In February 2009, Bristol told Greta Van Susteren that abstinence is not realistic at all.
In May 2009, Bristol Palin was announced as a Teen Ambassador for the Candie's Foundation. They run ads like these, promoting sexual abstinence until marriage.
Their website sells sexy t-shirts, saying you can be sexy without having sex.
The Candie's Foundation is the charitable arm of a clothes, shoes and fragrances company, aimed at teenagers and young people. This is how they sell their stuff.
I don't know how much exposure Bristol Palin had to any of these ads or if they had any influence in her decisions regarding her sexual behaviour. The fact is, she's now an ambassador for a foundation that preaches sexual abstinence, which is associated with a commercial venture that uses highly sexualized context in ads to sell their products to young people.
The Candie's Foundation would have much more credibility if they promoted sex education, safe sex and contraceptive methods alongside the message that young people should consider whether they're ready to be sexually active.
By having a narrow view of the subject and sending out contradictory messages, Candie's is shortchanging a lot of young people. Bristol Palin's story erodes the abstinence message even further.
But why bother to be consistent? Why do they have to worry about integrity and credibility? They're making a lot of money because sex sells, one way or the other, and their charity provides them with tax breaks...
Bristol Palin is a poster girl for hypocrisy.
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