Bristol Palin’s “Stolen Virginity:” What’s the Real Message?
Okay, I finally have to admit it, I am obsessed with Bristol Palin. I don’t understand her but I can’t get enough. I remember exactly where I was when I heard that John McCain had tapped Sarah Palin,...
View ArticleThree on Virginity, Ideals and Regrets
Published in partnership with Scarleteen reynolds1990 asks: I know that it takes a woman up to 7 years, after having intercourse to become a virgin again. Is that true? Is it also the same for a girl...
View ArticleFour Daughters, Four Moms, Four Sex Talks
Published in partnership with Scarleteen happy_active_loved_17 asks: I’m 18, and I’ve been sexually active for about three years. I met my current boyfriend in August of 2010 and we’ve been inseparable...
View ArticleGet Real! I Gave Him My Virginity, But Don’t Feel Like I Got Anything Back
Published in partnership with Scarleteen. needs some advice asks: I’ve been dating my boyfriend for 6 months now. He is my first long-term boyfriend and I really do love him. He is 3 years older than...
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Virgin Diaries: TLC’s Latest Cringe-Worthy Program on Sex
TLC’s early forays into reality television included entries like A Baby Story, A Wedding Story, and A Dating Story. These half-hour shows introduced viewers to a couple about to embark on a big moment...
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Let’s Talk About Sex: A Discussion With the Filmmakers of ‘How to Lose Your...
Two new documentaries directed by young women operate under a shared thesis: Women need to talk about sex. In How to Lose Your Virginity, which premieres this week, director Therese Shechter...
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Don’t Just ‘Reframe’ Purity Culture—Rethink the Whole Concept
When I was in eighth grade, the tiny Pentecostal church school I attended announced it was closing. My family was about to move two counties and an hour’s drive away. My classmates, all seven of them,...
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Just Sign No: More Evidence Virginity Pledges Don’t Work
New research published in the August issue of the Journal of Child and Family Studies found that virginity pledges—which involve youth promising to remain abstinent until marriage—only worked for young...
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MTV’s ‘Virgin Territory’ Treads Too-Familiar Ground
MTV, infamous for its intimate onscreen explorations of teen pregnancy and young motherhood, has made a new foray into strangers’ personal lives with Virgin Territory, a reality show that follows 15...
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Shaming Women About Having Sex Doesn’t Stop Us From Having Sex
This piece is published in collaboration with Echoing Ida, a Forward Together project. I ask about 100 people, either by phone or by knocking on doors, the same question each week as an organizer at a...
View ArticleThree on Virginity, Ideals and Regrets
Published in partnership with Scarleteen reynolds1990 asks: I know that it takes a woman up to 7 years, after having intercourse to become a virgin again. Is that true? Is it also the same for a girl...
View ArticleFour Daughters, Four Moms, Four Sex Talks
Published in partnership with Scarleteen happy_active_loved_17 asks: I’m 18, and I’ve been sexually active for about three years. I met my current boyfriend in August of 2010 and we’ve been inseparable...
View ArticleGet Real! I Gave Him My Virginity, But Don’t Feel Like I Got Anything Back
Published in partnership with Scarleteen. needs some advice asks: I’ve been dating my boyfriend for 6 months now. He is my first long-term boyfriend and I really do love him. He is 3 years older than...
View ArticleVirgin Diaries: TLC’s Latest Cringe-Worthy Program on Sex
TLC’s early forays into reality television included entries like A Baby Story, A Wedding Story, and A Dating Story. These half-hour shows introduced viewers to a couple about to embark on a big moment...
View Article‘How to Lose Your Virginity’ (Trailer)
In a culture where “Be sexy, but don’t have sex” is the overwhelming message to young women, this new film by Therese Shechter goes through the looking glass to understand virginity: a milestone almost...
View ArticleHow We Teach Purity Culture Isn’t the Problem—Purity Culture Itself Is the...
When Joshua Harris’ book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which argues that teenagers need to remain sexually and emotionally pure, arrived on the conservative Christian scene almost 20 years ago, he wasn’t...
View ArticleFour Daughters, Four Moms, Four Sex Talks
Published in partnership with Scarleteen happy_active_loved_17 asks: I’m 18, and I’ve been sexually active for about three years. I met my current boyfriend in August of 2010 and we’ve been inseparable...
View ArticleGet Real! I Gave Him My Virginity, But Don’t Feel Like I Got Anything Back
Published in partnership with Scarleteen. needs some advice asks: I’ve been dating my boyfriend for 6 months now. He is my first long-term boyfriend and I really do love him. He is 3 years older than...
View ArticleVirgin Diaries: TLC’s Latest Cringe-Worthy Program on Sex
TLC’s early forays into reality television included entries like A Baby Story, A Wedding Story, and A Dating Story. These half-hour shows introduced viewers to a couple about to embark on a big moment...
View ArticleThree on Virginity, Ideals and Regrets
Published in partnership with Scarleteen reynolds1990 asks: I know that it takes a woman up to 7 years, after having intercourse to become a virgin again. Is that true? Is it also the same for a girl...
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