| My posts on "purity balls" can be found here. |
It seems that some of the same people behind the "purity balls" for fathers and daughters thought it would be a good thing to have "integrity balls" for mothers and sons. A cursory google search on "integrity balls" highlighted a few significant differences:
- While fathers made pledges to guard their daughter's purity, mothers made no pledges whatsoever.
- Daughters pledged to their fathers; sons pledged to God.
- Daughters pledged to remain "sexually pure"; sons pledged about a vague "purity of lifestyle".
- Daughters were encouraged to view their purity as a gift they would give their husbands; sons were encouraged not to damage the purity of another man's future wife or another man's daughter. (At the "integrity ball", girls were likened to used cars; no one wants one with too high mileage.)
- Press coverage of "purity balls" showed lots of pictures of father-daughter "couples", who were encouraged to pose for prom-like pictures. Press coverage of "integrity balls" --- at least what I read --- only showed pictures of two male speakers and did not show a single picture of a mother or son attendee. No mention was made of pseudo-prom pictures.
Rebecca, this is really excellent. I love how you contrasted the two events side by side. I think this is significant and I think it really shows a LOT about their theology.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't the mother holding a key to her son's heart until such a time that the mother can present to his wife on their wedding day? I don't get the difference but I would LOVE to hear the explanation.
Wow, just wow. Is it me, or is the whole thing, mother-son, father-daughter, whatever it is they are trying to accomplish giving other people this serious ICK feeling?
ReplyDelete-A
I second the icky.
ReplyDeleteTriple ick.
ReplyDeleteRebecca, ages ago I read online about a woman who grew up in Gothard-type community, and her observations of some of the unhealthy dynamics that resulted from the father/daughter emphasis. Do you know what article I'm talking about? I can't find it via google--maybe because I'm not sure which terms to search, not remembering enough of the details to do a good search.
ReplyDelete"Daughters pledged to their fathers; sons pledged to God."
ReplyDeleteThat just plain makes me angry! So, Daddy is the 'high priest'?