1.3- Artistic Response

She took a vow to remain pure until marriage, but her conflicting desires remained. For years she kept them hidden, until she met a boy that would no longer allow those desires to be tamed. Her friends encouraged her to forget her purity phase. "Sex isn't that big of a deal, everyone's doing it these days." And with their candid advice she was compliant, and it didn't take long before the deed was done. She felt exhilarated, idly followed by confusion and guilt, she thought to herself, "but this was supposed to be fun." The sadness was evident as she had broken her pledge, it took only weeks to realize the consequence of her decision, a conception that nearly sent her over edge.

Waiting until marriage to have sex.

Having sex when you're young because you're having fun.

I think two obvious struggles for girls who take an abstinence pledge are keeping their vow of staying pure until marriage, and having sex because their friends are doing it and said it's fun. This picture depicts a girl struggling, stuck between two walls of glass, metaphorically stuck between two difficult decisions. The poem examines possible scenarios that a young girl might go through after taking an abstinence pledge, and in the end emphasizes one possible consequence that many young women who pledge abstinence experience, unplanned pregnancy.

1.4-Abstinence Pledging Survey

1. Is abstinence pledging effective?

2. Is pledging necessary for promoting abstinence?

3. Have you anyone you know taken an abstinence pledge?

I asked 20 non-related people to answer the above 3 questions and documented their results below. 15 females and 5 males ranging from ages 22-60 participated in this survey.

1.-22

2.-26

3.-27

4.-30

5.-32

6.-33

7.-36

8.-36

9.-39

10.-40

11.-40

12.-42

13.-43

14.-44

15.-49

16.-54

17.-55

18.-57

19.-57

20.-60

1. No 2. No 3. No

1. No 2. No 3. Yes

1. Yes 2. No 3. Yes

1. No 2. No 3. No

1. Yes 2. Yes 3. Yes

1. Yes 2. No 3. No

1. No 2. No 3. No

1. No 2. No 3. Yes

1. No 2. No 3. No

1. Yes 2. No 3. Yes

1. Yes 2. No 3. No

1. No 2. No 3. No

1. Yes 2. Yes 3. Yes

1. Yes 2. No 3. Yes

1. No 2. No 3. No

1. No 2. No 3. Yes

1. No 2. No 3. No

1. Yes 2. Yes 3. Yes

Numbered Female Participant- Age

Numbered Male Participant- Age

1.5- What Do You Think

My opinion on abstinence pledging is different depending on the circumstance. I think it is great for teens to take an abstinence pledge when it is something they truly believe in. When it is something they want to do and make the decision on their own rather than trying to please other people, abstinence pledging can be a positive thing. It becomes difficult for teens when the decision is made for them by others. It can feel like something forced onto them instead of a choice they freely made, which can cause negative outcomes. After sharing my thoughts with a co-worker, she made me realize that overall I see abstinence pledging as having more of a negative effect on teens. More times than not teens take a pledge for their parents or someone at church most often because of religious beliefs. I think the media and society in general does not adhere to these beliefs, so when conflicting actions are shown on television or voiced in songs, it can be hard for a teenager to know what they should do or how they should act. I think pledging can often cause teens to be in a constant battle of what is right and what is wrong, and can actually cause unnecessary anxiety. If teens end up breaking their pledge, their often overwhelmed with guilt and feel ashamed for letting the people down who wanted them to take the pledge. So after voicing my thoughts out loud my opinion on abstinence pledging is that it can be more harmful than helpful.

1.1- Summary

From this weeks reading and activities, I learned about the popularity surrounding abstinence pledging, and how pledging may be done based on religious or personal beliefs. In many cases abstinence pledging was positive and research showed that pledgers in general had less sexual partners and experienced sex later in life. In other cases, however, young girls who broke their pledge had experienced unplanned pregnancies and were infected with HPV and other STD's.