Next 'American Idol' Could Be Chaste Sex Symbol
By Penny Starr
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
January 30, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - When Bruce Dickson shared with the judges on "American Idol" earlier this month that he wanted his first kiss to be on his wedding day, the panel wasn't impressed. It may have been his voice that made Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Paula Abdul send Dickson packing, but when Jackson told him he should "kiss some girls" before he auditions next year the sparks started to fly.

Sarah Preston, a writer and editor with Playboy.com, told Cybercast News Service that Dickson was out of touch with his own sexuality and that winning "American Idol" required sex appeal - a trait impossible for a guy who wanted to hold on to his virginity.

Cybercast News Service interviewed Dickson, who explained how he came to make a vow of chastity based on his parents' teachings and his Christian beliefs.

"I respect women and don't treat them like a sexual object, and I'm the freak?" Dickson said of the taunting his public proclamation of chastity brought both on and off the "Idol" set.

But the countless e-mails received by Cybercast News Service about Dickson and "American Idol" were almost unanimous in their support for Dickson and their contempt for a television show that they perceived was promoting promiscuity.

Writers ranged from teens who themselves have made a chastity vow, parents who expressed hope that their daughter will meet a man like Dickson, and couples who waited until marriage to have sex and were glad they made that decision.

"American Idol" fans, however, might have been confused if they watched the show the week following Dickson's ejection. Before 16-year-old Amy Flynn sang for the judges, she told them she was a counselor with the STARS program, an acronym for Students Teaching About Respecting Sexuality.

The Tennessee-based program used nationwide asks teens to abstain from sex, drugs and alcohol. Flynn visits schools and talks to kids about the reasons why they should not have sex, drink alcohol or experiment with drugs.

"I just like to be there for everyone," Flynn said during her "American Idol" audition, which is posted on YouTube.

The judges praised Flynn's singing and her chastity stance and gave her a pass to Hollywood.

Dawn Eden, a former rock music writer and author of the book "The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On!" said, in Flynn's case, show producers may have decided it was in "American Idol's" best interest to embrace the teen chastity message.

"I think they realized they were alienating a sizeable chunk of their audience," Eden told Cybercast News Service, adding that it's middle America - not Playboy readers - that watch the show.

Eden also said she thinks Flynn may have been carefully chosen to be an "Idol" contestant - and not because of her vocal talents.

Dickson "was inspired by his family and God, and you're not allowed to have a strong family or belief in God," Eden said. "He was a goober with low intelligence who was doing what Mommy and Daddy were telling him to do."

Flynn, on the other hand, is a safer chastity advocate as a participant in a secular abstinence program, Eden said.

STARS "is outside the sphere of family, so (the judges) are allowed to like it," Eden said. "It's students taking control of their own lives and not just doing what their parents tell them to do."

Eden said her own experience of promiscuity and the heartache that accompanies it led her to become a Christian and eventually join the Catholic Church. Her new book discusses why chastity is a better road to true love and fulfillment, even for men and women who are no longer virgins.

"Chastity is more than abstinence, and it's not a negative," she said. "It's a positive, and it's a virtue."

Eden argues that the sexual revolution failed to give men and woman promised fulfillment. In fact, Eden said, chastity is the way to be fulfilled.

"Being chaste, one can learn to fully express oneself properly in the context of marriage," she said. "Chastity helps you develop true intimacy and greater fulfillment in all of your relationships."

Pat Fagan, senior fellow of family and religion at the conservative Family Research Council, said the Bush administration's emphasis on abstinence education and religious chastity programs may be reflected in statistics that show teens are having less children out of wedlock in 2006, the latest year for which data are available.

"There's definitely something going on out there," Fagan told Cybercast News Service.

He also cited statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics ongoing National Survey of Family Growth. It shows that 80 percent of women who were virgins until marriage are still in a stable marriage at ages ranging from 30 to 45.

For a woman who only had sex with one partner before marriage, only 54 percent remain in a stable relationship after a number of years, and the percentage drops to 44 percent for women who had two partners before marriage.

Fagan said studies also show that teens who pledge to abstain from sex on average delay becoming sexually active two years longer than their non-pledge counterparts.

"So go back to 'American Idol' and say, 'Who's crazy, the guy or the panel?'" Fagan said.

Apparently, "American Idol" judges didn't know that Jordin Sparks, who won last year's "American Idol" contest, has been wearing a ring to symbolize her chastity vow. Sparks talked about her virginity pledge in an interview with US magazine.

"Temptation is always there," said Sparks. "It's hard everyday, but I made a promise to myself." Since she was 13, the singer has worn a platinum "promise ring" - bearing the inscription "True Love Waits" - that her parents gave her, and she plans to keep it on.