Purity rings again

by phil on Wednesday Mar 18, 2009 1:36 AM

This is probably the most interesting thing I read about purity rings:

Miss Manners feels obliged to warn you that polite society does not recognize such a thing as a chastity ring. It is so polite that it presumes that a lady is chaste unless publicly proven otherwise.

This is the source, for context:

Dear Miss Manners,
For my sixteenth birthday, my parents took me to dinner and gave me a beautiful ring set with precious stones (sapphires and a tiny diamond) that doubles as a chastity ring. I am now almost eighteen, and lately I have been considering moving my chastity ring from my right hand ring finger (where I have worn it thus far) to my left hand ring finger, which I know is traditionally the finger used for engagement and wedding rings. I like the symbolism of putting my chastity ring on that finger, but I don't want people to misinterpret my intentions. I would greatly appreciate your opinion.

Gentle Reader,
Allowing prospective suitors to believe that you are engaged is certainly one way to preserve your chastity. Perhaps in perpetuity.

However, Miss Manners feels obliged to warn you that polite society does not recognize such a thing as a chastity ring. It is so polite that it presumes that a lady is chaste unless publicly proven otherwise.

I was led to this by following this trail of thinking:

I think I just saw the most irreverent South Park Episode yet: The Ring. This originally aired last Wednesday, March 11th, and it slams the Jonas Brothers and Disney for promoting purity rings.

Apparently, it's true that the Jonas Brothers spray foam at the audience.

I decided to watch a few Jonas Brothers videos to see what they're all about. These are the most viewed ones on YouTube: SOS and Burnin' Up.

The band members are ages 21, 19, and 16. According to Joe Jonas (age 19), they wear purity rings to symbolize "a promise to ourselves and to God that we'll stay pure till marriage." According to Nick (age 16), "it's purity rings pretty awesome, and the rings are just one of our ways of kind of like being different than everybody else out there." (wikipedia).

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