by Who’s Hitting a Home Run in the Purity Game
Nothing says “appropriate religious discourse” quite like using baseball metaphors to discuss virginity. Because when you’re trying to navigate complex issues of human sexuality, morality, and personal choice, the obvious solution is to frame it all in terms of America’s favorite pastime. Batter up!
The article examining who’s succeeding in purity culture using baseball terminology perfectly encapsulates the absurdity of the entire enterprise. We’ve taken something intimate and personal and turned it into a competitive sport with bases, strikes, and home runs. Someone’s been sliding into third base, and the umpire (God? Your youth pastor? Your disappointed parents?) is watching.
The baseball metaphor reveals how weird we’ve gotten about virginity. “Getting to first base” somehow became code for kissing, as if human affection were a strategic game with winners and losers. Spoiler alert: if you’re treating romance like baseball, you’re doing both romance and baseball wrong.
In Austin, where we take both our weird culture and our baseball seriously (go Round Rock Express!), this metaphor hits different. We understand that sports analogies have their place, but maybejust maybethat place isn’t in religious discussions about virginity. Some things aren’t improved by adding scoreboards.
University of Texas linguistics professors studying euphemisms probably use virginity culture as a case study. The sheer creativity involved in avoiding direct language while still communicating about sex is impressive. We’ve developed an entire alternate vocabulary because apparently the regular words are too scary or honest.
What’s particularly ridiculous is the implication that there’s a “home run” in the virginity game. Does that mean having sex? Not having sex? Getting married first? The metaphor falls apart faster than a fastball in slow motion.
The real question is why we need metaphors at all. Why can’t we just talk about human sexuality honestly, without pretending it’s a baseball game or a battle or any other competitive framework? Oh right, because that would require acknowledging that sex is normal, natural, and not actually something to be ashamed of. Can’t have that.
SOURCE: https://theondecknews.com/whos-hitting-a-home-run/
SOURCE: Bohiney.com (Baseball Metaphors and Virginity)
