Fathers, Watch Your Daughters

[octopi]

Today, I found out about something that startled me. It seemed so archaic, so naive, and yes, I laughed when I read more about it. Perhaps it's my cynical, hardened self. Maybe it's the fact that I find it hard to believe anyone cares about preserving sex anymore. Or it could be my own scorn at the lack of closeness I experience with my own family, not knowing whether or not they give a damn about my sexual exploits (maybe this is a good thing).

So what was I reading about? The Father-Daughter Purity Ball. At first, it reminded me of the Motherboy dance from "Arrested Development" and I was quick to do some reading on the event. These 'balls' started in Colorado in 1998 and have been quick to blossom all over the US. Fathers pledge to protect their daughter's purity/virginity and daughters pledge to honor that in a high end evening full of dancing, food, flowers and yes, crucifixes and prayer.

The photos I've seen have girls in what look like mock wedding dresses, wearing tiaras, braces and flowers. They're surrounded by lace, crinoline and dressed in pink or pure white. They look like prom girls in training, or mini wives.

The websites are haunting, with lines like "Because we cherish our daughters as regal princesses—for 1 Peter 3:4 says they are “precious in the sight of God”—we want to treat them as royalty." and "It is vital that young ladies understand how precious and valuable they are, that they are worth waiting for."

So am I just being a bitter old lady (incidentally I lost my virginity at 21, long past overdue when compared with some girlfriends) weirded out by heavily religious toned ceremonies, or is it really strange for a daughter to pledge her virginity to her father in a ceremony? Would you have your daughter pledge herself to you? What happens if she breaks it? Is it merely coincidence that some of the balls are sponsored by places like this?

Are these a last-ditch effort to save young ladies from the (supposed) imminent downfalls of porn and stripping, or is more of a control thing? Isn't it better to have a woman who is open about her sex life and has access to love and support from her family? Is abstinence now mainstream, and did I miss the boat in my youth? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

[Lurker.]

creepy. i wonder how many of them are actually virgins.

[Manque]

Do you honestly think that anyone in this forum is going to defend the Ball? If you want to laugh at it and have everybody pile on, just say so. But let's not pretend that you wrote this because you are really interested in why they are holding this ball.

[bdk3clash]

Purity Balls. (No, not purty balls)

[Bond18]

Octopi, yes we normal people are all very very creeped out.

Also, studies have indicated that societies that elect to repress sexuality instead of embracing it honestly tend to have the opposite result.

Country with the highest amount of lifetime sexual partners for college educated? China.

Average age for loss of virginity in US, about 15.8 years. In most European countries its about 1.5 years older, varying on location.

Of course statistics can be skewed, but either way i don't think your going to get much arguement around here that very religious/conservative types have it backwards and are weird.

[Ron Burgundy]

It's always hilarious when some 14 year old girl calls into Loveline and says "I've been having anal sex with my bf for a few months... I'm still technically a virgin right? My family is really religious and they'd get mad at me if I lost it."

[secretprankster]

[BigPoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
It's always hilarious when some 14 year old girl calls into Loveline and says "I've been having anal sex with my bf for a few months... I'm still technically a virgin right? My family is really religious and they'd get mad at me if I lost it."

[/ QUOTE ]

I read something a while back about girls who signed chastity pledges being something like 9x as likely to take part in anal and 2x as likely to perform oral as ones who didn't.

Also, their pregnancy rates are through the roof when they finally do start having sex. I thinks it's less lack of information (even stupid people know sex causes babies) than it is a sense that using birth control makes it more like "planned" sex (which is evil) than having just gotten swept up in the moment (which is understandable).

[NocturnalEmision]

[ QUOTE ]
It's always hilarious when some 14 year old girl calls into Loveline and says "I've been having anal sex with my bf for a few months... I'm still technically a virgin right? My family is really religious and they'd get mad at me if I lost it."

[/ QUOTE ]
Young, pretty, naive. Thats what I call a trifecta.

[SmokeyRidesAgain]

[ QUOTE ]
I read something a while back about girls who signed chastity pledges being something like 9x as likely to take part in anal and 2x as likely to perform oral as ones who didn't.

[/ QUOTE ]
[censored] I need to get myself down to one of these shindigs!