Think Progress picked up on a Feministing post about Kmart featuring abstinence merch for teens, namely, sweats emblazoned with the slogan "True Love Waits."
And?
While Feministing's Jessica Valenti has"no idea if the pants are in any way connected to the True Love Waits organization," she's "disturbed nonetheless."
Why?
While I follow both of these sites regularly, this is one of those cases where I really have to wonder about the people steering the respective ships. Of all the things going on that affect women in our society, this is about the least disturbing thing that I can think of. While there's certainly no shortage of information about the failure of abstinence-only sex education, the "only" is the relevant part.
Abstinence is only a dirty word if that's the full extent of your message.
"True love waiting" is a completely legitimate choice, as long as it's entered into with access to a comprehensive background of the relevant information and issues. With all the other messages and information available in the culture, I fail to see how this is part of some insidious plot to keep our young women (and men) in the dark about the choices they have before them. If it's the only thing you can hear in your school, THAT'S indoctrination. This is much closer to an "equal time" scenario.
Pick your battles, folks. If you don't, you risk looking more than a little ridiculous.
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