Book by Jessica Valenti - The Purity Myth

Summary

A forceful and brilliantly argued case that American culture's obsession with virginity is hurting young women.

The United States is obsessed with virginity�from the media to schools to government agencies. In The Purity Myth, Jessica Valenti argues that the country�s intense focus on chastity is damaging to young women.

Through in-depth cultural and social analysis, Valenti, the founder and executive editor of Feministing.com, reveals that powerful messaging on both extremes�ranging from abstinence curriculum to �Girls Gone Wild� infomercials�place a young woman�s worth entirely on her sexuality. Morals are therefore linked purely to sexual behavior, rather than values like honesty, kindness, and altruism.

Valenti critically examines the notion that girls should remain virgin until they�re married by putting into context the historical question of purity, modern abstinence-only education, pornography, and public punishments for those who dare to have sex.

The Purity Myth presents a revolutionary argument that girls and women are overly valued for their sexuality, as well as solutions for a future without a damaging emphasis on virginity.

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Dispatches from the War Against Sex
By Anastasia Kousakis
Adapted from The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women, by Jessica Valenti.

A 2004 report from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) showed that more than 80 percent of federally funded abstinence programs contain false or misleading information about sex and reproductive health. Here are some examples cited in The Purity Myth.

�   In her educational video �Sex Has a Price Tag� Pam Stenzel tells students that birth control could kill them and that abortion can lead to anorexia and suicide. Stenzel is one of hundreds of abstinence educators who speak in schools, churches, and community groups across the country.

�   Christian comedian Keith Deltano performs his abstinence routine in Virginia high schools�it involves precariously dangling a cinderblock over the genital area of a male volunteer from the audience to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of condoms against HIV/AIDS.

�   One ninth grader in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was told by her teacher that it was against the law to have pre-marital sex. �She said it had to be illegal because premarital sex undermines the family, which is a necessary thing in society.�

�   Katelyn Bradley of Florida describes her middle school health class on abstinence: �They asked for several volunteers, and the woman leading the discussing held a wrapped gift. We weren�t supposed to give away this gift until after marriage. If we had sex before marriage, our special present (sexuality) would be ruined. They literally demonstrated this notion in front of the class by passing it along the line of volunteers, with each person stomping on the wrapped gift.�

Abstinence textbooks routinely promote old-school gender norms and harmful ideas about women and their relationship to sexua ... continue reading >

The Truth About Americans and Sex

�   By the age of forty-four 99% of Americans will have had sex
�   95% of us will have had sex before marriage
�   One-third of U.S. women ages 20-44 are single
�   9 out of 10 of those single women have had sex
�   One-third of young American women get pregnant before they�re 20

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Editorial Reviews

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sfriedman	Posted on Apr 3, 2009 12:29 PM
Dangerous Liaisons It is completely unfair that a young woman's worth is based on her sexuality. This is not something young men have to deal with. In fact, it is very common for a young man with experience to be considered cool. A young woman, on the other hand, is considered a slut. The more society presses a woman's worth to be based on her virginity, her purity, rather than her kindness, her ability to care, her ability to succeed, young women are going to continue to feel pressure, and to see virginity as something frightening.
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Biography

Jessica Valenti, author of The Purity Myth, is the founder and executive editor of Feministing.com. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including the Guardian, and in 2007 she was named one of Elle magazine's IntELLEgentsia. She lives in Astoria, New York.

Author Interview

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Interview with Jessica Valenti (In These Times)

20 Questions with Jessica Valenti

Since founding Feministing.com in 2004, Valenti has emerged as one of the brightest and feistiest voices behind a new breed of feminism�one that melds snark and substance to get young women talking�and thinking.

One thing�s for sure�this is a far cry from your ma�s bra-burning ballyhoo. With a biting, pop-savvy sense of humor and a keen awareness of our age�s oft-maligned or just plain ignored gender politics, Valenti, Feministing�s executive editor, is reaching out to an unsung population of young women activists fighting to promote feminist principles.

Along the way, she�s written two books (a third, The Purity Myth: How America�s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women, will be out in spring 2009) and tangoed with Stephen Colbert.

In 25 words or less, what makes you so special? (Keep in mind that humility, while admirable, is boring).

I�m candid, opinionated and play a mean game of table tennis.

What�s the first thing that comes up when your name is Googled?

My profile on Feministing. (Boring, I know.)

Shamelessly plug a colleague�s project.

My co-blogger Miriam has a kick-ass blog called Radical Doula that everyone should read. (And she�s just started doing speaking events�she�s not to be missed, so book her!)

Describe your politics.

Lefty feminist with socialist leanings. ... (Read the full interview)

Interview With Jessica Valenti
By Anastasia Kousakis, Progressive Book Club - May 4, 2009
The founder of Feministing.com talks about the myths of purity and virginity, the dangers of abstinence only education, and what�s going on at Purity Balls.

So, what is the purity myth?

The purity myth is the lie that virginity or sexual abstinence has some bearing on who we are as people, as good people, women in particular. More specifically, what the book talks about is how that lie and how that myth is really a driving force in a lot of the conservative moves to regress women�s rights and to reinforce traditional gender roles. So, how they�re using this myth of sexual purity, this fear of young women�s sexuality, to promote their agenda for women.

You argue in the book that America is obsessed with virginity, female virginity specifically, and that there is, in fact, an entire movement fuelling this obsession. How exactly do you define the �virginity movement?�

The virginity movement, specifically, is a group of�and they certainly don�t call themselves the virginity movement�conservatives, anti-feminist organizations, legislators, all with this really specific agenda in mind for women that�s definitely regressive, definitely old school, definitely traditional. But instead of using the normal ways of pushing their agenda they�re really focusing on young women�s sexuality as not only a scare tactic but as a salacious way to get their point across.

One of the more fascinating things that�s revealed in your book is that there is actually no official medical definition of �virginity.� How, then, is virginity defined by those who are working so hard to defend the so-called purity of girls and women?

The virginity movement uses the definition of virginity that�s the most culturally accepted one�heterosexual intercourse. And I think that limited ... continue reading >

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The Purity Myth

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