daughter's purity under lock and key until some douchebag comes along that he can transfer his property, ahem, I mean daughter, to. Cause, you know, an impure daughter just isn't worth as much one that hasn't been tainted by an evil penis that her vagina didn't get sold to in marriage.
There are many aspects of our society that show just how little progress we have made in the way of women's sexuality and mens inherent fear of it. This is merely one (albeit one of the more disturbing ones) example. Instead of teaching their daughters about healthy ways to express their sexuality, they are basically telling them that it's not their decision to make, and only a "special man" like their father or husband, can have control over it.
It doesnt matter that over HALF of girls who take "purity" or virginity pledges recant them within a year. As Mark Morford of SFGate.com explains
"No wonder over half of all teens who take any sort of virginity pledge end up breaking the ridiculous vow within a year (says a new Harvard study), and fully 88 percent end up having sex before marriage anyway. What's more, such silly pledges only result in more oral and anal sex among teens who try, vainly, to adhere. They also marry younger, have fewer sexual partners (read: less skill) and yet have exactly the same rate of STDs as kids who are smart enough to avoid such pointless pledges in the first place."
Yeah, exactly. Do these idiots need any more proof that their ignorance filled policies simply do not work? Like I said in an earlier post, facts, figures, and you know, a little thing called reality don't seem to stop this assault on rational thought.
What I want to know is, why aren't they pledging their virginity to their mothers? Additionally, why don't the sons pledge their virginity to their mothers. Hmmmmmm.
The answer to think is pretty simple and most likely obvious to anyone who has given even the tiniest bit of thought to gender relations in this world.
Women can NEVER, EVER have control over their own sexuality, much less a man's. The father transfers his control of his daughter's sexuality over to her husband while the double standard states that their son's sexuality doesnt really matter because he's a male who ostensibly controls his own. Also, men can do whatever they want when it comes to their own sexuality with no social assumptions or repercussions at all. Duh!
Of course, I could get in to a whole slew of issues regarding all the socio-economic, racial, and nationalistic boundaries when it comes to men's obsession with female sexual purity, but that's what I did my undergraduate thesis on, and I dont feel like writing 110 pages worth of shit here.
This guy says it better and covers more points then I can right now at 12am.
What this all really amounts to is why we call these parts of the country "fly-over states". Thanks, but when I get on a plane I really prefer not to land in hell.
posted by Unknown at 11:18 PM
1 Comments:
Very insiteful, these pureity ball things are just strange. Men dominance is really out of hand in those cases, i mean hell, these are the type of father who buy those gps panties to make sure their daughter isn't doing anything. I guess no one can trust anyone, nor do they want anyone to have freedom. I would never do that stupid pledge as a father, it's not my place to make my daughter a "gift" to a man, or woman if they end up not being into men.
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