The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women

The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti

As an avid Feministing reader, I’ve been familiar with Valenti’s work for quite a while but had never picked up one of her books until now. Her first two books, Full Frontal Feminism and He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut, seemed a bit too Women’s Studies 101 for where I’m at, so I passed on reading them. But when I heard about The Purity Myth I knew I just had to read it; as a staunch anti abstinence-only advocate, I hoped I would find more substance in Valenti’s book than I found in the somewhat disappointing Virgin: An Untouched History by Hanne Blank. (I freely admit to my own research-ery snobbery–if your book doesn’t have a plethora of footnotes, I’m not going to believe your arguments.) Despite a few issues I had with the book, me and my highlighter were quite pleased.

food for thought, parte deux

[cont. Book Club discussion: Female Chauvinist Pigs, by Ariel Levy]

let’s talk about young women and girls, for a short moment, shall we? I think some of the most arresting arguments that Levy makes are the ones that pertain to young women and girls; she reminds us that the things we do as women aren’t always without consequence and that our actions, however independent we think they may be, oftentimes, actually aren’t.

Chat up kidz, part uno

Female Chauvinist Pigs is everything I want from Women’s Studies: incisive, biting, well-informed, and filled with those “click” moments; needless to say, I loved reading this book. Thank you, Ariel Levy!

Before we delve into the nitty-gritty dissecting the minutiae of Levy’s assertions, I think I should ask that $40 million dollar question