Purity: Why It's Never Been More Popular (VIDEO)

Today's New York Times has a fascinating article on the rising Evangelical trend of "Purity Pledges." Last Friday marked the 9th annual Father-Daughter Purity Ball where, "after dessert, the 63 men stood and read aloud a covenant 'before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity."'

According to the New York Times:

The gesture signaled that the fathers would guard their daughters from what evangelicals consider a profoundly corrosive "hook-up culture." The evening, which alternated between homemade Christian rituals and giddy dancing, was a joyous public affirmation of the girls' sexual abstinence until they wed.

Yet the graying men in the shadow of their glittering daughters were the true focus of the night. To ensure their daughters' purity, they were asked to set an example and to hew to evangelical ideals in a society they say tempts them as much as it does their daughters.

While its a noble idea, the Times is also quick to point out that though:

...recent studies have suggested that close relationships between fathers and daughters can reduce the risk of early sexual activity among girls and teenage pregnancy. But studies have also shown that most teenagers who say they will remain abstinent, like those at the ball, end up having sex before marriage, and they are far less likely to use condoms than their peers.

Regardless, purity pledges and the accompanying purity rings are being seen everywhere from Miley Cyrus to the Jonas Brothers. Miley Cyrus' purity ring was even used in defense of rumors that the teen mega-star was pregnant.

Other celebrity purity endorsers include Jordin Sparks, Jessica Simpson (who, apparently and amazingly, kept her pledge), Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima, and who can forget the most famous "virgin" of all: Britney Spears.

According to ABC News:

The newest crop of teen celebrities - Disney's Miley Cyrus and boy band The Jonas Brothers - as well as slightly older stars such as Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima, are all toting the same accessory: their virginity.

In a September 2007 interview with Extra!, Cyrus, now 15, defended herself against rumors that she's pregnant, citing her vow to stay celibate until marriage.

"It's given me the street cred to say that would be impossible, because I'm living my life the way I believe is right and that is to stay pure," she said.

Lima, 26, told GQ magazine in April 2006 that she's saving herself for marriage, despite those who may raise their eyebrows at her sexy runway outfits and her nude photo shoots.

NBC News also has a short segment on purity pledges. Watch:

See the accompanying NYT slideshow here.

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You can get your own free purity pledge here and stay up-to-date on purity events and meet-ups at Pledge2Purity.com.

So, what do you think? Do believe in Purity Pledges? Have you taken one? Would you have your daughter taken one? Tell us your thoughts below.

Comments

[research]

Reread "the Scarlet Letter".

[abdallac]

CRUISEPUPPY - you idiot. You know NOTHING about the Middle East, Middle Eastern women or how Islam, Christianity and Judaism is PRACTICED in the ME by the majority of these people. So shut up. All of my female cousins could probably whip your a.. from here to the falafel stand. They're VERY educated, opinionated, strong and devout Muslim women that rock with great dignity and wisdom and have the admiration and respect of their husbands!

I think this "ball" is misguided, but I also understand the motivation behind it. The so called "enlightened, progressive" people here on this post - seem to get hives at the thought that many people actually have a deep and profound belief in an Almighty G-d. If one believes in G-d, it stands to reason that G-d has a purpose for us, and JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IN LIFE, there are rules and guidelines to protect/maintain society.

It's a parents duty to set moral parameters. Personally, I DON'T want my sons thinking the RIGHT thing is to hop from bed to bed to bed test driving every girl they like - and to think that's a GOOD AND NORMAL THING. I give them an understanding/context of what our faith teaches from there it's their decision how they choose to live when they get to adulthood.

The disdain for religion shows an underlying unwillingness to look at aspects of our culture and understand why there exists these reactions from certain quarters of our society.

[TheBlackCat]

FOXNEWS:
I'm *fairly* certain that post was directed at me, but for the life of me I cannot pick out a single coherent sentence. I'm not being sarcastic, I just honestly have no idea what you're trying to say to me. Something about suicidal condoms raping your drug addicted daughters? Is that it? Because THAT sounds like a pretty awesome plot line for a Japanese B horror movie.

[Felicty]

That's right, girls.

Save that virginity until daddy comes home drunk and takes it.

