Abstract
Jessica Valenti, founder of the website feministing.com, said that the idea for this book came from reoccurring narratives she saw surfacing in online discussions about traditional feminist issues. She saw the purity myth as central to the construction of cultural beliefs and policy decisions that reinforce violence against women, reproductive injustice, and sexualization. It appears that part of Valenti’s agenda is to bring America’s fetishization of young women’s sexuality into mainstream conversation, but the larger aim is to dismantle a long-standing, insidious, conservative force that is focused on using virginity to regress women’s rights. Valenti’s thesis is that the purity myth produces detrimental consequences for women’s physical, emotional, and social health and that it is essential for us to teach young women a model of morality that is based on ethics, not their bodies. Part of this ethical morality is trusting young women to be moral actors, leaders, and activists in their own communities.
Valenti describes and subverts the purity myth through a series of chapters that focus on the sociocultural–political aspects that support the myth: the media, education, health care, the justice system, legislation, family systems, and gender construction. She provides provocative and salient examples of how the purity myth is devastating women’s physical and political safety. She cites a disturbing case: Four men gang raped a woman at gunpoint. The judge ruled that the incident was “theft of services,” not rape, because the woman was working as a sex worker at the time. The underlying message is that women who refuse to conform to the purity model deserve to be punished using both physical and political means.
The book ends with evidence illustrating the strengths and resources that young women bring to our sociocultural–political table. She cites statistics that frame young women as being capable of making responsible sexual choices, which counter purity myth dystopic prophecies about young women engaging in premarital sex. The final chapter is a call to action. Valenti describes specific methods for opposing the harmful effects of the purity myth; these methods include creating online campaigns that are aimed at giving young women spaces for discussing sexuality and information about specific organizations that focus on changing policy that limits women’s access to health care, reproductive choices, and protection from violence.
Valenti’s writing style is informal and personal, which keeps the reader engaged. Weaving personal stories with news reports, case studies, and quotes from pro-abstinence authors, Valenti creates a vivid and solid rendering of the purity myth. A major limitation of the book is that it does not present new information about the intersections among gender, sex, and violence. However, it does provide a fresh examination of traditional feminist issues, situated in current pop culture, legislation, and public education practices. Overall, The Purity Myth is a valuable exploration of the virginity movement in the United States and provides a tangible framework for activism.