Women as chattels; not just for Islam anymore!

Men! Ever feel envious when you read the news and see that Saudi Arabia has just executed another woman for having seen a man out of the corner of her eye? Ever worry that your son's child bride may not know who's boss? Ever worried that those silly little women are beginning to think of themselves as, well, people? Then this just may be for you!

So, there exists something called a 'Purity Ball'. Just the name tells you this won't be good, doesn't it? A purity ball is where fathers, stepfathers and future fathers-in-law promise to 'guard' their daughter's 'purity'. The daughters, from kids to college-age girls, come as their dates. Where's this happening? Saudi Arabia? The Middle Ages? Well, close; Colorado in the United States. That is, it's happening in all of the more Christian-overrun parts of the US; the article I read focuses on Colorado.

A quick Google BlogSearch shows that most people are, rightly, either making fun of this or damning it. But then there's this:

Young women should not be viewed as sex objects to be exploited, but as regal princesses to be cherished and protected. And father knows best.

It gets worse:

One of the most memorable highlights of the ball is when the fathers stand in the middle of the ballroom and form a circle around their daughters standing all aglow in their lovely ball gowns. The fathers place their hands on their daughters, and together we pray for purity of mind, body, and soul for generations to come.

And then they throw them into the volcano, as I believe virginity fetishists are wont to do.

Rather she will be saving herself for a real loving man just like her strong daddy. A man who will respect her and knows that the package is clean and new and pure. Something worth waiting for.

Or worse.

In an age when so many children think their parents “aren’t cool”, It’s refreshing to find young girls who want to “date” dad.

Oh, dear. Have the FBI been notified?

Amen Roy Ubu! I bet you that when Sam Brownback takes that little filipino daughter of his to her Purity Ball she will be beaming with joy. Lord knows she probably won’t understand one word of what they are saying, but she will just be happy to be on a date with her daddy.

Sam Brownback seems to be another loony presidential candidate, and there's no indication that his 'little filipino daughter' is mentally disabled; presumably she won't understand one word because, well, those foreigners don't talk proper, do they? It's genetic; they can't help it, the poor things.

And then it goes from comments from the dim to comments from the evil:

Why do you think there is such a thing as rape? Its really when the girl’s lust drives her to sin and then she LIES to get out of it. GOD KNOWS what she did and her punishment is to HAVE that baby, perferablly one of those deformed ones that she can take care off for the rest of her life. That would be a suitable lesson for the other girls to learn.

Why is it that Christian extremists sound so like a paedophile ring? Ugh.

Back, then, to the less creepy New York Times.

The Wilsons organized what was considered the country’s first father-daughter purity ball 10 years ago, as their oldest girls entered adolescence.

Yep, this isn't just some awful Middle Ages thing that hasn't gone away; it is new. Bush, what hath thou wrought?

“Something I need from dad is affirmation, being told I’m beautiful,” said Jordyn Wilson, 19, another daughter of Randy and Lisa. “If we don’t get it from home, we will go out to the culture and get it from them.”

Eek!

But studies have also shown that most teenagers who say they will remain abstinent, like those at the ball, end up having sex before marriage, and they are far less likely to use condoms than their peers.

Oh, what a surprise. My, I am shocked! God must be turning in his grave!

Stephen Clark, 64, came to the ball for the first time with Ashley Avery, 17, who is “promised” to his son, Zane, 16. Mr. Clark brought Ashley, in her white satin gown, to show her that he loved her like a daughter,

Arranged marriage! Not just for the heathen anymore either!

If most teenage girls would not be caught dead dancing with their dads, the girls at the ball twirled for hours with their game but stiff fathers. Every half-hour, Mr. Wilson stopped the dancing so that fathers could bless their daughters before everyone.

The above quote is absolutely not to be read into! Not if you want to sleep tonight, anyway.

Isn't it odd that as America tries to carry on a war against Islamic extremists, it turns into more of a religion-addled nuthouse itself?

Note that that Wikipedia article on the subject has 'Covert incest' as a related item. Unfair, perhaps, but that's sort of how it looks...