Ruth Institute Blog

I like it. Way to go.

by Melinda Tankard Reist

When Melinda Tankard Reist’s latest book, Getting Real: Challenging the sexualisation of girls, was published last year, a reviewer described it as a “collective shout against the pornification of culture”. “I liked the phrase so much I decided to give it to a new grassroots campaign I’d been thinking about,” says the Australian advocate for women and girls. Here she talks to MercatorNet about the impact that campaign is having. Read more…

Let’s say that you’ve been reading the Ruth Blog for a while.  You’ve seen my brilliant and insightful commentary about how stupid it is to hook up.  You decide that you will refrain from having sex until you are married.

That decision is not just a resolution.  It’s also a prediction.  How accurate is that prediction? Read more…

It’s a great way to keep your head clear. But does anybody care, I wonder?

by Carolyn Moynihan

It is always gratifying when research coincides with common sense and everyday experience, as in the case of a new study showing that a relationship in which sexual intimacy is delayed is more likely to endure. Read more…

From an article from the journal Evolutionary Psychology on hooking up.  (And bonus!  It was written by professors from my alma mater).

Engaging in uncommitted sex may be one form of female-female competition. If this is so, we would predict that women attribute to other women comfort levels that are higher than they, themselves, feel; this would generate PI that would heighten women’s awareness of potential threats from female competitors and may motivate women to engage in competition.

Recently, while watching The Soup, I saw a fantastic illustration of the above.  Okay, it was a crass and disgusting illustration of the above, but the proof of the above concept was quite fantastic.  Watch: Read more…

Best line: “Thanks to a society that no longer believes in healthy boundaries nor explains why they are important, students on college campuses are learning to be experts in infidelity; they are studying how to lie and cheat with their bodies and affections.”

by Viviana M Garcia

Students on college campuses are learning to lie with their bodies and affections, but some are working hard for change. Read more…

Caitlin Flanagan has an interesting article in the Atlantic.  In it, she discusses the narrative some proponents of the sexual revolution had in mind when they promoted the new sexual morays to the next generation of girls.  That narrative can be called “The Boyfriend Story.”  What is the “Boyfriend Story”?  It is “the gossamer-wrapped quest for true and perfect love.”

Flanagan describes how her mother was one of those who hoped her daughter would attain happiness via the “Boyfriend Story.”  (Emphasis added).

[M]y mother became one of those kindly, kooky older ladies whose dedication to volunteering at Planned Parenthood bordered on the unseemly, given the distance between their age and their own need for the services provided. She was part of a generation of women who helped build an infrastructure not just of attitudes but of medical services (from birth control to abortion) rendered to teenage girls and built on a host of assumptions: that a girl is capable of great sexual desire, and that this desire should not cause her to lose her chance at an education or an independent life; that a huge number of modern mothers were committed to helping their daughters incorporate sexual lives within a normal teenage girlhood, one in which sex did not cleave the girl instantly and permanently from her home and her family. These mothers were willing to run as much interference as was needed to make these things possible—with dads, who tended not to be as enthusiastic about the prospect of a cherished daughter’s becoming sexual; with PTAs, which often balked at the kind of sex education these beliefs would require; with the long-entrenched double standard that said a boy could have sex and retain his good reputation, but a girl who went all the way was ruined. Read more…

An awful lot of nonsense has been said about the supposed “double standards” between the sexual histories of men and the sexual histories of women.  The discussion of sexuality is full of it like so much verbal ipecac.  The typical whine goes like this “why is it that a man who’s been with a hundred women is a ‘stud’ while a woman who’s been with the same number of men is a “slut’?”

The short answer is because men value the sexual loyalty of women more than women value the sexual loyalty of men.  This also explains why hooking up is a much worse idea for women than it is for men.  Because a woman’s value as a lifelong partner for marriage diminishes with each passing dalliance.  For men, not so much.  This does not mean that hooking up is a good idea for men, just that it’s not as bad an idea as it is for women. Read more…

I’m pretty sure a couple of movies have been made with topics similar to this. The difference here, of course, is this woman’s plan was not for the sake of comedic effect.

by Carolyn Moynihan

Maybe something is changing for the better out there among Generation Y. A British journalist in her early 30s has written a book about renouncing sex for a year in order to get control of her emotional life. It’s called Chastened. Read more…

Fred Reed writes some provocative stuff.  I often disagree with him, but he’s smart as a whip and always interesting.  In this article, he takes on hooking up.

I see where women, or college girls anyway, are honking and blowing most fierce about how they don’t like the way sex works nowadays. Yeah. It seems that the hook-up is in flower. Read more…

According to Gallup’s recent Values and Beliefs survey, Americans are “sharply divided” on 4 issues: doctor-assisted suicide, homosexual relations, abortion, and out-of-wedlock childbearing.  Close to half of us perceive these activities in particular as “morally acceptable;” close to half disagree and find them “morally wrong.”  (The survey asked about 16 behaviors; these were the most evenly divided among those polled.)  Curious?  Listen in. (Click the POD icon.)

