At least debutante balls, with their innate patriarchy and glorification of everything superficial and useless (even beauty pageants have an interview portion!), don't explicitly hand over control of the child's virginity to the father. They're held to mark the community's judgment that the girl is ready to lose her virginity to a nice boy of corresponding class. Purity balls, in contrast, feature young girls, far too inexperienced (and prepubescent) to know what they're giving up, promising abstinence while their fathers pledge guardianship of that abstinence. The sexual contract, previously confined to the daughter, her partners, and God, is extended to the father, ensuring that any independent sexual decisions of the daughter will entail the overt rejection of a parent. What an excellent way to promote family values, open communication, and healthy self images.
And Digby quotes a testimonial from an Actual Attendee® at one of these affairs:
"How can you measure the value of your eleven year old looking up into your eyes (as you clumsily learn the fox-trot together) with innocent, uncontainable joy, saying, 'Daddy, I'm so excited!' wrote Wesley Tullis in a letter describing his grateful participation. 'I have been involved with the Father-Daughter Ball for two years with my daughters, Sarah and Anna. It is impossible to convey what I have seen in their sweet spirits, their delicate, forming souls, as their daddy takes them out for their first, big dance. Their whole being absorbs my loving attention, resulting in a radiant sense of self-worth and identity. Think of it from their perspective: My daddy thinks I'm beautiful in my own unique way. My daddy is treating me with respect and honor. My daddy has taken time to be silly, and even made a fool of himself, learning how to dance. My daddy really loves me!"
Yes, and daddies who go into their eleven-year-olds bedrooms late at night when Mommy is asleep and tell them not to tell anyone what they're doing similar want their daughters to think it's because "my daddy really loves me!"
Somehow I think this guy is going to be among the first to sign up for this when the virgin bride he's advertising for produces a daughter for him:
A sign that 45-year-old Michael Thelemann posted in his yard Sunday said that he'll pay $1,000 for a virgin bride between the ages of 12 and 24.
"I feel like I'm living down the street from a pedophile," said neighbor Christy Sternadel. "We want him out of this neighborhood. Who asks for a 12-year-old virgin bride?"
As of Wednesday, no one had taken up Thelemann on his offer, but he had heard several negative comments from neighbors, which he said he didn't understand. He said his grandmother married "a much older man" at age 14.
"I'm just somebody who is getting up there in years, and I'm looking for a born-again, God-fearing virgin between the ages of 12 and 24 who can bear me children," said Thelemann, who was divorced in 1989. "What's the problem? I just think I have some wicked neighbors."
Hat tip for this last one: ShakesSis)
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire