How did so many young women in the FLDS community end up married (many in marriages without legal standing) and burdened with babies before they turned twenty? Spider webs attract with a faint hint of sweetness and catch victims in a nearly invisible web. If the butterfly could see the web, if she knew that it would entangle her and keep her from spreading her wings and flying off, she’d likely avoid it, right? By keeping girls ignorant about what happens between men and women until they are married, patriarchs are able to lead them into the bridal chamber and keep them forever in silky cocoons until their substance is devoured. In her book, Stolen Innocence, Elissa Wall describes how she knew nothing about sex until she actually experienced it. Even her own mother did not prepare her for what would happen in her marriage bed. It seems to me that if men are the only ones permitted to talk about sexual relations, they also end up with ultimate power over what women do with their bodies. What do you think about fundamentalists’ cryptic attitude toward sex?
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