The Christian Right's Slick Campaign to Make Abstinence Seem Trendy

By Vanessa Valenti, AlterNet. Posted August 28, 2008.

Magazines. Fashion. Dating. Comedy. These are all large parts of contemporary teen culture. Who would have thought they could also become the latest weapons in conservatives' war against sexual autonomy?

But after a decade of the Bush administration pouring millions of taxpayer dollars into abstinence education programs, only to see them fail, that's exactly what's happening.

Study after study has shown that those schooled in abstinence rhetoric are just as sexually active as those who aren't, leaving the right wing with virtually no credibility on the subject. Now, conservatives have to be a little savvier if they want to lie about condoms' effectiveness against sexually transmitted infections, make bogus claims about a link between abortion and breast cancer, or manipulate teens into thinking that premarital sex is damaging to one's self-worth. That's why conservative ideologues have taken abstinence-only discourse outside of the classroom and are trying to woo students through a different strategy: by making abstinence the teen trend of the year.

To boost the no-sex-'til-marriage cool factor, conservatives are co-opting everything from teen magazines to fashion to comedy routines. But behind the trendy talk are the same shame-inducing tactics and medical misinformation that could potentially put teens' self-esteem, health and lives in danger.

Abstinence Chic

The 2008-2009 edition cover of J4G (Just 4 Girls/Just 4 Guys) magazine features a close-up of a smiling girl with a fashionable fur-collared sweater, surrounded by brightly colored headlines like "The Inside Scoop on Guys!" This is a pretty familiar image for teens -- no different than what you'd likely see on the cover of Seventeen or YM. But what a young reader may not know is that J4G's "Inside Scoops on Guys" is really a lesson on dressing modestly. The feature tells the young reader that "guys are visual, so when a girl is dressing to show off (wearing tight pants, low-cut shirts, etc.), it is hard for guys because they are stimulated by what they see."

The piece continues its urge to readers: "(S)tart respecting yourself and your guy friends by dressing modestly" -- equating "respect" with wearing more -- and placing all responsibility on girls to tame the wild beast of young men's sexual desires. The diatribe ends with a suggested clothing Web site so female readers can be fashionable and "still be modest."

A project of the Human Life Alliance, J4G is given out to middle and high school students across the country in an effort to present "the importance of abstinence until marriage." The HLA proudly describes the magazine as "cutting edge," contending on its Web site, "The colorful graphics will catch their attention, and the thought-provoking stories and facts on the inside will challenge them to change the way they think about sex outside of marriage."

The magazine's Q&A advice column features Dr. Mary Paquette, who says birth control causes not only weight gain, acne and depression, but abortion. The same goes for emergency contraception. A 16-year-old pregnant girl seeking advice from the doctor is given all of her options, but with an obvious slant: Dr. Paquette describes parenting and adoption as being "selfless," and abortion as "often thought of as a quick fix." She then contends that abortion is a "painful option" and continues: "Women have described it to me as the most awful thing they have ever been through. Women often block out the memory of it and regret having aborted their baby. Not only do these women have lives haunted by their abortion, but they also have an increased risk of infertility, miscarriage and premature babies. There is also a risk of breast cancer in women who have an abortion. Trying to hide your pregnancy with abortion only leaves you alone to cope with all the depression, pain and regret that follow."

Coming from a doctor, teens are likely too see this as a reliable and accurate source of information, despite the fact that all of these "risks" have been disproved by numerous studies, including the National Cancer Institute's findings in 2003 that abortion is not linked to breast cancer. The magazine fails to inform its readers that Paquette works at AALFA Family Clinic in Minnesota, which identifies itself as a pro-life Christian clinic. Not surprisingly, the clinic does not provide birth control or emergency contraception.

See more stories tagged with: abstinence, sex education, abstinence-only education, teens and sexuality

Vanessa Valenti is a New York-based freelance writer and an editor at Feministing.com.

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