Acting Out Abstinence, Acting Out Gender: Adolescent Moral Agency and Abstinence Education

This article explores faith-based, performance-oriented abstinence education through the lens of feminist theology by drawing on fieldwork with an urban, young adult dance and drama team whose mission is to promote abstinence through performances at high schools and church rallies. Through observation of performances and interviews with performers and program leaders, I examine abstinence education by looking at the way gender is performed both on stage and in everyday life. I argue that the performances observed in this setting can provide a space by which to examine the gendered nature of abstinence pledges. I then ask how the gendered nature of abstinence-only education affects limitations of agency as I argue that the gender roles present within faith-based abstinence education programs could be the greatest obstacle in encouraging a delay of sexual debut among adolescents and young adults.