Purity Rings: An Invitation for Stories

I’ve been thinking lately about my purity ring. My dad gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday, and I still have it tucked away. I have a lot of strong feelings about it, weird though that may seem. There’s a lot of my girlhood wrapped up in it, years of idealism and dreams. There’s pain in it too, and heartbreak and fear. But you know what? I don’t think I’m the only one to have strong feelings about my purity ring. And so, I’d like to start a new series. The “Purity Rings” series.

If you had a purity ring, whether you were given it by your father or bought it for yourself, I want to hear about it. How old were you when you got it? How long did you wear it? What did it mean to you? Did you take it off at some point, or wear it until marriage? What does it mean to you?

Feel free to fashion your thoughts in whatever format you like. Ideally, you should write between 500 and 1000 words, but that’s more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. Feel free to make it analytically or emotional, bare bones or descriptive. All I need is your thoughts, your feelings, and your reflections, however they come out on paper.

Email your “Purity Rings” story to [email protected] with “Purity Rings” in the subject line. I’ll post them gradually as I receive them.

Oh, and just as an update on other things, the Raised Quiverfull project is finished. Click the link and you’ll be able to view all of the responses, whether in panel form or in story form. Seriously, explore! Also, I will be posting one Raised Evangelical story each week starting next week (I have over a dozen!). Lots to look forward to there!