Purity Balls

[PaytonPlace]

Anyone else watching???

[BellaLuna Rayne]

I was watching bits and pieces. Its...interesting and sorta creepy.

[terrordactyl]

what is it?

[BellaLuna Rayne]

Basically its a debutante ball where girls as young as 5 pledge there purity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_Ball

[*Erin*]

icky. i felt icky after watching.
poor girls.
feh.

[mata]

freaky deaky-bleh!

[LavenderMae]

I watched some of it and it was really um icky to me. It left me with a very unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach, definitely not something I agree with.

[kewb]

I have heard about Purity Balls. The whole idea squigs me out. It seems so creepy to me. The thought of sharing a moment with dad and promising to be a virgin. Yuck.

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

I saw that on I was watching the show on before it yesterday but never saw the actual show, it just sounded a bit creepy!

[choli]

I guess "purity": is not important for girls who don't have a father around.

I think it's truly creepy to pledge your "virginity" to your father. I suspect that an unhealthy dynamic would already exist in a family where the father felt that he had some sort of stake in his daughter's sexuality.

[kneedeepnkidz]

I think it is creepy too. The whole pledging to the father...idk. Just as an aside, when I was working the high school group at my church, I had one girl come to me after church one Sunday worried because she thought she could be pregnant. We talked, she went on her way and ended up having a miscarriage shortly after. About a month after she miscarried, she calls me and tells me she is at the jeweler getting her chastity ring and wanted to know which one I thought she should get. I was like, um...wouldn't that kinda be moot? lol.

[alicia622]

I watched this last night. It was very disturbing although I could see where the parents were coming from. I think they took it way too far. I agree with wanting your child to grow up feeling special and worthy of being treated with dignity and respect but I don't think a five year old needs to pledge her purity nor do I agree that would be boyfriends must meet with the father a few times before their daughter is allowed to go on a date (initially chaparoned by the parents!) The young women who got married didn't even kiss their fiance until the wedding! The young girls who spoke seemed to be simply reciting what has been drilled into their heads from a very early age. It didn't sound like they really understoood what they were talking about.

My favorite character was the 27 yo who was pregnant at 19 (I assume she placed the child for adoption) refused to marry the man her father chose for her at 21 and is now living with her boyfriend and her parents have little to nothing to do with her anymore. She seemed happy though a bit sad that her parents didn't appreciate who she has become.

[lunamegn]

Totally creepy. I think it sort of goes above and beyond (and over a few boundaries) of just teaching self-respect to girls, which is very important. For me, it brings up images of women being "property" of their fathers and being passed to their husbands.

[Vancouver Mommy]

Glad I'm not the only one who found the whole thing disturbing. It seemed positively incestuous to me. No father should take that much interest in his daughter's personal life.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by alicia622

My favorite character was the 27 yo who was pregnant at 19 (I assume she placed the child for adoption) refused to marry the man her father chose for her at 21 and is now living with her boyfriend and her parents have little to nothing to do with her anymore. She seemed happy though a bit sad that her parents didn't appreciate who she has become.

She had a miscarriage, otherwise she would have married him; though dumping him was still bad in her parent's eyes it was not as bad as being an unwed mother.

[alicia622]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II

She had a miscarriage, otherwise she would have married him; though dumping him was still bad in her parent's eyes it was not as bad as being an unwed mother.

Thanks for the details. I missed that part as I was watching several shows at the same time!

[TearyCloud]

Originally Posted by kewb

I have heard about Purity Balls. The whole idea squigs me out. It seems so creepy to me. The thought of sharing a moment with dad and promising to be a virgin. Yuck.

I was so disturbed at how intense the fathers were about this. And the kids aren't even supposed to KISS before marriage!?! WTF? It just seemed so incestual to me.

Originally Posted by choli

I guess "purity": is not important for girls who don't have a father around.

I think it's truly creepy to pledge your "virginity" to your father. I suspect that an unhealthy dynamic would already exist in a family where the father felt that he had some sort of stake in his daughter's sexuality.

I was also bothered that none of the kids could really explain *why* this was necessary. "I gave little pieces of my heart away" "it's adultery since your husband is out there somewhere "

Jeez, that's just brainwashing. These are the kinds of kids who end up pregnant because no one taught them about birth control.

[sophiekat]

that show seriously squicked me out. especially the guy behind the whole "purity ball" enterprise (and don't doubt for a minute that they're raking in $$$ by hosting these : )) -- honestly someone who takes that much interest in his daughters love lives sends up red flags for me.
and what about girls who don't have fathers? what about girls who are raped? and why aren't we seeing mother/son events if "purity" is such a virtue to be embraced? :

the whole thing is just wrong.

[DavidJProkopetz]

i'm watching

[mata]

does anyone else giggle when they hear "purity balls" and think "schweaty balls" in their next thought?