This morning I read an article on MSNBC.com about a girl’s battle to be allowed to wear her virginity ring to a school that has a ban on jewelry. While I commend her commitment to sexual purity, and applaud her desire to stand firm in her convictions, I agree with the court’s decision.
The whole point behind the ban on jewelry, I’m guessing, lies somewhere in having a distraction-free place of education, and keeping people from outwardly flaunting or flashily broadcasting their social, political, and religious views. There are better ways of proclaiming that you’re a christian than wearing a shirt that says “JesUSAaves” (yes, saw one yesterday). The school, as far as I can tell, has not prohibited her from talking to people about her faith or commitments, and to throw a stink about not being granted special privileges to wear this ring is ridiculous.
If the ring was essential to her virginity (ie, if she wasn’t able to remain a virgin without the ring) or if it was dictated by her faith (ie, if her faith demanded that virgins wear a ring), I would consider it necessary that she be allowed to wear the ring—and I’m guessing that the court might be as well.
The bottom line is that no one else is allowed to wear jewelry as a means to express anything about themselves. Why should she?
Another thought on the “True Love Waits” movement.
I thought that I had heard somewhere that people taking that vow are nearly (or equally) as likely to engage in pre-marital sexual behavior. In looking for the article, I found a
response to a reader by Miss Manners that said:
However, Miss Manners feels obliged to warn you that polite society does not recognize such a thing as a chastity ring. It is so polite that it presumes that a lady is chaste unless publicly proven otherwise.
I had to laugh. Maybe to naive old people like Miss Manners, this may be the case. Unfortunately, the trend is such that she should probably have said something more like “At ever-increasing rates, young people assume each other to be sexually active if they are in a ‘serious’ relationship. While a potential date should quickly get to know your convictions well enough to know you are committed to remaining sexually pure, a purity ring is a good reminder to the both of you as well as to others around you that you respect the sanctity of marriage.”
. I’ve been waiting for this moment for SOOO long! Will you be watching?