Abstinence.
The term sounds so hollow and dated now, like Reaganomics or Compassionate Conservatism.
We watched the doctrine implode in teenage pregnancy for the daughter of a Vice Presidential candidate and would-be Morality Matriarch, then cringed as two young people were again shoved into ill-fitting formal wear and untimely adult roles for a series of awkward photo-ops met with disingenuous applause and self-serving pats on the back.
If you’re one of those godless Liberal types with a perspective on young adult sexuality that rises above the mentality of an eleven-year-old boy, then you have Scarleteen and its doyenne Heather Corinna for offering up a progressive and pragmatic alternative to purity rings, Levitical backwardness, and the politics of virginity.
Tackling every verboeten subject — from masturbation and birth control to sexual abuse and the dreaded Gay — Corinna’s honest and frank magnum opus survives on a combination of donations and independent chutzpah in the wake of over a decade of futile government faith-based abstinence-only grants at the marginalized expense of inclusive programs that offer practical answers.
Traditional thinking cast the Scarlet Woman as a wayward tart, a vulgar hoyden, a bawdy harlot made worldly by her sin of sexual knowledge; credit the brains behind the scenes at Scarleteen for undercutting that hackneyed definition with equal doses of wit, nuance and a lively streak of forward-thinking aplomb in a time when such real virtues are in short supply.
If you’ve a keen eye, you caught the word “donation” above. And that’s how Corinna’s site continues to thrive — by donation. Right now Heather is orchestrating a major drive to keep Scarleteen afloat. Please visit the following page for more details and then find it in your heart (and wallet) to help sustain this high-octane outflow of knowledge and information.
During the next two days Heather has a generous donor in place who will match all donations that she receives this weekend. So reach down brothers! After all, it’s that time of the year. Let your heart be full (and light). The misinformed of the world need you. And Scarleteen.
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When I was in high school an employee of the county got funding to start a “peer sexual education program” where they trained a few select high-schoolers (mostly gay boys picked by high school counselors because they were members of the GSA) to talk to their friends about sexual health, post posters and distribute posters.
I’m not sure how the funding worked or where the authority of the 30-year-old, heavily-tattooed and pierced woman who started the group came from, and the funding was cut after about 10 “training sessions” where different guest speakers – psychotherapists, civil rights group workers and AIDS center volunteers – talked to us about sex, STDs and LGBT rights. But I do remember that one of our favorite websites was Scarlet Teen.
Er… upon checking back at the site now, I guess the title is “Scarlteen,” but back then I always found the site using a web search with the title broken into two words.
You can do it either way. I always think of as “Scarleteen” as it is here, sort of like “Velveteen.”
And yes, smart and sophisticated content like this is exactly what has all the newly de-funded virgin-or-else programs quaking in their ankle socks. They had their decade, and they still just can’t let go of the reality that all the money that went to them didn’t change the situation one bit.
What an amazing site. I wish it had been around when I was young. I made a donation. Good on ‘em!
Thanks DruidKirk — it is an amazing site.
David K/Nightcharm.com