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for—the last in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage.  Ladies, this one applies to you, too, so listen up!  (For background, see the original post here.)

Tip #7:  When men are free to talk with their wives about their sexual nature (with all of its battles and temptations), it lifts a huge burden and helps them stay faithful.

Reality TV is a sewer.  And I don’t just think that because I’m an EEEEEVIL right wing curmudgeon.  Even the guy’s at the E! network television series The Soup think so.

[T]he show [The Soup]  generally reinforces traditionalist values.  Bear with me here.  Admittedly, when partisan snipes sneak into the script, they’re usually aimed at Republicans.  And yes, I’m aware that Keith Olbermann is a huge Soup fan, which does give me pause.  Nevertheless, the vast majority of The Soup’s content features McHale flogging the entertainment industry for its gutter values.  He repeatedly rips celebrities over their insufferable self-importance-a theme that conservatives can appreciate.  (That McHale reserves a special brand of antipathy for Tyra Banks wins him extra points).  He also blasts the depraved, over-sexed “stars” of reality shows who seem willing to jump into bed with whomever it takes just to extend their 15 minutes of fame by a few seconds.  His frequent references to sexually transmitted diseases are always good for a chuckle, but they also subtly remind the audience of how disgusting promiscuity and its consequences can be.  While many of these dreadful shows actually celebrate the ignorance of those who appear on them, McHale will have none of it; Read more…

The thought of kids having kids is really disturbing to me. I had my first child when I was 25, and I can say, it’s serious business. I can’t imagine doing it while trying to go to high school or even college. And who is really going to be raising these children anyhow? My guess is, the grandmothers. Let’s do a survey of how mothers of pregnant teens feel about teen pregnancy.

The picture a 13-year-old boy sitting next to his baby, which accompanied an article on this topic a while back, still burns in my memory. It was such a heart-wrenching sight. The thirteen-year-old  looked so tiny. Plus his face spoke volumes of “What have I gotten myself into?” This dad is still asking to have his pb and j cut into triangles and for rides to the library. I wouldn’t let a 13-year-old boy babysit my toddlers. Babies deserve more. Read more…

Here is the sixth in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage.  (For background, see the original post here.)

Tip #6:  Have good men as your male friends.  Men take their cues (learn how to behave) from other men.  If you have guys around you who are fooling around, that’s not going to help your chances of being faithful.

…to be continued… (only one more tip left!)

Here is the fifth in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage.  (For background, see the original post here.)

Tip #5:  One of the reasons that men will have an affair (other than the sex itself) is the excitement of it.  Therefore, have excitement in other ways.  (This could be sports, hobbies, etc.)

…to be continued…

Here is the fourth in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage.  (For background, see the original post here.)

Tip #4:  Use your brain and avoid temptation.  If you’re on a business trip, it’s not a good idea to sit in the bar at the hotel.  The more time you spend with someone you find attractive, the greater the chances of something happening.

…to be continued…

Here is the third in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage.  (For background, see the original post here.)

Tip #3:  Male sexual nature is not satiated by an affair.  The affair won’t satisfy your yearning to wander; the desire for variety will still exist.  It won’t keep you from wanting other women in the future.

…to be continued…

From One News Now comes this article about a high school student who dared to wear a T-shirt to school that promoted….(gasp)…..abstinence!

A middle-school student in Minnesota has regained his right to wear at school a T-shirt bearing an abstinence message.

Officials at Hastings Middle School had initially prohibited seventh-grader Johnathon Kinney from wearing the T-shirt with the message “Virginity Rocks!” On April 26, two school teachers confronted Kinney about the shirt, informing him that it was offensive and should be covered up. School officials also warned Kinney against wearing the shirt again.

After contacting the principal about the incident — and finding he supported the teachers’ decision — Kinney’s parents contacted The Rutherford Institute. John Whitehead, Read more…

As promised, here is the next in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage.  (For background, see the original post here.)

Tip #2:  Use your head—your mind has to rule, and your mind knows the terrible price you will have to pay for an affair (whether you are caught or not caught; whether there is a divorce or not).  Stop and ask, “Is this sexual excitement tonight worth the price I will pay?”

…to be continued…

Psychiatrists are making comparative studies of empathy across generations. The Me Generation lives up to its name: less empathetic than previous generations.

Sara Konrath, a researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said in a news release. “College kids today are about 40 percent lower in empathy than their counterparts of 20 or 30 years ago, as measured by standard tests of this personality trait.”

A total of 72 studies conducted between 1979 and 2009 were included in the current review.

The analysis indicated that relative to their late-1970s’ counterparts, today’s college students are less likely to make an effort to understand their friends’ perspectives or to feel tenderness or concern for the less fortunate.

What accounts for this remarkable finding? According to the Business Week account of the research: TV, Read more…