What Rolling Stone and the Abstinence-Only Movement Have in Common

Touting girls and girlhood as ideal forms of sexuality is simply another way of advancing the notion that to be desirable, women need to be un-adults–young, naive, and impressionable. Being independent, assured, and grown up has no place in this disconcerting model.

Jess’ goes on to make the argument that it’s not just pop culture outlets like Rolling Stone that are pushing this highly sexualized and infantile image, but the virginity movement as well:

…the ‘perfect virgin’ is at the center of the movement’s rhetoric, and its goals revolve largely around convincing girls that the only way to be pure is to abstain from sex. This means there’s an awful lot of talk about young girls’ sexuality in the movement, from T-shirts to abstinence classes to purity balls. By focusing on the virginity of young women and girls, the movement is doing exactly what it purports to abhor–objectifying women and reducing them to their sexuality.

Oh, and the totally unsubtle ploy to titillate dudes with girl-on-girl fantasies is duly noted. Really original Rolling Stone.
Thanks to platoformboots for the heads up.