Book Review: The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti
Stuart Nachbar
May 29, 2009
Three and a half years ago, I took on a challenge to write a novel based on the politics surrounding sex education during the 1980s.
One of the materials that I used to research the story was a 1970 manual published by the National Education Association; it instructed teachers on how to deal with "right-wing extremists" who opposed sex education in the public schools. Back then, there were concerned parents, but the leading national force for change was the John Birch Society. They linked sex education to the spread of communism; the Society believed that population control would make our enemies stronger.
Flash forward to the late 1990's and the early 21st century where some form of sex education is taught in every school, depending on state and local politics, as well as expressed community values. As Jessica Valenti points out in this book, The Purity Myth, this includes not only the advocacy of abstinence-until-marriage, but also the celebration of female virginity.
While Valenti does not criticize educators for presenting abstinence as a choice, she provides considerable details as to how abstinence education relies on fear tactics and misleads children. Valenti also presents the problems with the myth of a virgin ideal.
The virgin ideal is not only unrealistic, Valenti says, but it also places women in the position where they are subservient to men, first their fathers, but also violators and lovers. The Purity Myth discusses purity balls, where young women have decided to place their virginity in their father's care, but not their mother's. It also explains that the pro-abstinence movements believe that incidents of abuse or rape are more deserved than undeserved, which I found frightening.
Valenti also touched on a theme that President Obama had addressed during his recent speech at Notre Dame, which is that there is common ground between the extremes. Both the right and the left abhor sexual violence, especially abusive and underage pornography. Both sides oppose illegal trafficking in prostitution. Both sides also want to reduce underage pregnancy. Yet the two sides refuse to join forces where they agree. Valenti also adds that the right wing movements also use sexuality, whether it be ball gowns or tight tee shirts, to sell their messages. So, both sides are equally skilled to form a shared voice on the issues where they agree.
Valenti, who is an admitted feminist, says that the right wing blames sexual permissiveness on "the feminists," as if these were the only issues on a feminist agenda. But feminism, according to the author, has also fought for unrelated issues such as equal pay and the end of barriers to discrimination in the workplace. She sees the virginity movement as a call for a return to the past where virginity and traditional motherhood are the ideals.
And that may be the major problem with pro-abstinence movements. While they might lead young women to delay sex, young women also want to be free to pursue their own careers and personal interests. Not all of them want to have messages about motherhood continually, or even subtly, thrust upon them.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on thought and fiction in education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter in a campus community.
One of the materials that I used to research the story was a 1970 manual published by the National Education Association; it instructed teachers on how to deal with "right-wing extremists" who opposed sex education in the public schools. Back then, there were concerned parents, but the leading national force for change was the John Birch Society. They linked sex education to the spread of communism; the Society believed that population control would make our enemies stronger.
Flash forward to the late 1990's and the early 21st century where some form of sex education is taught in every school, depending on state and local politics, as well as expressed community values. As Jessica Valenti points out in this book, The Purity Myth, this includes not only the advocacy of abstinence-until-marriage, but also the celebration of female virginity.
While Valenti does not criticize educators for presenting abstinence as a choice, she provides considerable details as to how abstinence education relies on fear tactics and misleads children. Valenti also presents the problems with the myth of a virgin ideal.
The virgin ideal is not only unrealistic, Valenti says, but it also places women in the position where they are subservient to men, first their fathers, but also violators and lovers. The Purity Myth discusses purity balls, where young women have decided to place their virginity in their father's care, but not their mother's. It also explains that the pro-abstinence movements believe that incidents of abuse or rape are more deserved than undeserved, which I found frightening.
Valenti also touched on a theme that President Obama had addressed during his recent speech at Notre Dame, which is that there is common ground between the extremes. Both the right and the left abhor sexual violence, especially abusive and underage pornography. Both sides oppose illegal trafficking in prostitution. Both sides also want to reduce underage pregnancy. Yet the two sides refuse to join forces where they agree. Valenti also adds that the right wing movements also use sexuality, whether it be ball gowns or tight tee shirts, to sell their messages. So, both sides are equally skilled to form a shared voice on the issues where they agree.
Valenti, who is an admitted feminist, says that the right wing blames sexual permissiveness on "the feminists," as if these were the only issues on a feminist agenda. But feminism, according to the author, has also fought for unrelated issues such as equal pay and the end of barriers to discrimination in the workplace. She sees the virginity movement as a call for a return to the past where virginity and traditional motherhood are the ideals.
And that may be the major problem with pro-abstinence movements. While they might lead young women to delay sex, young women also want to be free to pursue their own careers and personal interests. Not all of them want to have messages about motherhood continually, or even subtly, thrust upon them.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on thought and fiction in education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter in a campus community.
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