The United States is obsessed with virginity -- from the media to schools to government agencies.
In The Purity Myth, Jessica Valenti argues that the country's intense focus on chastity is damaging to young women.
Through in-depth cultural and social analysis, Valenti reveals that powerful messaging on both extremes -- ranging from abstinence-only curriculum to Girls Gone Wild infomercials -- place a young woman's worth entirely on her sexuality.
Morals are therefore linked purely to sexual behavior, rather than values like honesty, kindness, and altruism.
Valenti sheds light on the value -- and hypocrisy -- around the notion that girls remain virgins until they're married by putting into context the historical question of purity, modern abstinence-only education, pornography, and public punishments for those who dare to have sex.
The Purity Myth presents a revolutionary argument that girls and women are overly valued for their sexuality, as well as solutions for a future without a damaging emphasis on virginity.
Seal Press (ca) The purity myth: how america's obsession with virginity is hurting young women, paperback/jessica valenti