[democracydiva]

Cynical. Considering the statistics of incest i.e. 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys (conservative estimates) maybe not so cynical.

[noodlesoup]

My imaginary kitten-in-the-sky is better than your imaginary angry-daddy-in-the sky because she has magic kitty powers. She also thinks purity balls are creepy and proto-incestuous.

[cobraxus]

the purity pledge is nothing more then a symbolic marriage between a man and his own daughter,with the father in essence owning her sexuel identity until such a time as he can sell it to the highest bidder.

[sdskelton03]

Perhaps these purity balls are a little creepy. I am a Christian father of a young girl that I teach to respect her body and I hope she is a virgin until marriage as well. But I wont take her to one of these.

I do, however, understand why the parents are over reacting this way. Our society is dripping with images of younger and younger girls portrayed in a sexual way. Just the other day at the mall their was tween girl wearing sweatpants with the word "juicy" written across her ass. Anyone watch MTV lately? Anyone see the way women are portrayed in music videos?

I completely understand why parents do that.

[ddharder]

Well, humans are sexual animals afterall. There's nothing wrong with sex. It's part of what makes us human.

[WretchedEtcher]

"Virgin Mary was tired, so tired. Tired of listening to gossip; gossip and complaints. They came from next door." - Bauhaus

[dcpirana]

I'm normally against the idea of "thought crimes," but I'm willing to make an exception here: anyone who devotes more than a moment's neural activity to contemplating Miley Cirus's virginity should be lobotomized.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

This also smacks of indoctrination into a middle eastern mind set, albeit poised under frills and lace. What will they do if the girls back out of ths pact? Stone them to death? Hello. This is why I cringe when I get told, as a catholic you are also christain. Um NOOOOOO, I won't follow any religion that limits my ability to think, act, do, for myself. My daughter also raised as a psuedo catholic, wasn't raised like this, won't ever be raised to prevent her independence. Its disgusting, Damn religious wing nuts need to stay out of our bedrooms, and thier kids. Its going to backfire, just wait and see. God these people are dumb. I feel for these girls, they will never know what it means to be able to decide for themselves. How selfish of the parents. Utterly selfish.

[TheBlackCat]

Oh for pity's sakes cruise puppies you really think these parents are SELFISH? Misguided yes, but selfish, no. They were raised religiously and believe it is what is right. They teach their kids purity because they think it's protecting them. Yes there are definately your disgusting patriarchal mysoginist parents who want to control everything about their daughters, but most of these parents are just trying to do what's right by their kids.

My parents taught me abstinence, they raised me Catholic. I wish they hadn't, I think they were misguided, but they were WONDERFUL WONDERFUL parents who raised me well, and I'd never turn them in for another set of parents just because of the religious aspect of my upbringing. They took in a very troubled, severely abused foster kid with an extensive rap sheet by age 13; now my sister is a loving, happy girl who goes to a great college, does extensive volunteer work, and is doing fantastic! (she did not ever become religious, if you're wondering, and my folks don't care, so long as she's happy).
But no, your right, all that is cancelled out by the fact they brought her to church on Sunday. What horrible, selfish people my parents were.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

So they are raising a bunch of stepford wives in the making? A bunch of spineless women who won't ever fight back, refuse anything thier husbands say or want. I have nothing against women waiting until they are ready to have sex, but this smacks of much mroe than that, a brainwashing is what it reminds me of. Lets just call it a cult and get it over with.

[FirstShirt]

And you offer them what? STD's?

[MalloMel]

Most of them are going to break their pledge anyway, and they won't wear a condom because that was not taught to them. They are the ones most likely to have an abortion, because of the shame factor. Bunch of hypocrites.

[democracydiva]

Good point. They weren't taught about sex ed or condoms. The stats are out with this prez who advocated abstinence vs. Bill Clinton who advocated sex ed. There are many more unwanted teen pregnancies with the current nutcase-in-chief.

[sdskelton03]

Everyone knows about condoms.

[TheBlackCat]

On the one hand, I appreciate my Catholic parents being very involved in my life and trying to keep me safe and healthy by heavily pushing abstinance. I was always told "The most precious thing you can give your husband is your virginity." They WEREN'T trying to brainwash me, they honestly had my well being in mind.

