The Purity Myth (37 page)

Read The Purity Myth Online

Authors: Jessica Valenti

Tags: #Health & Fitness, #Sexuality, #Self-Help, #Personal Growth, #Self-Esteem, #Social Science, #Feminism & Feminist Theory, #Women's Studies

BOOK: The Purity Myth
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dating: arguments against 51–53; debunking fears of 190–191; father/ daughter 67–68, 69; “hookup culture”

statistics 60

debasement, pornographic: 86

Deep Throat
: 83–84

Deltano, Keith: 102

Deni, Teresa Carr: 156–157

252
the Purity myth

DePetro, John: 149–150

depression: 53, 55, 186

desirability: commodifying underage 61– 62; of naiveté 65; of purity porn stars 91

desire: 199

Details
: 173, 174 Dial, Ashley: 43

Dickens, Morgan: 103

Dobson, James: 176

dolls, love: 87

dominance: 173, 174

double standards: in alcohol consumption 164–165; protection/punishment 188–

189; of sexual “dirtiness” 41–42;
see also

virgin/whore dichotomy

drinking, as rape risk: 148–149, 163 Drinking Liberally: 211

Ducat, Stephen J.: 168–169 Duplantis, Lloyd: 137

Durham, M. Gigi: 63, 64, 65, 79–80,

207–208

e

Eden, Dawn: 47–48, 55–56, 57

education: comprehensive sex 119, 120; equality in 240; of friends/peers 207–208; sex as “dirty” in 32–34; on violence toward women 208;
see also
abstinence- only education

electron-Blue: 24

emergency contraception (EC): 128–129, 136–137, 219

emotions: 169–170

empowerment: 106, 151, 164, 197 equality, as blamed for rape: 160–161,

164–165, 178, 179

ethics.
See
morality evangelicals, Christian: 26

Evert, Jason: 34

f

Facebook: 117

Fair Fund, Inc.: 241 fame: 89–90

Family Research Council: 71

family values: 138–139

Family Violence Prevention Fund: 208, 241 fashion: Abercrombie & Fitch boycott 49;

infantalizing 72–73; schoolgirl 76

FDA: 128–129

federal funding: for Abstinence Clearinghouse 113; for abstinence education 104, 111–113, 218; for crisis pregnancy centers 206; for purity balls 69, 217; state refusal of 118

Female Chauvinist Pigs
(Levy): 90, 197 female genital mutilation: 74

The Female Thing
(Kipnis): 42–43 femininity: 167–170

feminism: blogs 205; feminists against abstinence education 118; as feminizing boys 177–178; as harming morality 56–57;

porn informed by 86, 210, 210–211;

pro-sex 98; vs. raunch culture 196–197;

scapegoating 163, 164–165; treatises on rape 146; as used by the virginity movement 37–38; virginity movement against 96–97, 180

Feministing.com: abstinence education discussion on 103; as activism forum 118, 206; anti-choice activists against

137; electron-Blue 24; Friedman, Ann 52; Martin, Courtney 90; reaction to this book on 212

feminization: 170, 178, 179

femiphobia: 168–169, 177

fetal protection laws: 126–127, 140–141

fetishizing women: 28, 96

Figueroa, Lisseth: 74

Filipovic, Jill: 26, 159

Focus on the Family: 26, 35, 67, 81, 176

forgiveness: 203

foster care: 114

Francis, Joe: 152–154

Fredell, Janie: 25

Friedman, Ann: 52, 67 Friedman, Jaclyn: 194
Friends
: 92

Full Frontal Feminism
(Valenti): 170

jessica valenti
253

g


Gardasil: 70–71

gay sex: 109

gender roles, traditional: in abstinence education 106, 218; aggression vs. passivity 172–173; disdain for the feminine in 169–170; feminism as undermining 56–57; feminist rhetoric

for 37; feminization of boys 178, 179; legislating 138–139; media stereotyping of 167–168; paternal morality 201; at purity balls 67; as purity myth’s goal 175–176; returning to 31, 39, 48; sex as allowable in 56; vs. sexual interest 52

genitals: 42–43

Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity
(Jensen): 85

Ginsburg, Justice Ruth Bader: 142 girlhood: commodifying sex in 61–62;

fame during 90; as ideal of “sexy” 30, 63; as innocence 72; sexuality as external to 48–49

girlifying women: 72–76, 134

Girls, Inc.: 241

Girls as Grantmakers: 49

Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS): 76–77

Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self- Respect and Find It’s Not Bad to Be Good
(Shalit): 38, 48

