{"id":81,"date":"2011-04-26T22:41:13","date_gmt":"2011-04-26T22:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/?p=81"},"modified":"2019-03-24T07:17:29","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T11:17:29","slug":"chastity-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Chastity Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas is apparently considering a budget that requires a Title IX-esque balancing act for those universities which host centers for students whose sexual appetites fall into politically fashionable categories.\u00a0 According to Inside Higher Ed<\/a>, Centers promoting “traditional values” would necessarily receive funding equal to that given to GLBTQAZetc student centers.<\/p>\n

I’m undecided as to whether this is a good idea, and I grow tired of the increasingly vapid phrase “traditional values” (the words could mean anything at all in a few decades).\u00a0 It’s interesting, though, that almost every commentator on the linked story embraced a strawman when critiquing the legislation.\u00a0 Back in my foolish youth when I thought it unfair that we had Mother’s Day and Father’s Day but not “Kid’s Day,” I was told that every day was Kid’s Day.\u00a0 The commentators take the same approach, declaring that every day is heterosexual day, and we therefore need no centers to support our nonexistent struggles.\u00a0\u00a0 They point out that heterosexuals are a majority; they say heterosexuality is the underlying assumption while “alternatives” are deemed exactly that; they say non-heterosexuals are mocked & bullied by homosexuals; and they say a great many other things of this nature.\u00a0 In short, they claim the entire culture implicitly supports heterosexuality, so non-heterosexuals actually need societal add-ons like campus “centers” for the support they want.\u00a0 This all makes heterosexuality centers seem rather silly (and so they are).\u00a0 The only problem is that the bill allegedly calls for “traditional values” centers.<\/p>\n

If that phrase means anything at all in the hands of legislators and voters, it’s probably something along the lines of chastity–seeking out marriage as sexuality’s expression and refraining from having sex apart from it.\u00a0 At the very least, this is a fairer description of the content of “traditional values” than the mere “insert tab A into slot B” of heterosexuality.\u00a0 But what does this do to the objections?\u00a0 The chaste aren’t exactly a solid majority on college campuses, and it seems that popular media make their representation appear smaller than it is.\u00a0 People typically assume that dating relationships involve sexual activity, and those who refrain are deemed rather unusual.\u00a0 Indeed, these strange people are often mocked for missing out on the great fun of promiscuity or foolishly passing over opportunities to take test drives.\u00a0 Their significant others frequently pressure them into being unchaste.\u00a0 Television, movies, and games add to this pressure by making unchastity the attractive norm.\u00a0 Many of them find it difficult to maintain a chaste lifestyle in the face of this pressure, and yet when they try to ritualize their intentions with things like purity rings and pledges, they’re just mocked all the more.\u00a0 Unlike homosexuals, the chaste don’t even have the comfort of the unwavering support offered in virtually every mainstream media outlet.\u00a0 In short, every day is unchastity day at American colleges and universities.\u00a0 If that kind of reasoning justifies centers for alternative sexuality, as the commentators seem to believe, how much more does it justify a student center for traditional values?<\/p>\n

That doesn’t mean that this line of reasoning is adequate justification for centers of any kind, and even if it were, it wouldn’t mean that chastity centers are a good idea.\u00a0 The very fact that its offered up by politicians is enough to make me skeptical.\u00a0 Nevertheless, if there’s anything to be learned from this line of reasoning, it’s that there are vast forces arrayed against those who want to be chaste.\u00a0 They could use some support from sympathetic family, friends, and churches.\u00a0 Simply handing them over to that same vast array of forces and saying “remember not to have sex” as they’re led away isn’t going to cut it anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas is apparently considering a budget that requires a Title IX-esque balancing act for those universities which host centers for students whose sexual appetites fall into politically fashionable categories.\u00a0 According to Inside Higher Ed, Centers promoting “traditional values” would necessarily … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,23,22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nChastity Day - The 96th Thesis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chastity Day - The 96th Thesis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas is apparently considering a budget that requires a Title IX-esque balancing act for those universities which host centers for students whose sexual appetites fall into politically fashionable categories.\u00a0 According to Inside Higher Ed, Centers promoting “traditional values” would necessarily … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The 96th Thesis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-26T22:41:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-24T11:17:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@matt_e_cochran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@matt_e_cochran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/026b49396f19b6940e8bb4a68d94b5fa\"},\"headline\":\"Chastity Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-26T22:41:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-24T11:17:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/\"},\"wordCount\":615,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/026b49396f19b6940e8bb4a68d94b5fa\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Chastity\",\"Ethics\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/\",\"name\":\"Chastity Day - The 96th Thesis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-26T22:41:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-24T11:17:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/chastity-day\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chastity Day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The 96th Thesis\",\"description\":\"The Devil Never Sleeps; 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