Balls of purity

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Time has a big takeout on this new conservative family activity called "purity balls," during which the paterfamilias takes his virgin daughter, sometimes as young as 4 years old, to a formal dance in which a herd of like-minded dads swear their female offspring to sustain their own purity until marriage. The title of the article, "The Pursuit of Teen Girl Purity," pretty well nails the sleazy double entendre --- unintentionally, of course --- that characterizes these events.

I have nothing to add either to the blog post linked here, at Feministing.com, or the commentary that follows it, except for one thing: the Time photo included with the Feministing post seems reminiscent of "Sisters," David Hamilton's 1972 erotic photography monograph depicting young women as totally innocent, sexually overripe vixens, probably with lesbian tendencies. But in the Time treatment, there are highly respectable geezers in the pictures, dressed in James Bond drag.