I vividly remember the first time I heard the word chastity. I was about ten years old. Arriving home after school one day, I walked into the living room where the television was tuned in to an afternoon talk show. That day’s guest was Cher, a singer who made up one half of the popular seventies folk duo Sonny and Cher. She and the show’s host were discussing the couple’s young daughter, whose name was Chastity. I’d never heard that name or word before, but it didn’t strike me as odd—not, that is, until the host asked Cher, with a sly voice, “Have you explained to your daughter what her name
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