Utterly Stupid Quote of the Day

I’m sure Echinde or some of the other, better bloggers than I out there will have a field day with this:

[Author Laura Session Stepp] writes a letter to mothers and daughters, in which she warns the girls: “Your body is your property. . . . Think about the first home you hope to own. You wouldn’t want someone to throw a rock through the front window, would you?”

I’ve only got two things to say in response.

First off, it’s outrageously sexist to suggest that an unmarried woman’s body is the property of her future husband, and that sexual activity before marriage devalues her assets. What rock has the author been hiding under?

Next, is that really the best argument she can come up with for why adolescents should delay sexual activity? If so, that’s pretty pathetic.

Kathy Dobie, the Washington Post’s reviewer of this book, had a good response:

It seems strange to have to state the obvious all over again: … one’s sexuality is not a commodity that, given away too readily and too often, will exhaust or devalue itself.

It’s certainly not seen that way for men. A man who’s had a lot of sex partners is seen as sophisticated (James Bond, anyone?). A woman who’s had a lot of sex partners, on the other hand, is all too often seen as a slut.

And books like this one don’t help matters any.

UPDATE 3:10PM
As expected, Echinde has weighed in. Score 1 for my predictive ability. 🙂

One thought on “Utterly Stupid Quote of the Day”

  1. Heh. I drop in on Echidne once in a while myself, but you got this one first.
    I won’t go as to perceptions because I know I didn’t hunt with the pack even when I was of the age to be interested. If I wanted a proper send up of this kind of tripe, I’d be off – not to Pandagon and Amanda – but to columnist Amy Alkon at Advice Goddess. She’s not only extreme and opinionated but intelligent also.

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