The media have always missed young black celebrities like Jordin Sparks and Angela Simmons who both have spoken openly about being sexually abstinent.
Many families in the African American community tend to shy away from talking about sex with their children. Many just tell the youth to not have sex until they get married.
“We have a couple different groups when it comes to talking about purity. One group is the grandparents raising their grandchildren—because their parents had them at a young age. The grandparents had to take over being the parent. The grandparent just goes by what they know about sex,” said Dr. Lindsay S. Marsh, president of “Worth the Wait Revolution.” It’s hard to image grandparents trying to have the “Sex Talk” with their grandchildren in this generation.
For many religious people, church plays a big role on waiting to have sex. The first thing they will tell you is God doesn’t want you to have sex until you get married or they will say having sex is a sin. Telling any young person not to do something is like telling someone not to spend a million dollars once you give it to them.
“People in church speaking to the youth need to be real. When you’re talking to the youth, you need to tell them your story. You need to tell the youth why you’re waiting to have sex. Once the youth hear something you say, they might find something they can relate to,” said Marsh.
A repeating cycle is common in a family when the parent is young. Some parents will just tell their children if they have sex, they better use something to protect themselves, which leads to many teens having babies.
Some media tend to forget to show young black celebrities talking about waiting to have sex. One good example is Jordin Sparks; she has spoken in many interviews about waiting to have sex. A couple years ago when she was at the MTV Video Music Awards, she yelled at the host, “Not everyone wants to sleep around and be a hoe. There’s nothing wrong about being a virgin.”
Today, different states have different organizations youth can join. These organizations will help the youth to have a better understanding about purity. One of the organizations is "Worth the Wait Revolution" located in Washington, D.C. The organization “helps create a statement for being a virgin,” says Marsh. The youth get to talk to different people who are waiting to have sex until they get married. Some young people feel ashamed talking about being a virgin. Some may feel like their missing out on something.
“Your lifestyle is like a runway,” says Marsh.
Photo by GMO Photo Editor Billy Montgomery
