Schoolgirl fights for right to wear 'chastity ring'

[lyrasdaemon]

A 16 year-old girl is going to the High Court to gain the right to wear her 'chastity ring' at school. Read more here.

IMHO, this girl hasn't got a leg to stand on. The 'chastity ring' is not a Christian symbol, it is a symbol of a pledge made to remain sexually inactive until marriage, a pledge which can be made by those of all faiths and none. As the ring is not a uniquely Christian symbol, the girl's religious beliefs are not being discriminated against by being told she cannot wear it. For this very simple reason, the High Court should chuck out this case worthwith and tell the girl to get stuffed!!!

I don't think so my nephew wears one.

katelyle, no the Silver Ring Thing is for both girls and boys.

Sorry - stand corrected.

Still don't like it, though!

lol, me neither!

It's mysogyny because even though boys are encouraged to do it as well, the cultural resonances about virginity and ruined women, are not applicable to them.

I don't really think it's controversial to notice that our culture (as practically every culture on Earth) applies different standards to men and women when it comes to sexual behaviour.

Including boys in this kind of gruesome pledge doesn't alter the fact that it's girls who will be most affected by it in terms of attitudes and perceptions.

Being naiive about these things is what causes all the problems. I agree with the factoid about the high pregnancy levels of these USA silver ring wearers - that has ben proven.

Its a shame that the christian nutjobs are using these poor kids to stuff their creepy hateful politics down our throats - i bet they get the cold-shoulder once they have been labelled as disgusting sinners. Probably stand outside the Hospitals with "God Hates Bastards" placards i bet.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a healthy sexual relationship with someone who is special to you - nothing beats a bit of harmless fun like that. They should be focusing on these kids who have so little respect for themselves that they sleep with anything that moves - not easy targets such as their own repressed and naiive offspring in their own homes.

Forgot to add that we should keep this girls details and visit her in 10 years time and see if she is happy.

I very much doubt she will be.

er, who exactly is saying that it is wrong for a 16 year old girl to not be having sex? Or that having sex with anyone even if you don't care about them or they don't care about you is a good thing? Nobody has said anything like that that I can see.

She reminds me of Victoria Gillick's girls! Remember them?

VSS, but that's not a valid criticism of the SRT - that's a complaint about double standards present in wider society.
Evangelical Christianity has always held to the same standard of abstinence before marriage for male and female. Whilst I disagree with the SRT's way of operating, it's just not true to say they focus more on girls than boys.

and EricL, the SRT goes into youth groups with the express intention of reaching non-christian young people, so your last sentence is a little misplaced.

"Its a shame that the christian nutjobs are using these poor kids to stuff their creepy hateful politics down our throats - i bet they get the cold-shoulder once they have been labelled as disgusting sinners. Probably stand outside the Hospitals with "God Hates Bastards" placards i bet."

That is ridiculous. While I am not terribly religious anymore but I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church and people just aren't like that. Our pastors daughter got pregnant in high school and was given lots of love and support. I have never seen anything diffrent from anyone else. Love and kindness is what they recieve. Just because they don't wish their daughter's and sons to have children before they are married doesn't mean that they are shunned if they do. It shows your lack of knowledge about these people that you would suggest such a thing.

To me, there's something slightly odd about a girl publicly proclaiming her intention to remain a virgin until she marries. I can't quite analyse it but it seems a bit unecesary and showy to me. Can't she just make her vows in private and try hard to keep them? A ring won't keep her chaste. Look at all the married men and women who cheat.

Hmm yes but SueBaroo, they operate within a mysogynist society adn are aware of what they are doing.

NKF I found this which I think is aposite:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself, ?God, I thank you that I am not like other men?robbers, evildoers, adulterers?or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.?

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ?God, have mercy on me, a sinner.?

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

?Luke 18:9-14, NIV

Of course they operate within society, and they are attempting to give out counter-cultural messages about sex to both girls and boys. I don't get the mysogynist thing there, sorry.

wonders why she is defending an organization she doesn't agree with...

LOL. Because you're getting drawn in.

Because they know they are operating within a mysogynist culture as well. And yet they still promote this "virginity is of value" crap. They are concentrating on penetrative sex (what about pledging no touching nipples, fingering, kissing, masturbating someone else, anal and oral sex? - no mention of any of that). The fetisisation of penetrative vaginal sex as being the only type of sex that counts. How is that giving out a counter-cultural message? It's what porn is all about. That much the born-agains and the porn merchants have in common.

Actually thinking about it, the girls are much more likely to have a good sex life if the boys aren't allowed to penetrate them. Except of course, if the boys think anal and mouth penetration doesn't count. (There was a suggestion that when Bill Clinton said "I have never had sex with that woman" (Monica Lewinski) he genuinely believed he hadn't done - as oral sex wasn't really sex. Southern baptist background. Don't know if that's true though, I thought he'd been pretty much Washingtonised by then.)

You still have yet to explain the mysoginist bit?' Where is it again?

The value of virginity Paula

If you persist in pretending that born again christians and the wider society treat men and women equally when it comes to sexual behaviour, then there's not much I can say to change your mind. So I'll give up trying.

I just can't see where they are treated diffrently. You have yet to explain in what way they are treated diffrently

tries to resist getting drawn in... fails

Well, I'm not entirely sure about the SRT, but every other teaching I've ever heard on this kind of thing in evangelical circles made it quite clear that the line wasn't 'penetrative sex' - it's about being aware of how powerful our physical urges are, and that once the red button is pressed (metaphorically speaking, cough ) it's very hard to pull back - and 'heavy petting' and so on was always included in that.

Now, granted, kids can get around that line any way they want to - but I always recall being told 'if you're on a precipice, you don't find out how close to the edge you can go without falling in.'

The Christian view isn't so much about the value of virginity. It's about believing that sex is more than just recreational, that it has a spiritual dimension and connects you to that other person in some profound way. The rules on chastity before marriae apply to both sexes.

Exactly we were always told in Sunday school that we should really think about how far we wanted to go back because there was always a point of no return. I actually think they pushed the boys a bit more on this point.

So what do you think that "point of no return" is?

I think it depends on the individual and how raging their hormones are at the time

'Point of no return'? Sounds like a rapist's charter to me.