On the other hand...I appreciate even more that my high school boyfriend's father bought him condoms.

[MalloMel]

Hurrah for your boyfriends father.

[Kristen777]

This is too creepy for words. It's almost incestuous . . . . ewwwwww

[w&cheneysuck]

Yeah, well my neice took a vow of celebacy and she's 19 and pregnant (& has a restraining order out on the father). So, this is a joke! She ruined her life and it's sad. I'm sure she's not alone here.

[Chimichurri]

Heh. Jessica Simpson "who, apparently and amazingly, kept her pledge" was divorced a few years later. How Christian is that?

They hypocrisy is astounding.

[FirstShirt]

Making a decison when you are an adult is, well, and adult decision. Good, bad and ugly. Why shouldn't children wait? It isn't as much a religious question as a question of being prepared developmentally. You agnostics and athiests are more wrapped up in religion than most believers. But, that's ok. Jesus loves you.

[MalloMel]

I put a hex on you, too.

[recless]

I love how the Christian posters claim that these girls are Christian. That's funny. They can't drive. They can't vote. They can't enter into any contracts. Are they Christians? It seems to me they are being "claimed" as Christian. Maybe when they grow up they will be able to pick their own religious beliefs. Right now, they really have a very limited understanding of the religion they supposedly claim.

How hideous. These girls are not doing this for themselves. They are doing it to make daddy happy, like good little girls. Excellent training in a way. When they graduate to adults they are then supposed to make hubby happy. Guess it has a sick kind of logic to it after all.

[sdskelton03]

Yeah, there is nothing more hideous than a bunch of girls choosing to respect thier bodies.

[recless]

They are not choosing anything, they are just following along like little sheep to make daddy and/or the family happy. That's not respecting your body, that's being led around by the nose.

[spacedog605]

It is possible to respect your body without acting like a freak.

[Aslanspal]

Another creepy aspect is these right wing christian fathers programing these kids that a man should be over them and look to them for dependence...yes and no...this is way too much and is something out of the Stepford Wifes. imho

[rektruax]

These girls are robots?

[ChicagoBob]

!

A good education and a box of condoms will do nicely.

Pledge notwithstanding, most of the "pure" will end up having sex anyway so the Boy Scout motto really needs to be considered.

As for my daughters, they knew about condoms long before they needed them. No teenage pregnancies, thank you.

!

[ddharder]

I'm so glad I live in Russia where 1/2 the population is not sexually repressed and girls can have sex without worrying that they might make baby jesus cry.

I find the church's position on this issue entirely offensive and am a victim of their corrupt mentality myself. It took me years to work off the damage the purity mongers did to me when I was too young and too naive to ask the right questions and fend for myself.

It's abusive and repugnant what they are doing to these poor kids.

[democracydiva]

LOLOLOLOLOL - making baby jesus cry - LOLOLOLOL

[TheBlackCat]

Um, while I certainly don't approve of this abstinence only nonsense, really, you think Russia's situation is better? Where they have little access to birth control and abortion, usually poorly done abortions, is the main form of birth control? Where two abortions take place for every live birth, the highest rate of abortions in the world? Where almost ONE THIRD of deaths of young Russian women are due to botched abortions? (and yes, I had a Russian exchange student in America and then lived with her family in Petrozavosk and do know what I'm talking about). I may not like America's religious view on sex, but I'll take that over Russia's view of women ANY day of the week.

[PrdAmerican]

Creepy...and I think it gives parents a false sense of security. While I will encourage my daughters to be abstinent I won't allow them to maneuver through their teen years without a full education either. I hope also that I have a good enough relationship with my girls that they feel they can talk openly and frankly with their parents at any time.

[metogamekun]

Good advise. This parent of a future teen age girl will probably follow the same approach.

[UpstateNYer]

Well put.

[radmul]

Indoctrinating children into a cult is child abuse.

[marika]

This looks like what used to be Maypole dancing with the girls flitting around a symbolic pole wearing frills that are probably expensive. When you have time and money is there anything too frivolous?
If these people exercised their inane activities for themselves it would be their business but like most things made in the USA the idea is generally expansionist, each organisation must have recruters and grow or perish.
Seeing it in pictures is much like an old