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

3.0

I picked this book up because I’m interested in reading about sexuality and feminism as a way to both learn more about the world but also about myself and my past experiences. This book was a great introduction to the importance of working against the beliefs held against women in America, but it’s just that. There were parts of this book that were new to me and provoked some internal conversations, but a lot of it was repetitive and surface level? 

I think this would pair well with Men Who Hate Women and Jesus and John Wayne, especially the chapter about sex in modern Christian belief systems. I appreciated that there was mention of the intersection of the purity myth and racism, classism, and homophobia, but Valenti did not go into great depths connecting it all, which is fine, that’s why other pieces of work exist.