Purity ring

Purity rings (also known as promise rings, abstinence rings, or chastity rings) are rings worn as a sign of chastity. Since the 1990s, Christian organizations in the United States used the purity ring as a symbol of commitment. In particular, Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, such as True Love Waits and Silver Ring Thing, promoted virginity pledges and virginity before marriage. Wearing a purity ring is typically accompanied by a religious vow to practice abstinence until marriage. Chastity rings are part of the abstinence-only sex education movement and are intended to act as a physical reminder of the wearer's chastity vow.

Purity rings (also known as promise rings, abstinence rings, or chastity rings) are rings worn as a sign of chastity. Since the 1990s, Christian organizations in the United States used the purity ring as a symbol of commitment. In particular, Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, such as True Love Waits and Silver Ring Thing, promoted virginity pledges and virginity before marriage. Wearing a purity ring is typically accompanied by a religious vow to practice abstinence until marriage. Chastity rings are part of the abstinence-only sex education movement and are intended to act as a physical reminder of the wearer's chastity vow. ==Organizations== ====Effect==== In the first year of the campaign, over 102,000 young people signed the pledge, which was also taken up by other church groups including the Roman Catholic Church and Assemblies of God. The campaign spread across the US, making the use of occasions such as Valentine's Day to gain attention. By 2004, groups supporting abstinence numbered in the hundreds. During the preceding decade, approximately 2.5 million American youth took the pledge of abstinence. ==Supporters== Various individuals advocate for purity rings, or have previously advocated for them. BarlowGirl Miley Cyrus Selena Gomez Group 1 Crew Blanca Jonas Brothers Demi Lovato Stacie Orrico Rebecca St. James Jessica Simpson Jordin Sparks ==Criticism== Some studies of the efficacy of virginity pledges have found they may be effective in delaying vaginal intercourse but ineffective in reducing the rate of sexually transmitted infection. They also reduce the likelihood of contraceptive use. Additionally, it has been reported that pledgers replace vaginal intercourse with other sexual activities, such as oral or anal sex, thinking they "don't count". At least one study has found no difference in the sexual behavior of pledgers and non-pledgers after controlling for pre-existing differences between the groups. David Bario of the Columbia News Service wrote: Under the Bush administration, organizations that promote abstinence and encourage teens to sign virginity pledges or wear purity rings have received federal grants. The Silver Ring Thing, a subsidiary of a Pennsylvania evangelical church, has received more than $1 million from the government to promote abstinence and to sell its rings in the United States and abroad. According to a study conducted by Peter Bearman and Hannah Brückner published in 2005¹ in the Journal of Adolescent Health, 21% of young adults who had taken the pledge had vaginal intercourse, 13% reported having practiced oral sex and 4% anal sex. In the 2011 book Making Chastity Sexy: The Rhetoric of Evangelical Abstinence Campaigns, Christine Gardner criticizes True Love Waits for "using sex to sell abstinence" by promising more satisfying sexual activity within marriage for those who abstain from premarital sex; she argues that this rhetoric reinforces selfish desires for gratification, sets people up for divorce and dissatisfaction with marriage, and simply adapts "secular forms for religious ends". In 2014, Jimmy Hester, one of the main founders of the program, said that although some studies have shown that many young Christians have broken their commitments, it has served as a benchmark for some who have returned to the faith. The Jonas Brothers made an abstinence pledge through True Love Waits as teens. The band and pledge are satirized in the 2009 South Park episode "The Ring". In 2013, Morgan Lee, a journalist of The Christian Post, conducted an interview with Joe Jonas and wrote: In 2019, the Lutheran minister Nadia Bolz-Weber called for people to send her their unwanted purity rings so that she could cast them into a sculpture of a vagina. Apologetic minister Alisa Childers criticized Bolz-Weber for her project, but acknowledged that purity ring campaigns needed to improve. ==See also== Celibacy CTR ring Fornication Purity ball Virginity pledge ==References== ==Further reading== Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence by Sara Moslener, Oxford University Press, 2015. ==External links== Unaltered official website "Chastity Ring Ban", "Edward Baker". Archived by WebCite at webcitation.org/5aLToXu2m. Official Website ArticleWorld's page on True Love Waits and Yale/Columbia study

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368943689 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.