Custom term paper on Purity balls
Every person faces with media every single day. In the morning people check newspaper or news on the television (or Internet), and usually make decisions taking in account and according to the information that was heard from the mass media or friends, family (who also get the information from the mass media and Internet). The authority of mass media make people trust on it and gain the information, education, work and entertainment from it. Recently, mass media and magazines started to inform people about purity balls, the raising tradition of the growing Christian “courtship” movement. According to Baumgardner (2007) a purity ball is a formal ball dance event attended by fathers and their daughters. Purity balls promote virginity until marriage for teenage girls, and are almost exclusively associated with Evangelical Christian churches in the United States. Typically, daughters who attend make a virginity pledge; a pledge to remain sexually abstinent until marriage. The purity of body, soul and even mind of daughters is protected by fathers. Such close and deep, chaste and affectionate daughter – father relationships protect daughters from mistakes and results of relationships with young men (of the same age as daughters). The one mission of fathers is to make their daughters believe in their attractiveness and beauty.
This paragraph is dedicated to such problems: what is the broader cultural context in which this practice is emerging. Why now? Why, specifically, within the last decade? Finally, why within these specific communities? Valenti (2009) has mentioned that a purity ball is an event for fathers to pledge to protect their daughters’ purity and for daughters to “to commit to moral purity and help them understand the beautiful and righteous life God offers them.” Such event is taking place in the United States of America since 1998. It was nearby Marriot. About 100 daughters from the Evangelical Christian churches were hosted. Then purity balls were held in Tucson (about 200 people), Spearfish, South Dakota (more than 150 daughters celebrated at the purity ball) and in Peoria, Illinois (barely 600 daughters and fathers). This practice is seemed to be emerging; however, I believe it is not. In recent times the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (or NLSAH) has researched that American adolescents from 12 to 18 took a purity pledge in frequency one in six. In this way daughters vow to stay pure in all senses until marriage. Current times (and especially several last years) are dangerous with the several problems in the sex area – use of contraceptives and condoms, the raising number of partners in sex, unplanned pregnancy, the sex frequency, diseases and others. In order to pretend and deal with such problems society decided to return this event. Why does this event have more cultural and religious meaning than social? Christians are likely to believe in the necessity of the girl’s purity until the marriage. However, they see the situation from the one side. It was mentioned that the purity balls have only little positive effect and impact, but comprehensive programs of sex education deal with these problems more effective.
Gibbs (2008) has found that Writer and feminist Eve Ensler criticizes purity balls for purportedly putting young women in positions of inferiority and alleged interference with their personal freedom and autonomy in determining whether and with whom to engage in sexual relations. In addition, the NLSAH found that those adolescents who made a virginity pledge are less likely to follow the chastity standards, to utilize precautions of safe sex. Moreover those who hosted the virginity pledge are positively correlated to the occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases that is frequent. However, the women position in such communities is contradictive. Purity balls are obsessed with physical chastity preoccupation that might inadvertently transform the girls’ social structure fulfilling them with several erotic issues, in the same time spreading attention away from the support of spiritual virtue and even internal moral that girl thinks is dictated by principles of the faith of Christians.
According to Gazal (1999) Christian fundamentalism is potentially dangerous. Christian fundamentalism as a whole does not profess “Christianity” at all. The United States may be guilty of trying to remove a splinter from the eye of the world while it is blinded by the beam in its own eye. It was found that male are shown working more than women, but, women and girls are shown actively using their intelligence and acting independently to achieve their goals, they are likely to stress and solve their problems. I think, this information will change soon through the time. The only we can do: is to watch accurately the challenges, which occurs place in our life and society at all. It is obvious that several religious groups try to limit women in their rights and actions. However, even purity of body and mind is suitable for women only, but why? Why men do not host the virginity pledge? Moreover, if such event does not have many advantages and do not bring benefits to woman’s life, it becomes ridiculous. The female sexuality is away from attention in such communities. Woman becomes the creature that cannot be happy in love, sex and self – affirmation, I think. The distance and connection between the body and mind is obviously stressed, so that causes the alienated body (in result of appearance of disrupted and fractured psyches), which appears to be an enemy even to its inhabitants. The purity of both mind and body can take place in lives of both men and women, not only women. New time, new style, and new standpoints we will face in future. The role of gender is significant. Women, as I think, are often shown as weak victims, however in life they do the same job the men do, or even harder. Nevertheless, it should be so; women should stay women in the men’s arms. In other case, what for do we need the differences between male and female? A person’s gender role is composed of several elements and, clearly, can be expressed through clothing, choice of work, and even behavior, and of course personal relationships and other various factors. Over time, many various acceptable male or female gender roles without any doubt have emerged.
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