Purity Balls & Daddy-Daughter Dates

Ill Conceived

Purity is a load-bearing concept in the conservative Christian ideal of family and reproduction. From as young as five years old, Christian girls are told to guard their hearts and bodies against men with bad intentions. But what about a positive model of masculine pursuit? This week, Josh and June take a look at the men who believe the best way to teach their daughters about their worth is to take them out on dates and pledge to guard their virtue in elaborate ceremonies known as purity balls.

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EPISODE ART: Randy Wilson, field director for the Family Research Council and creator of the concept of the purity ball

AUDIO CLIPS:

• 13:41 – Dr. James Dobson talks about father/daughter dates in a Dr. Dobson Minute
• 19:42 – Dennis Rainey and Bob Lapine talk about father/daughter dates on an episode of FamilyTalk
• 50:54 – Hannah Lane and her father Ken in an interview from the documentary The Virgin Daughters
• 53:55 – Lisa Wilson in an interview from The Virgin Daughters
• 57:45 – Randy Wilson in an interview from The Virgin Daughters
• 1:00:44 – Interview from The Virgin Daughters
• 1:10:36 – Clip from Virgin Tales (2012)
• 1:16:35 – Jody Hice & Randy Wilson in an interview about Mike Johnson for the Family Research Council's Washington Watch

SOURCES:

• "'Purity Balls' Get Attention, but Might Not Be All They Claim" by Mark Oppenheimer (The New York Times, July 20, 2012)
• "Daddy’s Little Girls: On the Perils of Chastity Clubs, Purity Balls, and Ritualized Abstinence" by Breanne Fahs (Frontiers: A Journal of Woman Studies, 2010)
• 88 Great Daddy-Daughter Dates by Joanna & Rob Teigen (Revell, 2012)
• Daddy Dates: Four Daughters, One Clueless Dad, and His Quest to Win Their Hearts by Greg Wright (Thomas Nelson, 2011)
• "Would You Pledge Your Virginity to Your Father?" by Jennifer Baumgardner (Glamour, December 31, 2006)
• "The Purity Ball: A promise I didn't understand" by Eboni Statham (Cipher, March 13, 2017)
• "Women’s Bodies Are Bearing the Brunt of Purity Culture" by Karen Alea (Jezebel, September 20, 2022)
• Saving Sex: Sexuality and Salvation in American Evangelicalism by Amy DeRogatis (Oxford UP, 2014)
• The Virgin Daughters dir. Jane Treays (Channel 4, 2008)
• Virgin Tales dir. Mirjam von Arx (Ican Films, 2012)

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