Ooh, a blogger writing about media bias! That's original. Well, I'm not a "blogger," so shut up. A buddy of mine sent me this article at work today. In case you're too lazy to read it, it's about a tradition that is arising in some circles in America in which dads throw their teenaged daughters "Purity Balls" to celebrate the fact that they have agreed to remain virgins until they get married. This seems harmless enough to me.
But read the article closely, and you'll easily see a very strong bias in the reporter's tone. Note that this is not a phenomenon occurring among Christian groups, it's a "movement," and they're "conservative Christians." Oh, wait, strike that, it's not a "movement," it's a "so-called" movement. Creepy. This "so-called movement" is, of course, flawed, because other details of sexual health are left out of the celebration. The article never indicates whether or not such subjects as birth control, STDs, etc. are covered at other times by the parents, because it's too busy pointing out that these purity pledges never work, and asking your daughter to take one is tantamount to selling her to a Thai brothel.
The tone here, the message the article wants you to take away, is "look how odd and weird these people are." Note the emphasis on the similarities to marriage ceremonies, only they (GASP!) take place between fathers and their daughters! Eww, that's just one step away from incest, right? Right??
And it gets more pointed and dismissive the further you read. Look at this sentence:
The popularity of the balls in the United States, especially among evangelical Christians, mirrors the Bush administration's support of abstinence education in US schools.
I'm not even going to point out how funny it is that a phrase like "the popularity of the balls" appears in an article about chastity. I am, however, going to point out that it's absolutely pointless to mention Bush in this story. Yes, it's Bush's fault that people are Christian! Horrors! This isn't some kind of fly-by-night tabloid-style MoveOn.org or WorldNetDaily crap, either, this is the Associated Frickin' Press.
Give me a break. There are lots of legitimate reasons to criticize extreme right-wing types, and Bush, but this isn't one of them. This is a harmless tradition, if a somewhat ostentatious public display of something I would imagine should be kept private, but, oh well. Really, it's hard to imagine getting outraged over dads who don't want their daughters to become strumpets.
Media, get bent.
1 comment:
That is too funny. I like how they try to pretend to put it in a good light then at the end bombard us with how obviously rediculous it is that any teen could stay a virgin until their wedding night. I also like that they are getting questions from "aboard" from New Zealand and Britain.
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