Comic strips based on "The Purity Myth"

After reading arguably one of the best down to Earth, realistic, and 'oh you are SO right' books about purity and virginity, The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti, I couldn't help but vividly picture some of the abstinence-only exercises.

Here are a couple of quotes to amuse and shock you.

"...consider another abstinence product: a gold rose pin handed out in schools and at Christian youth events. The pin is attached to a small card that reads, 'You are like a beautiful rose. Each time you engage in pre-marital sex, a precious petal is stripped away. Don't leave your future husband holding a bare stem. Abstain.'" (Valenti, 2010, p. 32).

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enough said. This is a terrifying image to a young girl who is now PETRIFIED of sex. Well done radical extremists. Ostriches.

At the top of Chapter 2: Tainted Love, Valenti (2010) quotes Darren Washington, an abstinence educator at the Eighth Annual Abstinence Clearinghouse Conference:
"Your body is a wrapped lollipop. When you have sex with a man, he unwraps your lollipop and sucks on it. It may feel great at the time, but, unfortunately, when he's done with you, all you have left for your next partner is a poorly wrapped, saliva-fouled sucker." (p. 41).

There are 327186757489391432 things wrong with the above statement.
1. !!!!!!!!!!!!
2. I will never eat lollipops again. Ew. Phallic much?
3. "...when he's done with you"? Wow. This isn't misogynistic at ALL. Men seem like creatures in this case and women seem like incapable tools.
4. Again... I used to like lollipops. Thanks for ruining my once innocent and playful image of a lollipop. Ass.

I could go on, but instead I decided to draw comics that illustrate the purity myth. The first comic is based on the first quote about the flower. The second comic is just the overemphasis on the virgin/whore dichotomy. Enjoy.


NOTE: Please click on the picture for a bigger image. Hopefully, it is readable. :)

Virgin WHAT?! Define purity... and then we'll talk

Purity... I think of doves and girls in flowing dresses frolicking in a meadow...

So I'm currently reading one of the greatest books of all time: The Purity Myth: How America's obsession with virginity is hurting young women by Jessica Valenti. Not only is the book written extremely well, and the research is just flawlessly chosen, etc... but the ideas and the inquisitive nature of almost every paragraph... marry me.

I am only 100 pages in so far, and I have like, 438907589478092 post its and highlights. I want to make references to a couple of things and throw my opinion at them (despite how similar my opinion is to Valenti's... she's a genius, so it's all good).

So essentially the main issue revolves around
- what is purity?
- what is a virgin?
- what's the deal with the virgin/whore dichotomy
- sexualization of youth and how this relates to the obsession with virginity
- if you have sex, you are forever tainted and may as well go live in a cave
- if you are a virgin, here... have a pony <3

oh shi--

Like me, Valenti (2010) argues that abstinence teaching is not a bad thing; however, the absence of any other teaching about sexual health is just wrong. There is a huge bias there about beliefs, and really, who are YOU to say what students believe and what they should believe?!?! Yes, YOU! .____.

Like my thesis majestically says (although in a very rough copy at the moment), sex education should focus more on the individual, relationships, experiences, and healthy living rather than the ACT of intercourse and its negative outcomes. Seriously... negativity doesn't sit well with anyone, and although students NEED to be aware of STIs and unwanted babies, they also need to know that kissing and holding hands and the nice feeling of having your body caressed is nice when it is done in a HEALTHY way.

So why is this virginity issue such an issue??

WELL,
Whether you are a virgin or a whore* (it seems to me like you are either or in the eyes of a virginity-movement advocate), neither is really a good thing.
If you are a virgin, you are a limited sheltered "girl"** who is waiting for her husband to take her flower, etc. Boring.
If you are a whore, you have sex with everything that moves and are dirty and tainted and worthless and hopeless and ANYONE who is not a heterosexual girl purely waiting for her husband to come retrieve the tulips.

*Whore??? But she's wearing the colour of purity!!! And doing yoga!!!

Virgin? There IS a cloud in the background. And she looks like she's never had sex (<--- what the hell does THIS look like??!?!?!?!) ** I hate this. I wish SO badly to hear about boys. What about boys? I mean, I understand the pressures are very much in the camps of us females, but what about those poor boys in high school who are being teased by their friends to 'tap that chick', etc.? What if a boy DOESN'T want to have sex? Or what if he does it and then regrets it? I don't think one can argue that one gender is harder to be when growing up. In both respects, there's a hardcore amount of pressure and obsession surrounding sexuality. But, why?

For some reason, sexuality is a big deal. *shrugs* Go worry about your mathematics grade and stop bugging others about how 'far' they've gone.

Anyway, back to the book (I could write all day) <3<3<3 Here's something to try on for size: A symbol of abstinence: a gold rose pin handed out in schools and at Christian* youth events. The pin is attached to a small card that reads, 'You are like a beautiful rose. Each time you engage in pre-marital sex, a precious petal is stripped away. Don't leave your future husband holding a bare stem. Abstain.'" (Valenti, 2010, p. 32).

(Hilarious comic strip illustrating the reality of the above quote to come...)

WHAT?!

Sweet merciful mother!!!! That is just.... OMGGGGGGGG! Holy pressure cooker Batman!

