According to the web site, True Love Revolution, alas, "there is no condom for the heart." Ah, so true. Additionally, did you know that, "premarital sexual behavior has the potential to negatively affect your emotional and mental health. Early sexual activity and having multiple sexual partners is strongly associated with increased depression, greater likelihood of maternal poverty, and higher rates of marital infidelity and divorce in future marriages." That explains so much.
New York Times reporter Randall Patterson went straight to the source to speak with some of the horn-free Harvard students that keep their pants on at all times (maybe even in the shower, nevernude much?). There's Janie Fredell, abstinence crusader that finds virginity "extremely alluring," and Kevin Joyce, the former president of the Ivy League abstinence encouraging Princeton Club, who likes to take an "intellectual approach" when it comes to not having pre-marital sex, among other not so hot blooded youths.
So what is it that's causing this return to arguably Victorian ideals in our nation's youth? Bush (the man, not the body part) may have a little something to do with it. With the war to distract us, it might have been easy to miss the millions and millions of dollars the Bush administration has funneled into abstinence only programs in public middle and high schools across the United States, but apparently, some kids may have been paying attention after all. (Although, as referenced in the article, a 2004 report found that 11 of 13 abstinence programs examined "were rife with scientific errors and false and misleading information about the risks of sexual activity. Many states are now rejecting federal financing for such classes, on evidence that they fail to limit sexual behavior or reduce teen pregnancy.") In fact, statistics say teen pregnancy rose sharply during the last decade.
Still, there's no denying that a new generation of abstinence activists have emerged. Personally, I think the spunky kiddos over at the Midwest Teen Sex Show have the right idea--focus on education--as opposed to the more restrictive ideals expressed on the True Love Revolution website. But that's just my little old opinion, and I think any embrace of sexuality (or the absence of it) is healthy and courageous, especially when it goes against the grain. I also agree with Martha Kempner, spokeswoman for the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, who thinks that while it's great that abstinent students have more clubhouses to meet in, she is concerned that some of these groups may be "using inaccurate information and distorted data to sell that message.” Quite a pickle indeed.
We're all for sexual or even non-sexual expression, but is the celebration of celibacy repression or a belief to be admired? You tell us.
