Mumsnet Talk

I think the whole thing is weird and creepy.

www.churchsociety.org/issues_new/doctrine/bcp/text/iss_doctrine_bcp_text_women.asp

It's only sixty years (or less) since a woman was expected to go and be "churched" some days after childbirth. To wash away the filth of the filthy birth thing. . My grandmother told me, in reference to my mother who was born 1951. Just while we're talking of purity and women's bodies.

'The day they have purity balls for boys is the day I'll think this is anything but misogynist twattery.'

EXACTLY!

haven't watched the video (bad internet connection) but i can't stand the word purity for virginity.

what does that make me? and every biological mother in the world - impure?

sex isn't dirty. virginity is not pure. yes, i'm for not having sex until in a committed relationship willing to deal with the consequences of conception, but no, i don't believe in the idea of 'purity'.

I'd think purity balls should be a term for abstaining boys.

That whole thing with girls pledging their virginity to their dads is uber creepy.

"Purity balls" sound like something you'd put into your washing machine.

The day they have purity balls for boys is the day I'll think this is anything but misogynist twattery.

I've read several articles over the years which suggest that the emphasis on "purity" and virginity is interpreted very literally by teens, ie anal/oral is fine, piv is not.

I'd worry that there's an emphasis on keeping yourself "pure" which translates to intact hymen, thus neglecting safe sex messages and risking higher levels of oral/anal transmitted stds. I wonder how much other types of sexual contact are discussed at all.

The purity movement is misogynistic twaddle that has demonstrated time and time again that abstinence only education actually leads to higher levels of STDs and teen pregnancy. It' about male control of women's sexuality and has nothing to do with feminist criticisms of the obsession with PIV.

sorry just had to have a little lol at miley Cyrus. she's never off liam hemsworth now!

pure? yucky word. as if you are tainted once you have sex

this has really annoyed me actually.

how many of those girls daddies stayed pure till marriage? Very few, if any. I'm guessing.

True love waits......that's been around donkeys years now in the us I remember a doc about it in the 90's where they but dc all their secular music!

Namechangeguy - I like your spin in it

Plenty of these in the US, with the fathers taking the lead in protecting their daughters' purity and 'true love waits' rings and such.

Thankfully, I no longer live there.

As another Christian, are church teaches no sex before marriage and no heavy petting/necking either.

It is taught just as much and expected of just as much with boys as it is for girls.

So I have never considered it oppressive in any way.

Might it be an unintended positive outcome though? A lowering of STDs and unwanted pregnancies has to be a good thing. If we didn't focus so much on PIV, maybe women would be more free to choose different sexual practices.

Just musing here, I don't know enough about this movement.

If that is the intention of the purity movement, ncg I don't think the organisers know it- in fact they'd probably be horrified if that was a consequence!

One of the things I have learned on here is the inherent danger of penis-in vagina sex for women, in terms of infection and risk of pregnancy. Added to which, from a pleasure point of view, for many women it does not lead directly to orgasm. Some feminists feel that there is too much focus in society on PIV as the only form of 'real' sex for the above reasons, which by default also means that lesbian and gay people 'aren't doing it right'.

From this point of view, can it be a good thing to focus young women on abstaining from PIV, perhaps in favour of less risky alternatives health-wise?

Couldn't view the video, but from the comments I think I'd agree- thanks for linking to it, I'll try and watch it later.

Not seen the video, but I don't like the concept of virginity as some sacred special thing- I'm a Christian and believe in Monogamy and self respect, but the whole Purity/ Virginity thing forced on girls- nah patriarchal and oppressive.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSIPeSj_Xkk&feature=relmfu
Very interesting video, quite quick but the basics of it is that The US government is using a girls purity or virginity to enforce gender stereotypes and lower womens rights. Not sure I buy it, what do you think?