Physical representations of vowed purity have been around since the renaissance, most notably in the form of clunky iron wrought and super padlocked chastity belts. How convenient. Luckily for these Mary Sues & Bobby Jos in the more recent decade charismatic christians of the United States have been heavily advocating the chastity ring. The ring, aimed mainly towards adolescents, urges the individual - pardon me I mean "young adult" - (under religous tenets) to wait until marriage before entering into a sexual relationship. In my uber-Catholic grammar school (fit with your very own stereotypical nuns in habit, kicking it old school huh?) there was a program advocating this "way of life" through interactive storyline videos with their very own laptops. Was it educational? sure. Did I learn not to get knocked up by a skeezy kid straight out of a bad 90's commercial? you bet. Did I care? hell no. It was just another freebie slip out of some class I'd actually have to pay attention in. I highly doubt each and every kid took it the way I did. I guess I figured I was smart enough not to get into any life-altering trouble, but really, honestly! when you have to choose a button between "Follow Jack into the Basement Party" or "Say No" - come on! The icing on top of the cake for this program was the - wait for it - chastity rings they handed out to us at the end. In all honesty I had lost my silver braided finger band a month later, but that naive voice in the back of my head insisted I would fall into that "basement" trap in the near future just because I had lost the ring was seriously nagging. How superstitious we are at times.
If you're wondering what brought on this memory retrival it was good old hearty Disney: keeping it clean for your kids since 1923. Disney's latest summer movie "Camp Rock" has taken over my household, with the Jonas Brothers as the main attraction (I won't deny Joe's appeal and his eventual fate as my future ex-husband. jk). Watching the horridly directed movie with my absorbed sister reminded me of an article in which I read of the Jonas Brothers' out-in-the-open vowed chastity. A very enduring quality for such young and highly sought after boys, but also eerily unsettling. Why? I'm not sure. The pull of societal norms and taboos are surely present in my mindset at the moment. It's good to wait, so says the line "true love waits" which is emblazoned on almost every chastity ring. But how about human nature? How about the basic needs and drives which animals, as well as humans, are made for? - in the simplest thought of course. You know - the four f's: fighting, fleeing, feeding, and ..um..reproducing. But then what's waiting until marriage? In my head sometimes it's a beautiful thing, and sometimes it's just a facade to hide the quality trait of "man-whore" (Cynicism at it's best). But many young Disney stars are proudly shouting and hand swaying to their vows of abstinence. I wonder what's really going on...maybe she is a skank......hmm......You know what! I applaud you you young rich famous slightly beautiful Disney stars! Proudly go down your chaste paths! and as of yet I will humbly follow.
KELCIE
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