Christian Aimee Byrd Reviews Sara Moslener’s book “Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence”
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Before I put the content in about the Virgin Nation book, a reminder:
- (Link): John Morgan, who claims I am not trustworthy because I use a pen name, still lurks at my blog
- (Link): Blogger Guy Who Accused Me Of Being Untrustworthy Finds My Blog Trustworthy Enough to Use as Resource
If Morgan suddenly (or even a few months later) does a blog post mentioning the Virgin Nation book at his blog after this post appears on my blog, you could bet dollars to doughnuts he first heard of this book here on my blog.
I haven’t been to his blog in a few months. I don’t think he’s ever discussed this book at his blog.
Really, dude, stop using my blog as a resource. It’s very hypocritical to believe on the one hand I am not a trustworthy source because I use a pen name, but then turn around and believe I’m trustworthy enough to use to get blog post ideas from.
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Virgin Nation – Book Review by Byrd
This was an interesting review.
As the summary of Moslener’s book indicates, she brings up a few of the points I have here on my blog before.
I’m not opposed to Christians believing in, promoting, or living out sexual purity, and it dismays me to see how many Christians are actually arguing against sexual purity (including virginity and celibacy) these days.
However, I do sometimes question just how Christians go about teaching or promoting sexual purity. Some Christians have also turned sexual purity into a marketing gimmick, where they make money selling books about the topic, which also bothers me (and I’ve blogged about that at least once before).
Here are some excerpts from the book review (I would encourage you to use the link below to visit the page to read the review in its entirety there):
(Link): Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence by Sara Moslener (a book review by A. Byrd)
Excerpts (I placed a few of the observations I found most interesting in bold face):
- …a very good thing, Christian purity, has become a commodity instead of a process in sanctification.
- …Moslener traces the sexual purity movement in America, showing how it developed as an ideology linked to national security. She identifies “several cooperating impulses: evangelical political activism, deep anxiety over gender roles and changing sexual mores, fear and moral decay, apocalyptic anticipation, and American nationalism”, making the case that “sex and national survival are the poles around which evangelicals have constructed a national identity.”
- …Moslener begins with tracing sexual purity back to first wave feminism and the reversal of traditional gender roles. Where women used to be thought of as the morally inferior sex (the whole “it was Eve who first took the bite” shtick), in the 19th century this idea took a 180-degree turn. Purity was regarded as a feminine trait.
- Women exploited their newfound status as moral superiors to extend their power beyond the domestic sphere and control the sexual behavior of men.
- Moslener connects the reversal of the female status as moral superiors in first wave feminism to the political movements fueled by evangelical tropes of manhood and womanhood.