An Orgy of Abstinence.

August 1, 2001 10:20 AM

An Orgy of Abstinence. "Questions plant ideas," warns Peter Brandt, director of issues-response for the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family. Well we wouldn't want things like questions or ideas in our schools, now would we?
posted by MarkO (23 comments total)

By the way, I know we've had a lot of abstinence stories, but I love the quote.
posted by MarkO at 10:21 AM on August 1, 2001

man, that David kid mentioned at the end of the article is going to be Busted if his parents read that article.
posted by th3ph17 at 10:44 AM on August 1, 2001

I believe that that's a RealDoll in the picture, no?
posted by fooljay at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2001

"sexual self-stimulation" may "eventually leave the person unable to respond sexually to a real person." In other words, masturbators may become so addicted to this self-sex, they might not be able to enjoy the real thing with their spouses once they find them. "It's the first stage of sexual addiction," warns Unruh.

What a load of crap. In my experience, girls who masturbated were MUCH more able to enjoy sex because they already knew what felt good to them. Ugh... Next they'll be saying that it grows hair on your palms and makes you go blind...
posted by fooljay at 10:53 AM on August 1, 2001

realdolls are hella expensive...i'd say it is probably CG.
posted by th3ph17 at 10:53 AM on August 1, 2001

Why the hell did they fire Jocelyn Elders?
posted by MarkO at 10:59 AM on August 1, 2001

Fooljay, the way I hear it, if you don't masturbate you'll go blind.
posted by apollo at 11:00 AM on August 1, 2001

...if you don't masturbate you'll go blind.

is it really necessary to use such a large font, apollo? it hurts my eyes.
posted by quonsar at 11:06 AM on August 1, 2001

1. Absinence is great for anyone who wants it, but as someone who had to "stay out of mischief" between visits from my foreign boy, I can't imagine how anyone does it without masturbating. It sure never ruined sex for me, nor the mr. either... that lie is one of the most ridiculous piece of horse-hooey that anti-masturbators peddle (and why do people hate it so? is it the yuk factor?) In fact, i've talked with other chick friends, and we all agree that long periods without any sexual activities causes our libidos to weaken, and sex to become less interesting. Masturbation reminds us how much fun orgasms are, and keeps us looking forward to the next participartory activity.

2. Dang I'm so sick of this addiction bullshit. "sex addict"? How about healthy interest? Grow up and take responsibility for your own life.

3. "Pet Your Dog, Not Your Date" anyone else kinda disturbed by this?
posted by christina at 11:08 AM on August 1, 2001

i don't know what to say about this kind of stuff anymore... it's wonky, it's ignorant, but it's probably going to keep on happening. expressing my disgust gets boring after a point.
posted by moz at 11:14 AM on August 1, 2001

She cites the organization's "Abstinence Survival Kit," which says that "sexual self-stimulation" may "eventually leave the person unable to respond sexually to a real person." In other words, masturbators may become so addicted to this self-sex, they might not be able to enjoy the real thing with their spouses once they find them. "It's the first stage of sexual addiction," warns Unruh.

Perhaps Unruh is speaking for herself here? I wonder if she could point us to a refereed study in a respected journal supporting this notion. More likely, its the usual story of people believing what they want to believe against all evidence and rationality.
posted by normy at 11:32 AM on August 1, 2001

There's only one thing to do in this situation: fuck a Bible.
posted by solistrato at 11:49 AM on August 1, 2001

I got yer bible sex right here

(Don't forget the bible pr0n)
posted by thewittyname at 12:10 PM on August 1, 2001

From Monday's Washington Post: Administration Promoting Abstinence. "The Bush administration is making a fundamental change in how the federal government approaches issues involving reproductive health, scaling back efforts to promote family planning and contraception while aggressively promoting "abstinence-only" programs."

The story even features Ms. Unruh of the above 'sexual self-stimulation' quote: "We're getting nothing but support from the Bush administration," said Leslee J. Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse. "He has personally talked to me about doing anything and everything he can to support abstinence-until-marriage education."
posted by SenshiNeko at 2:39 PM on August 1, 2001

Normy said: Perhaps Unruh is speaking for herself here? I wonder if she could point us to a refereed study in a respected journal supporting this notion. More likely, its the usual story of people believing what they want to believe against all evidence and rationality.

It's hardly scientific, but I've certainly seen a lot of questions in 'advice pages' and some mentions on the Internet about this, all from men.

From what I've read of this, it seems there are some young men who find sex initially rather difficult. For example, some might masturbate 4 or 5 times a day (I honestly can't understand that myself though) and be finished within a couple of minutes each time.

This presents problems when they enter a sexual relationship with a woman, as they are only used to climaxing within a couple of minutes. Of course, most will 'grow out of it' over time, but I can fully see why masturbation without other sexual activity could result in someone having a 'distorted' response to normal sexual relations in the initial stages.
posted by wackybrit at 2:49 PM on August 1, 2001

Finished in a couple of minutes?

Yeah, that sounds right.
posted by ColdChef at 2:59 PM on August 1, 2001

if teaching men to be better lovers [no weird hang-ups, or ummm...shortfalls...] when older is their concern, they should teach them HOW to masturbate Better, and with certain future goals in mind.
posted by th3ph17 at 3:30 PM on August 1, 2001

Condoms Don't Protect the Heart

Neither does waiting until marriage.

I've been a virgin all my life

I've been a virgin since I was thirteen years old.

By the way, this whole thing makes me sick. Who came up with this idea? I know, let's brainwash our children to deny their own feelings! Grr.
posted by gleemax at 5:01 PM on August 1, 2001

Available at the conference were ATM—abstinence-till-marriage—cards (expiration date: wedding day)

Who comes up with these ideas?

"No Trespassing" underwear

Yeah, that won't get you beat up.

For women, Kellogg recommended applying carbolic acid to the clitoris.

I don't know what carbolic acid is, but that sounds painful.
posted by gleemax at 5:22 PM on August 1, 2001

for anyone else looking for the quotes used by gleemax, they are a sidebar to the main story, Here.

Carbolic acid application would essentially be acid mutilation [call it female circumcision if you like] . I agree with you gleemax...GRRRRR. Everyone, touch yourselves. Enjoy it. Practice safe sex with someone you actually care about. Those old-fashioned chastity methods give me the fucking creeps, except the Graham Crackers...those are tasty. Oh, and the NEW chastity methods give me the creeps also. Metal Belts Vs. Brainwashing thru cheesy marketing....huh...
posted by th3ph17 at 5:41 PM on August 1, 2001

I think it's funny that the Scaffold's song "Promiscuity" (a very upbeat song praising... well, promiscuity...) came up on my playlist.
posted by dagnyscott at 5:42 PM on August 1, 2001

The image of the guy there is an illustration, courtesy of Marc Phares. What was much more disturbing to me when I saw the issue was about to go live at the office yesterday morning was the cover image.

This, of course, is the international symbol for "No Doggy Style".
posted by anildash at 8:50 PM on August 1, 2001

Incidentally, "Unruh" is the closest written interpretation of the noise I make when I orgasm.
posted by Markb at 5:48 AM on August 2, 2001