A friend sent me a link to an article with the following headline:

No such thing as virginity, author says ^[1]

My first reaction was “boy, anyone can get published these days” (ironically, the same reaction I had when Our Sunday Visitor agreed to publish my book). Somehow the author, Jessica Valenti, lives in modern America and thinks our society emphasizes virginity too much. That’s what I often think as I’m walking through the mall looking at semi-pornographic pictures of whores pop tarts everywhere. In spite of the actual reality of our culture, Valenti is offended by the fact that a few souls have decided to resist the oversexualization of our girls (and I do mean “girls” – try to find modest clothing for a 12-year-old girl and see what happens) by promoting virginity.

Valenti especially criticizes “virginity pledges” – when someone makes a public commitment to save themselves for marriage. There has been a lot of publicity about these pledges over the years and some have questioned their usefulness. I do believe these pledges can be worthwhile (I took one before I was married and found it was helpful), but of course they are only one piece of the puzzle. Chastity is not just a commitment to avoid performing a single action – it is an entire way of life (and it doesn’t end at marriage). It involves how you dress, how you talk, who you interact with, what you watch, and countless other actions. If someone is unchaste in their clothing or their viewing habits, they are very unlikely to be chaste in their sexual life.

Unfortunately, almost every aspect of our culture puts tremendous pressure on our young people to be unchaste in word and thought – which will often lead to a lack of chastity in action as well in spite of the best efforts to fulfill a “pledge.” We need to teach our children from an early age about the dignity of the human person by word and action so that when they become teenagers they can see that being chaste is a fundamental way to show respect for that dignity, both of one’s own person and others.

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!