From the Chronicle of Higher Education (here, but registration and pay-subscription required), this story on a chastity-commitment club at Harvard:
On a campus they describe as saturated with casual sex, Justin [Murray] and Sarah [Kinsella] have helped put abstinence on the map. As they prepare to take their commitment to chastity : and each other : off campus, they leave behind a handful of devotees of a countercultural movement that says abstinence is sexy. True Love Revolution, or TLR, is hardly the only group pushing self-restraint among young adults….The group’s founders say abstinence is not only a foolproof means of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, but also the ticket to a better romantic life. * * *
True Love Revolution has become part activist group, part support network. It challenges a campus culture that, its founders say, promotes sex through university-sponsored how-to seminars on female orgasm. The group has advertised the benefits of abstinence through flyers and ice-cream socials. In April they held an open dinner discussion called “Living in a Hookup Culture,” which attracted supporters and critics alike. The founders hope their successors will bring speakers to the campus, and perhaps approach the university’s health center about incorporating information on abstinence into its sex-education programs. * * *
The organization caused some controversy at Harvard. On Valentine’s Day, for instance, the group mailed chocolate hearts to all freshman women, along with cards that said, “Why Wait? Because You’re Worth It.” That raised the ire of some campus feminists who said the organization was promoting a patriarchal view of female sexuality. The Harvard Crimson published a few editorials mocking the group. And Mr. Murray has friends who enjoy taunting him with explicit details of their sex lives.
If TLR had sent its “Because You’re Worth It” cards to both men and women, would it have drawn as much ire? It seems to me that there is a feminist spin one can put on a gender-neutral “wait until you are ready” message. But the “wait until you are married” message privileges “married” relationships over others and erases from the conversation those who are not able to marry (i.e., same-sex couples in most U.S. jurisdictions).
Yale should be publicizing this in its recruiting materials. Students there promote lux ET veritas.
-Bridget Crawford (with hat tip to Emily Gold Waldman)
I am just curious… If men say they have had on the average 4 sexual partners in the last year, and women report they have had 2 in the same amount of time, who do you think is most likely to be lying and what do you think the real average is and why?
My answer is BOTH are lying and average is most likely 3, making it equal which makes sense considering that heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual statistics are the same cross gender. The reason the men are lying is that they exaggerate because guys are considered studs if have sex with multiple partners. The women are lying because they are considered sluts for the very same thing.
Why did they send the messages to just the women, because this group? Because like most people they actually believe the survey results that indicate that male homosexuality is double that of female homosexuality and that people actually tell the truth when they answer sex surveys. And this is happening at an Ivy League school!!! Thank goodness and my orgasm that I choose to go to State.