A review by abgushte
The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti

3.0

I really wanted to like this book; I truly did. But what I also really wanted was a book I could give to my mom and explain to her that this is what I truly believe and that her notions of morality that she was raised with hurt women--and that IS something she is morally against. So that means I started reading it from the perspective of what my mother might get from it, and Valenti always fell short of really driving the message home. The point was always implied but never really stated and outlined in plain language right from the beginning, and instead there were a bunch of inside jokes shared with those who were in-the-know which just made it seem really exclusive and alienating. Furthermore, I agree with other reviews that her analysis of studies and articles were really lacking. It was always implied that x or y was ridiculous but she never came out and explained WHY. As repetitive as that may seem to do that every other page or whatever I feel it's really necessary to engage readers who are unfamiliar with the topic because they're going to keep going back to their core values when they disagree and as an author you have to be ready to counter that every time.

So like I said...not what I was looking for. I fully support Valenti's views and I will use this book as a source to express my own beliefs, but I was hoping for something that's more 101.