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The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women

Book by Jessica Valenti · 4 quotes · Feminism, Virginity, Men

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The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women Quotes

“If being premenstrual is “innocence,” does that make those of us with periods guilty? And this really gets to the heart of the matter: These concerns aren't about lost innocence; they're about lost girlhood. The virginity movement doesn't want women to be adults. Despite the movement's protestations about how this focus on innocence or preserving virginity is just a way of protecting girls, the truth is, it isn't a way to desexualize them. It simply positions their sexuality as “good”— worth talking about, protecting, and valuing—and women's sexuality, adult sexuality, as bad and wrong. The (perhaps) unintended consequences of this focus is that girl's sexuality is sexualized and fetishized even further.”

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Book:The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women
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“Sex for pleasure, for fun, or even for building relationships is completely absent from our national conversation. Yet taking the joy out of sexuality is a surefire way to ensure not that young women won't have sex, but rather that they'll have it without pleasure.”

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Book:The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women
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“Present-day American society-whether through pop culture, religion, or institutions-conflates sexuality and morality constantly. Idolizing virginity as a stand-in for women’s morality means that nothing else matters-not what we accomplish, not what we think, not what we care about and work for. Just if/how/whom we have sex with. That’s all.”

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Book:The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women
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