Girls Gone Wild: 151–154 Gloudemans, Kimberley: 12 Goldberg, Bill: 71 Goldstein, Jacob: 59

“gonzo” porn: 85–86

Gransinger, Dan: 136

Greer, Germaine: 167

Grossman, Miriam: 48, 53, 57, 186

Guttmacher Institute: 242

Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men
(Kimmel): 174

h

Hager, Dr. W. David: 129 Halloween costumes: 63

harassment, sexual: 158

Healthy Marriage Initiative: 138 Henry, Senator Doug: 145

Heritage Community Services: 115 Herman, Judith Lewis: 69 Hernandez, Cassandra: 155

high heels, infant: 64

“The High Cost of Manliness” (Jensen): 182 Hoffman, Claire: 153

homosexuality: 109, 200

hooks, bell: 45, 203

hormones: 54

How To Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale
(Jameson): 81–82

HPV: 59, 70–71, 186

HPV vaccine: 129–130

Huber, Valerie: 114

Huckabee, Mike: 135 Hyde Amendment: 200 hymens: 11, 12, 75

hypersexualization: addressing 204; feminists against 196–197; underlying motivators of 13; vs. virginity fetish 9–10; of women of color 45; of young girls

63–64

i

iDollators: 87

impotence, male: 52–53 inaction.
See
passivity incest: 69, 138

“indecent acts”: 155 independent thinking: 25–26

Independent Women’s Forum: 23, 71,

93–94, 164

“informed consent” laws: 132–133 innocence: ethnicizing 47; HPV vaccine

as attacking 71; in trafficked girls 76; valorizing 70

Institute for Women’s Policy Research: 242 intellect, undermining women’s: 106 Internet, the: celebrity on 90; feminist

pro-sex sites 98–99; as forum for progress 204–206; as harassment forum 158–160;

networking on 89, 117; porn revenue 85

254
the Purity myth

In These Times
(Chaudhry): 95 in vitro fertilization: 122, 126



j K

Jameson, Jenna: 81–82

Jensen, Robert: 85, 182, 183, 210

Jesella, Kara: 197

Kempner, Martha: 105

Keroack, Eric: 54

Kimmel, Michael: 174–175

Kipnis, Laura: 42–43

l

Lakoff, George: 201

Landry, Megan: 34, 36
Lars and the Real Girl
: 89 LaRue, Jan: 92

Laslocky, Meghan: 87

Lauer, Matt: 148–149

Legal Momentum: 115

legislation, affecting: 208–209

LeMahieu, Dan: 130

lesbianism: 56, 109, 200

Levy, Ariel: 90, 197

Liebau, Carolyn Platt: 47, 55, 56

Life International: 137 Lindberg, Laura: 58 Littlejohn, Darryl: 148 Lloyd, Rachel: 76

local organizing: 209–210

The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It
(Durham): 63, 64, 207–208

Lolita
(Nabokov): 62

love: 52, 54

love dolls: 87

Lovelace, Linda: 84

Love Matters: 12, 35

m

MacDonald, Heather: 160–161

magazines, progressive: 247

Maher, Bill: 71

Maher, Bridget: 71

male ownership: abstinence education as

furthering 106–107; legislated 147; of Miss USA winners 29; modern symbolic 31; vs. purity 143; in purity balls 32, 66; of women’s sexual commodity 22

Males, Michael: 190

male youth, misinformed: 42 Mangum, Crystal: 155 Mansfield, Harvey: 179, 180

marriage: bride prices 106–107; defined 109; as goal of virginity movement 58; limiting reproductive technology to 122–123; promotion programs 138–139; sexual pleasure in 44; socially regressive messages on 105–106; as solution to poverty 138

Marriage Savers: 139

Martin, Courtney: 91

masculinity: 167–183; aggression as justified by 170–172, 174; femiphobia

167–170; maintaining traditional 176– 177; in the media 181; vs. passive female sexuality 172–176; re-thinking 183; social equality as attacking 179; women as measurement of 181

McEwan, Melissa: 151 McKnight, Regina: 126

media, the: blame of rape victims 156–157; as forum for progress 204–206; gender stereotyping 167–168, 181–182; “girls

gone wild” trends in 45–47, 151–154, 189; normalization of rape 147–150; positive coverage of women 191; progressive

