FLASHREPORT

Could this be the demise of "Do Me" Feminism? For the sake of young girls in America, I certainly hope so. The book "Prude" is a pragmatic look at the damage being done to not only young girls, but American society in general, by the sex-obsessed culture in which we find ourselves. The new feminist movement has attempted to convince women that true liberation lies in being sexually aggressive, and adopting what they believe to be a male tendency to remove sex from emotion. The "trickle down" effect of this movement has infiltrated the innocence of, and in many ways the protection of, young girls in the U.S. I highly recommend that you all check out www.PrudetheBook.com, and order a copy of our fellow California Republican's outstanding book.

Carol Platt Liebau is a fellow board member on the Marian Bergeson Series, which is an organization dedicated to preparing Republican women for public service in politics. I had the great pleasure of talking with Carol about her book, which has received rave reviews from Hugh Hewitt and Dr. Laura Schlessinger, just to name a few. The following is an excerpt of our interview:

JB: What prompted you to write the book?
CPL: Occasionally, when I was guest hosting a radio show, I would discuss topics like the sexy clothes being marketed to young girls, the vulgarity of a lot of popular music lyrics, and the example being set by the likes of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.  I was shocked at the tidal wave of reaction from listeners.  It seemed as though many people were thinking the same things I was, but had somehow been bullied by the culture into believing that they were prudish, uptight and terminally out of step for objecting to a sex-saturated teen culture.

JB: What is your greatest hope in writing this book? What outcome/action would make you feel like the book had a successful impact?
CPL: In writing "Prude," my intent was to call attention to a problem of which many of us (especially those without tween or teen girls in our lives) are unaware: The creeping sexualization of the culture -- and the dangers it poses for young girls in particular, but also for all of us and for our freedom from government intrusion generally.

JB: Based on simple demographics, it's safe to assume some of my readers have in some way supported the porn industry. What do you say to them?
CPL: What people do in their own homes is their own business.  My focus is trying to ensure that, even as they enjoy the right to consume the materials of their choice, the reasonable rights of parents to preserve the innocence of their children are likewise protected.

JB: For people who don't have daughters, why should they care?
CPL: The consequences of a degraded culture are relevant to everyone.  "Prude" lays out the massive social and economic costs of not teaching young people about sexual self-control.  A decade ago, the GAO estimated the cost of STD's among teens to be $4.25 billion each year (well before recent CDC reports that fully 1 in 4 teen girls is infected with an STD).  It's likewise been estimated that the indirect social costs of adolescent motherhood (births to teens 17 and younger) total between $9 billion and $21 billion yearly, even after controlling for factors like race, ethnicity and socioeconomic class.

JB: Would you recommend public policy to help stem the tide of our overly sex-saturated society?
CPL: If "public policy" means government intervention, the answer is "no."  Aside from measures like reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on, for example, obscenity or sexual activity on television, this is an area where government has no place because of the value all of us place (or should place) on freedom of expression.  That doesn't mean, of course, that other, non-governmental measures to influence those who are polluting the cultural square should be considered off limits.

JB:  If we can reverse these trends, what is your vision of American society? How will it differ/be improved if we are successful in bringing your ideas to fruition?
CPL: To the extent that "Prude" emboldens people to take a stand against the excesses of a sex-obsessed culture; helps parents teach their daughters why it's a mistake to give too much, too soon; and plays even a small role in promoting the creation of a culture that is mindful of the best interests of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society, it will have been a success.