Making Chastity Sexy

Christine J. Gardner

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780520267282
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520950559
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christianity

Even though they are immersed in sex-saturated society, millions of teens are pledging to remain virgins until their wedding night. How are evangelical Christians persuading young people to wait until marriage? Christine J. Gardner looks closely at the language of the chastity movement and discovers a savvy campaign that uses sex to "sell" abstinence. Drawing from interviews with evangelical leaders and teenagers, she examines the strategy to shift from a negative "just say no" approach to a positive one: "just say yes" to great sex within marriage. Making Chastity Sexy sheds new light on an abstinence campaign that has successfully recast a traditionally feminist idea—"my body, my choice"—into a powerful message, but one that Gardner suggests may ultimately reduce evangelicalism's transformative power. Focusing on the United States, her study also includes a comparative dimension by examining the export of this evangelical agenda to sub-Saharan Africa.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abstinence, AIDS, and Evangelicals: An Introduction
• Chapter 1: From Abstinence to Purity: The Changing Tropes of Chastity
• Chapter 2: Of Purity Rings and Pop Stars: Using Sex to Sell Abstinence
• Chapter 3: “Someday My Prince Will Come”: The Fairy-tale Narrative and Female Power
• Chapter 4: Disciplining Sexuality: How American Evangelical Youth are Committing to Abstinence—and Sticking with It
• Chapter 5: The Fractured Fairy Tale: When True Love Doesn’t Wait
• Chapter 6: Fearing God, Not AIDS: Abstinence in Africa
• Chapter 7: The Condom Conflict: Saving Lives or Promoting Promiscuity?
• Chapter 8: What’s Not So Great about Great Sex
• Appendix: List of Campaign Leaders
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index