This is courtesy of Michael Reese, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University, who’s quoted in a Reuters article with an impressively snarky headline: “Purity rings enter world of sex, drugs, rock’n’ roll.”
Do purity rings have a place in pop culture? Sure - what the hell do I care who wears a purity ring, any more than I want anyone to care how many people I’ve slept with?
But Reece summarizes the problem nicely: “It is probably a nice thing that we have celebrities who are trying to be role models and model healthy behaviors…But these abstinence pledges leave people completely unprepared, once they make the decision to become sexually active, and what happens is that we have a society that is sexually illiterate,” Reece told Reuters.
Apparently this came up cause the Jonas Brothers were wearing purity rings at the MTV Music Video Awards, and got teased by the host about it. Jordin Sparks, who also wears one, came to their rescue:
“I just wanna say, it’s not bad to wear a promise ring because not every guy and a girl wants to be a slut, OK?”
O-KAY. So, if you have sex at all, you’re a slut. Nice. Maybe she didn’t realize that her very presence was an endorsement of MTV, which - correct me if I’m wrong - has some, I don’t know, sexual content sometimes? This shit just pisses me off - look sexy, act sexy, especially if you’re a woman or a girl. But woooaaaah, cowboy!! Don’t actually HAVE SEX! That’s slutty! And sluts are going to hell, mkay?
1 response so far ↓
1 Lysa // Sep 17, 2008 at 4:03 pm
What she said wasn’t nice, that’s for sure. She’s a teenager and they do and say some stupid stuff.
She did sort of apologize for the slut thing but she stood by her sentiment and was basically talking out of both sides of her mouth (see below). It’s nice that some kids choose to be abstinent (boy do I wish I had waited longer) but there is no excuse for sexual illiteracy (love it). That’s why it’s a choice, Kids!
From EW: Attending the show for the first time, the American Idol winner went off-script after being agitated by host Russell Brand’s repeated mocking of the Jonas Brothers’ promise rings. “It’s something I feel strongly about,” she tells EW.com. “I wish I would’ve worded it differently — that somebody who doesn’t wear a promise ring isn’t necessarily a slut — but I can’t take it back now. It was a split-second thing, and it came out kind of wrong. Still, I don’t regret it.”
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