Here’s a unique scholarship money idea: earning cash for your empty womb! A program at University of North Carolina at Greenboro called College Bound Sisters,  started by two doctorate-holding nurses, has paid teen girls one dollar per day for college if they don’t get pregnant.

Federal funding for abstinence-only education was stripped from the budget in the House subcommittee, and the Christian News Wire isn’t too happy about this. According to them, “There is evidence that abstinence education is an effective primary prevention strategy.” It’s just, um, nowhere to be found. When Congress ordered a study in 2007 on abstinence-only ed, it was (shockingly!) revealed that “students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not.” The study also found that these students were just as likely to use contraception when they did have sex as those who did not participate.

Having a little trouble staying a virgin until your wedding night? Do you also have an iPhone? Then download the Purity Ring iPhone app where you can take a pledge to be chaste until marriage and look at a digital picture of a purity ring, instead of wearing one. [Cause that would be, like, totally embarrassing.—Editor]

According to the Guardian, the iPhone app has pre-recorded pledges for both boys and girls and will only display the ring after the pledge is made. Available at the iTunes store, kiddies. But so you know, further investigation is needed to ascertain whether you can actually count on a digital purity ring when temptation strikes… [Guardian UK]

In a disturbing post yesterday called, “Why Do Feminists Find Abstinence Intolerable?” Susan Walsh, a blogger for the site Hooking Up Smart, uses our current “hookup culture” as undeniable proof that all feminists hate abstinence. Say what? “Feminists are dismissive of hookup culture,” she writes, “frequently claiming that it doesn’t exist, that it’s just the overreactive imagining of old fogies and right wing nuts who don’t want young people having sex before marriage.” I’m not sure who all these feminists are who dismiss the existence of our hookup culture or what any of it has to do with the idiotic claim that feminists loathe abstinence, but throughout her troubling piece, Walsh awkwardly tries to link the two ideas. She quotes Salon’s Tracy Clark-Flory who wrote last August, in reference to some new books exploring the hookup culture:

“These books are just the latest result of the mounting abstinence movement, which, despite its religious roots, has recast its attack on “hookup” culture as secular, even feminist. Perhaps young women are putting feminist ideals of equality into sex by refusing shame and claiming the traditionally male side of the stud/slut double standard.”

If you’re wondering who thought it was a good idea for Bristol Palin, pregnant at 17, to warn America’s teens not to have sex until they’re married, you’re not alone.

But it’s hard to figure out what, exactly, the well-meaning adults who preach “no sex until marriage” to teenagers are thinking, considering a 2007 study confirmed abstinence-only education does not work.

Jessica Valenti, editor of Feminsting.com and author of The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession With Virginity Is Hurting Young Women, has written a piece for The Nation about how the groups that comprise what Valenti calls “the virginity movement” have finally realized they need new PR.

Unfortunately, the abstinence preachers’ ideas for discouraging teens from having sex still don’t make any sense.

When Bristol Palin got knocked up at age 17, she made national headlines. We applauded her for realizing that “everyone should be abstinent or whatever but it’s not realistic at all,” and we were hopeful (for three seconds) that she would turn this unfortunate situation into a positive one by promoting safe sex. But when she said seconds later that “you should just wait ten years,” we got on her case. The girl is a walking contradiction. And it hasn’t stopped there.

President Barack Obama has been in office for more than 50 days, but the impact of the previous eight years is still leaving an impression. According to a new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, 2007 marked the second straight year teen birth rates rose in the U.S. The first year, 2006, ended a 14 year decline. More than 70 percent of Black babies and 51.3 percent of Hispanic babies were born to unmarried women in 2007 and the teen birth rate increased by five percent between 2005 and 2007. Some experts are blaming the increase on the Bush administration’s “abstinence-only” education policy.

New mom, Bristol Palin, appeared on Fox News last night to talk about what it’s like to be a new mother, in an interview she scheduled without giving her famous mom, Sarah Palin, much warning. Then she and Greta Van Susteren got to talking about abstinence and Bristol dropped a bomb, saying, “abstinence is not realistic at all.” So much for Mommy Knows Best!

I’m going to have to go with “Yes, sort of.” Being that Twilight‘s author, Stephanie Meyers, is a devout Mormon, I didn’t really expect to crack open the first book and get some vampire erotica. Add to that the fact that the books’ target audience is supposed to be teenagers, and you’re going to be disappointed if you wanted a blow-by-blow description of how blood suckers are in the sack. You’ll have to watch “True Blood” for that.

We’ve seen abstinence-promoting promise rings, bracelets and even sweats. Now, your underwear, specifically your thong, can announce your commitment to abstinence with slogans like, “Earn your right to wear white. Abstain”, “Iron Hymen”,  and “Beat It,” complete with a finger-pointing Jesus.