247, 250; reality TV 89; sexualization in 61–64, 92

Medical Institute: 206

menstruation: 71–72

mental health: 54

MILF (mom I’d like to fuck) trend: 76 Millar, Thomas Macauley: 194 Milwaukee’s Best: 167

miscarriages: 137, 142, 208, 219 misogyny: in the abortion debate 134;

cultural disdain for the feminine 167–170; in marriage promotion programs 138, 139;

online 158–160; in porn 85, 94–95; purity

jessica valenti
255

myth as tied to 11, 32, 42; in the virginity movement 137


Miss America pageant: 28 Miss Nevada USA: 29 Miss USA: 28–29

Modesty Zone: 38

morality: ethical 14–15; feminism as harming 56–57; of health care workers 122; men’s vs. women’s 109; of passivity 25; paternal 201; vs. practicality 189;

reclaiming 200–201; as sexually

dependent 9, 12, 72; virginity as defining

23–24, 69; women-as-child 134, 189

morning-after pill: 128–129, 136–137, 219

The Morning After: Fear, Sex, and Feminism

(Roiphe): 150

Moss, Carl: 152

motherhood: 58, 75–76

n

Nabokov, Vladimir: 62

Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing In on Internet Sexploitation (
Ray): 98–99

“Naked Without Shame” (hooks): 45 Napoli, Bill: 14, 121

NARAL Pro-Choice America: 208, 209, 242

Nation
: 189

National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA): 113, 114

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum: 242

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: 243

National Coalition of Women and Girls in Education: 242

National Council for Research on Women: 243

National Indian Women’s Health Resource Center: 243

National Institute for Reproductive Health: 243

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health: 243

National Network to End Domestic Violence: 244

National Partnership for Women & Families: 244

National Sexual Violence Resource Center: 244

National Women’s Political Caucus: 244 New Moon Media: 204

NOW: 208

o P

objectifying women: 62, 78–79, 89 obscenity laws: 92–93

orgasm: 21

orlistat: 131

oxytocin hormone: 54 Page, Cristina: 123–124 Paltrow, Lynn: 127

parental notification laws: 124 parents: fathers as purity protectors

66; idealization of chastity 50; male ownership among 107; pressure by 37

Parents for Truth: 118, 119 Park, David Alex: 156 Parker, Kathleen: 54, 178

passivity: fetishizing 30, 96; love dolls as symbols of 88; and male potency 52–53;

morality of 24–25; as represented in youth 65

paternalism: 134, 137, 188, 201

paternity: 22

pathologizing women: 42–43, 74

patriarchy: 22, 94–95, 180

Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
: 116 pedophiles: 78

peer pressure: 25–26

Pemberton, Laura: 140

Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters
(Martin): 91 pharmacists, coercion by: 136

Phillips, Kristin: 116

“Picture Perfect” (Rushkoff): 181 Plan B: 128–129, 136–137, 219

Planned Parenthood: 125, 209, 244

plastic surgery, vaginal: 13, 63, 73, 217

Playboy
: 84, 90

256
the Purity myth

pleasure: absent from virginity movement 56; exempt from vaginal rejuvenation 74; as a man’s domain 107; separating sex from 43; taboo of 196

Poe, Edgar Allen: 148

politics: of abstinence-only education 118– 119; affecting 208–209; of commercial porn 95; conservative, in schools 115; denied to women 143; gender stereotyping in 168; legislating reproductive rights 123–128; paternalistic 139–140; science as serving 54; separation of church and state 112; sex as affecting 55; of virginity fetish 14; virginity movement in 23

Pollitt, Kathy: 189

pop culture: abstinence morality in 26–27; sexualization of 92; virginity trend in 10, 28

The Porning of America
(Sarracino and Scott): 82

pornography: 81–99; activism against 91–

96; commodifying 81–82; as debasing 86; feminism and 210; modern exaggeration of 83; outside male control 95, 97–98; outside the status quo 93; re-thinking

97; sales statistics 84–85; as skewing

“normal” 74; virginal 76

Posey, Julie: 78

poverty: 138, 139, 192

power: 143, 173

pregnancy: coercion 114; criminalizing 140–141, 142; crisis centers 112–113;

fetal rights 126–127, 140–141, 219; misinformation on 105; as personal choice 199–200; pro-lifers on 124; requiring ultrasounds for 133–134; and secondary

virginity 35–36; socio-economic factors 192; statistics 59, 192

pressure: parental 37; peer 25–26

pro-life movement: 124

The Pro-Life Activist’s Encyclopedia
: 124 promiscuity: HPV vaccine as prompting

70–71; media reports of 45–46; pathologizing 107; Plan B as prompting 129, 130

prostitution: 77, 156–157

Prude: How the Sex-Obsessed Culture Hurts Young Women (and America, Too!)
(Liebau): 47, 55, 56

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