*This scares me. If you are a Christian youth, you MUST be this way. It is your stigma. If you are not, you CANNOT be this way. There's that dichotomy again. I can only imagine a girl wearing a gold pin and falling in love (properly... the definition is up for debate... interpret as you will), and wanting to say... kiss her beloved. Then, wanting to maybe you know... MORE. YOU CAN'T! YOU AREN'T MARRIED!!! But, but... she can't afford a wedding yet... and-- and-- she's only 17. NO! NO!!! AAAAHHHH!!!! *explodes*

Terrifying. And yet, true. America IS obsessed with virginity. I think Canadians are a tad preoccupied with it... but not quite obsessed? I'd like to see a Canadian rendition of this novel... probably wouldn't be tooooooo different, methinks.

Anyway, I have nothing against beautiful gold pins. Hell, I'll wear one. But don't go throwing virginity into a symbol and pressuring someone to make a decision like that at such a young age. When you're 10, all you want to do is play in the dirt and sing stupid pop songs. It's a sweet life! Let's teach our students to self-reflect, assess personal values, and communicate effectively in order to make these apparently "INTENSELY LIFE-CHANGING DECISIONS!!!!"

Newsflash: Having sex is like making a sandwich. It happens all the time. And it's really not that big of a deal. It's a deal... but not that big of one. Let the students decide how big of a deal their sexualities are before we put a giant OMG stamp on all things sexual. Seriously.

ALSO, one last thought (haha, totally kidding... I have oodles to say, but another blog TBA...)
It's parents and adults who are so obsessed with this virginity thing. Students are only obsessed with it because adults have so much control over policy, especially extremist adults like people associated with the virginity-movements. Mad props to passionate individuals, but let's back off a little and let diverse individuals lead diverse, beautiful, unique, and healthy lives instead of drawing out the sexual to-do list of every student ever.

To do:
1. Abstain
2. Brush teeth

^ HAH! Me.

Purity. Doves. Enough said.

Stay safe. Sexually speaking... this includes BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO abstinence.

PS. Anyone who tells you to abstain from masturbating needs a kick in the jaw. As if you can tell me I can't touch my own body.

PSS. Where the lesbians at??!?!?! Apparently, they don't exist in the virginity-movement. Don't GET me started.

I'm just mad about safe sex!

Greetings my people,

Okay, so I have been reading a lot about abstinence-only, comprehensive, and broad-based sex education and what parents, students, and teachers have to say about all of these forms. I have decided to make a video of me dishing out some issues in a scattered manner. I am getting better at my video making skills, so I have a feeling you will enjoy this whether it is because I'm wearing a hat, or because I have interesting things to say.

Condoms are beautiful!!!! Alright. Enjoy. (Part 2: Sex-positive Education, will be uploaded shortly).

Hot topic

Practice what you preach.

Thoughts?

Example: People who preach abstinence-only need to be exemplars of this method of contraception. Yes? No?

Thoughts?

To be discussed...

"No sex vs. Safe sex" Teachings. Throw in your two cents

So I'm writing a paper on school culture and how it reflects the curricula of that school, and thus I began to ponder the differences between a school that teaches comprehensive sex education and a school that teaches abstinence-only education.
I personally believe there are pros and cons to both teachings (as there is to most everything!!!), but I'm all about the comprehensive everything. Straight up.

I found an article written by my new best friend David Salyer on The Body. com, which is a site promoting the education of HIV. He talks about American's funding for abstinence-only education and how A-O is not living up to its expectations, so why is America still tax dollaring to the max???

http://www.thebody.com/content/art32403.html

PS. The comic is supposed to be funny... I'm not saying that abstinence-only education is going to promote teen pregnancy, at ALL.... however...
"Even if you happen to believe teenagers really shouldn't be having sex, consider that around age 13, they stop caring what you think, anyway" (Salyer, 2004).

^ This, my friend, is true. Teens WILL rebel, so you may as well lay out all the options.
Okay. Like my friend David states in the article, I'm not saying don't teach abstinence, I'm saying teach MORE than JUST abstinence.

So one of the things most prominent in my thesis will be to strengthen a student's self awareness, self esteem, and self respect in order for them to make strong, informed, knowledgeable, healthy decisions on their own. I read this passage when I recalled this emphasis on the self:

The thing about teenagers is that when you give them no information, they start making things up all by themselves. That's why 16-year-old girls end up with gonorrhea of the throat -- somehow they determine that oral sex isn't real sex because no adult has ever told them otherwise. Comprehensive sexual education can dispel sexual myths, acknowledge the potential consequences or risks of sexual behavior and explain what's going on with teenage bodies. And because abstinence-only education places everything in the context of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage, America's gay and lesbian youth are dismissed, thus reinforcing feelings of isolation or shame (Salyer, 2004).

My issue about abstinence-only education and the promotion of a certain rigid form of sexuality is that it does not fit with every student. The last thing I would want to do in my classroom would be to isolate or shame a student. Let's be realistic my friends. Not everyone is going to have the same values about sex, and so a comprehensive sex education ensures that most of the values are met by addressing different POVs.

Don't dismiss anyone. Talk it out. Talk it ALL out. Props David. You know your stuff. I agree. Stop funding for something that just does not work. Rather... HERE'S an idea:

Sarah's words of wisdom:
Incorporate abstinence into the already existing sex education program. OH WAIT... this is the way it already is in a comprehensive sex ed curriculum. I just got my wish. Now let's implement this business everywhere, shall we?