By Craig P. Dixon, southcoast247.com correspondent Social Commentary 105
April 3, 2007
In my wondrous, varied experience, I've dealt with a lot of creepy things.
I'm sure you have, too.
Perhaps, while using a rest stop urinal, a strange
guy stood directly behind you. So close, you could smell the blackberry
brandy, ringworm, and bad intentions on his breath.
Or there was that time
when you returned home from work to find a stalker chick managed to leave
both love and hate notes in your apartment... though you locked the doors
(and windows) before you left.
Maybe there's a weird dude that you always
notice glaring at you from afar. You don't know him. Yet there he is,
staring at you like a red-eyed serial killer from across the bar every
Friday night. You read dark, nefarious thoughts in those eyes... and
shudder, anticipating all sorts of wild mayhem.
The very creepiness of it
all is enough to make you shit yourself. Anxious. Girding yourself for the
worst. You don't know what'll happen next, but you're ninety percent sure
the outcome won't be positive. The situation sets you on red alert.
"Look who's getting married!"
And, sometimes, such circumstances righteously warrant a pre-emptive strike.
But these examples of creepiness pale in comparison to my own personal award for
Creep-Out of The very young New Century: Purity Balls.
Perhaps I'm the
first to acquaint you with this term. If so, peruse this link.
Once sufficiently creeped out, read on.
A buddy of mine once "dated" ("dated" =
hung out with for a few weeks) one of those Purity Ball kind of girls. She'd
declared her intention to remain chaste until marriage, in public, at a very
young age. At the not-so-young age of seventeen, she was supposedly the very
image of abstinence. The spokesmodel for the movement, declaring her
chastity at national church functions.
Well guess what? My buddy was
performing all sorts of rather unchaste unprotected acts with that girl
within a week's time. She hadn't even retained her virginity through high
school.
Then there's this pal of mine who'd "dated" a Mormon girl on
Martha's Vineyard. Mormon's aren't supposed to have sex before marriage. But
this didn't stop the girl from participating in unprotected oral and anal
sex with my friend. She, and most of her peers, didn't consider either
"sex". These were just playful, pleasurable diversions.
The very idea of
the Purity Ball is just freaky. When I was ten, I spent my time playing
sports, trading baseball cards, and eating candy. Sex was the furthest thing
from my mind. Putting the idea of sex in a kid's head and declaring it off
limits will make the forbidden fruit all the tastier when it's eaten.
Coupling that with a lack of Sex Ed will contribute to dangerous sexual
practices.
Mark my words. Today's Purity Ball participant is tomorrow's
knocked up teen.
In my wondrous, varied experience, I've dealt with a lot of creepy things.
I'm sure you have, too.