There’s a first time for everything. And when it comes to federal funding for teaching abstinence programs, the pun is intended. In what feels like an unprecedented protest, more than half the states in the country are turning down offers of national tax money to teach teens abstinence. Just this week, Iowa and Arizona added their names to the long list of states staying, “no, thank you!” Only 28 states still accept the cash to encourage chastity. You’d think a president named Bush would at least know how to talk about it, but alas, his plan to tell students to stay virgins is getting more rejected than a pubescent boy. As Elke Shaw-Tulloch of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says, “There was mounting evidence the abstinence programs weren’t proving to be effective.” Idaho alone saw an increase in underage pregnancy over the past two years after they tried to tell teens keeping it in their pants was the only option rather than explaining the facts. Luckily, in the case of America’s future crotches, money may talk, but knowledge is power. [Huffington Post]

Sex sells. But what about purity? A K-Swiss ad campaign features tennis star Anna Kournikova in a white sports bra and a teeny-tiny mini skirt, showing off her midriff like a high school ho.  Now that they’ve got your attention with some T&A, what’s the slogan say?  “Keep It Pure.”  Um, what?! While we’re sure that Anna Kournikova is a lady, when there’s a billboard of her rolling around on her back on the tennis court, chastity doesn’t come to mind.  And why should it?  We’re not sure why K-Swiss is trying to sell sneakers with abstinence—something that even their cover girl Kournikova, who has been doing the horizontal mambo with Enrique Iglesias for years, doesn’t represent. And everyone knows, like a modern woman, it’s impossible for white sneakers to not get a little dirty.

Remember those “True Love Waits” sweatpants we posted about the other day? Well, K-Mart is claiming that the sweats’ message has nothing to do with abstinence and that the bloggers who say that they do are making their own inference. Uh-huh. Cause true love waits for…the sun to shine? True love waits for…the NFL season to start? True love waits for…oh wait, BUSTED. Feministing has got total proof that K-Mart didn’t cover their tracks before lying. Check out the description of the pants to the left. Second bulleted item down, describes the pants’ “bold abstinence screen print”. Nice job ladies.

We didn’t wait and certainly don’t expect/want you to, but we just can’t help but think it would be really funny to wear these sweats to bed, with our boyfriend, to whom we are not married and living in sin. Because what says “Abstinence Rules!” like a big ol’ message on your butt? (Thanks to Boinkology for the link!) [$16.99, KMart.com]

A benefit to raise awareness sounds like a good thing, but sometimes even a ball can be bad. Case in point: The Chastity Gala, a trend of father/daughter dances across the nation, aka the most uncomfortable parties we’ve ever heard of. Recently, in Colorado Springs, 150 fathers with girls from grade school to college attended such a purity ritual at a local hotel. Now, slow dancing with your pop at weddings can be sweet, but making a teenage girl swear to her daddy that she’ll carry her V-card until she marries sounds like cruel and unusual punishment (not to mention totally ludicrous). But even dumber than having to dance about virginity is the idea that these poor misguided dad’s think by taking a vow, “Before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity,” they’re precious little flowers won’t grow up and put out. According to The New York Times, statistics have shown that teenagers who practice abstinence will eventually have sex before they wed and are unfortunately more likely to forgo protection. What’s really safer: upholding your daughter to an unrealistic moral standard so you can avoid the awkward sex talk or teaching her how to take care of herself and her needs in a way where she can respect her sexuality? Either way, no one should be forced to put on a fancy dress and parade around chanting promises they can’t keep. [Trend Hunter]

Every month, when my period arrives at 9am on the dot on (usually) the first Sunday of the month, I say a little silent thank you to the person who created Ortho-Tricycline Lo. Birth control, in all its many forms, is a wonderful thing. Which do you use?

Over a decade after Britney claimed she was saving herself for marriage, the Jonas Brothers, a popular teeny-bopper boy band, have decided to take a vow of celibacy too. The trio of short, dark, and handsome teens told Details Magazine that they even bought rings to commemorate their commitment to chastity from Disney World and Tiffany’s. (How punk rock!) Although it’s not actually working as kryptonite for their hordes of screaming girl groupies, the Christian rockers turned pop stars, who are now owned by Disney, want to stay shining examples of purity.  Their tour director, Rob Brenner, who had worked with Spears, sees abstinence as a way to keep the boys focused and grounded, while avoiding the pitfalls (i.e. drugs, pregnancy, general craziness) of other stars who make it big when they’re young.

One of the contestants who made it through on last night’s episode of American Idol, was this lil’ cutie, Amy Catherine Flynn…“Amy Catherine, AC, whatevs!” Yeah. So, in addition to being a high school student, a member of the dance team, and having an great voice, Flynn also preaches abstinence. She gave her schpiel to the judges and Simon was, like, totally sold. How about you? [You Tube]