Some oppose the dances as a form of abstinence-only education, which several recent academic studies concluded were ineffective. Other objections are coming from feminists.
"These events represent an idea that there is something about female sexuality that needs to be controlled by dominant men in the household," Professor Mary Zeiss Stange of Skidmore College told the Chicago Tribune. "That relates to a patriarchal position in the evangelical movement that not only defines female sexuality but females themselves as property. ... The daughter becomes her father's property until he hands her off to her husband."Proponents of purity dances argue that other studies prove that girls who spend time with their fathers are more likely to complete college and have higher self-esteem and less likely to seek approval from boyfriends.
The first purity ball began in 1997 at a Christian ministry in Colorado, Generations of Light. Randy Carlson, father of five daughters and two sons, said he never expected to start a trend.
"It was birthed out of our home, not the abstinence movement," he said. "It is a fatherhood event, not a virginity or abstinence event."
At an all girls school like Copper Canyon Academy in Arizona teenage girls are free of common distractions like boys and sex which allows them the opportunity for personal growth and academic achievement.
Labels: girls, fathers, virginity
Posted By: Aspen Education Group