''Making Chastity Sexy: The Rhetoric of Evangelical Abstinence Campaigns'' is a 2011 book by

Christine Gardner Christine Joy Gardner (born 1969) is an American communication scholar and journalist. She is an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Communication Arts at Gordon College. Early life and education Gardner was born in 1969. She ...

, a professor at Wheaton College. In it, Gardner states that

sexual abstinence Sexual abstinence or sexual restraint is the practice of refraining from sexual activity for reasons medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical, moral, religious or other. It is a part of chastity. Celibacy is sexual abstinence general ...

teachings by

evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

are currently "using sex to sell abstinence" by promising more satisfying

sexual activity Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

within marriage for those who abstain from premarital sex; she argues that this

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

reinforces selfish desires for

gratification Gratification is the pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness in response to a fulfillment of a desire or goal. It is also identified as a response stemming from the fulfillment of social needs such as affiliation, socializing, social appr ...

, sets people up for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

and dissatisfaction with marriage, and simply adapts "secular forms for religious ends". The book investigates three evangelical organizations that advocate sexual abstinence: Silver Ring Thing, True Love Waits, and Pure Freedom. In addition to these United States–based sexual abstinence organizations, the book studies one

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

-based sexual abstinence organization. The image on the

book cover A book cover is any protective covering used to bind together the pages of a book. Beyond the familiar distinction between hardcovers and paperbacks, there are further alternatives and additions, such as dust jackets, ring-binding, and older f ...

depicts a female

human abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

exposed by a

crop top A crop top (also half shirt, midriff top, belly shirt or cutoff shirt) is a top that reveals and exposes the waist, navel, or abdomen. History Women The origins of the clothing are unknown, but midriff tops go back to at least the Bronze Age, d ...

and

low-rise jeans Low-rise is a style of clothing designed to sit low on, or below, the hips. The style has also been called lowcut, hipster, bumster, or Hip-huggers, hip-hugger, and can apply to garments worn by all genders. The term can be applied to all garment ...

; a

navel piercing A navel piercing, also referred to as a belly button piercing, is a type of body piercing that penetrates the skin of the navel. It is most commonly located on the upper fold of skin but can also be placed underneath or around the edges of the ...

is encircled by a

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

of the words "True Love Waits" in

cursive Cursive (also known as joined-up writing) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionality and m ...

. In preparation for writing the book, Gardner spent five years doing research at chastity events in various locations in both the United States and

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

Frank Schaeffer Frank Schaeffer (born August 3, 1952) is an American author, film director, screenwriter, and public speaker. He is the son of theologian and author Francis Schaeffer. He became a Hollywood film director and author, writing several novels depic ...

called the book "important and perceptive in a profound way". In 2012, ''Making Chastity Sexy'' won the Stephen E. Lucas Debut Publication Award for a scholarly

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

or book in the field of

communication studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

References

2011 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Non-fiction books about sexuality in Christianity English-language non-fiction books University of California Press books Evangelical Christian literature Sexual abstinence and religion Sexuality in Evangelicalism 2011 in the United States 2011 in Christianity Marriage in Christianity Communication studies Sexuality in the United States Sexuality in Africa {{Sex-book-stub