Many people like talking about sex, be it a group of girls giggling in the library or a married couple in the privacy of their home.
Squeaky-clean celebrities such as Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus aren’t only famous for their mediocre television shows on the Disney Channel. They too like to talk about sex — how they’re not having any.
These celebrities flaunt their purity rings and talk openly about their faith as legions of little girls hang on to each and every word they say. Expressing a personal decision about whether to stay pure until marriage isn’t a new phenomenon, either.
When many of us were teenagers, Britney Spears ruled the pop world. Every little girl knew each and every word to “Baby One More Time,” and although they may not have known its meaning, they all knew that Spears was resolved to stay a virgin until marriage.
As we all know now, that didn’t quite happen, as she got caught in her trailer with future-husband Kevin Federline.
Celebrities are people too; they make mistakes. But at the end of the day, it isn’t appropriate for people to talk about their sexual choices publicly, even if it’s a choice society applauds.
Making the choice to abstain until marriage is a true commitment, one most consider admirable, but there is nothing worse than breaking one’s word.
Nobody likes a hypocrite. When a person flaunts their sexual escapades — or lack thereof — in such a public way, it makes them and what they standing lose credibility.
As a Christian college student, I constantly see my peers join purity groups on Facebook and openly flaunt their morality, only to get drunk over spring break and lose their virginity.
After this happens, their purity rings become signs of failed missions. Or, worse, they continue to wear their rings so as not to openly reveal their failures to family or church members.
This is not to say everyone should throw their rings away; wearing one represents a person’s promise to themself. People shouldn’t, however, commit to things they can’t realistically commit to.
The choice to abstain should be a personal choice between a person and God or a person and their significant other, not between a person and society.
Just as it’s inappropriate to brag about sleeping around, it’s equally inappropriate and self-promoting to brag about not doing so, especially if you’re not going to follow through.
Liz Price is a communication junior and may be reached at [email protected]
abstinence is an ineffectual, medieval approach to sexuality that needs to die. every year, a new study comes out confirming what everyone already knows: that abstinence increases the rate of teen pregnancy because current programs don’t encourage the use of condoms. get rid of this feel-good puritanical throwback and teach actual sex education.
oh and if you’ve never seen a “purity ball” on youtube, check it out. the whole gross spectacle is equal parts piety, repression, guilt, and incest.