Page "Sexual abstinence" Paragraph 6

Lifelong ( or at least long-term ) abstinence, often associated with philosophical or religious asceticism, is distinguished from chastity before marriage.

Abstinence is often viewed as an act of self-control over the natural desire to have sex.

The display of the strength of character allows the abstainer to set an example for those not able to contain their " base urges.

" At other times, abstinence has been seen as a great social skill practiced by those who refuse to engage with the material and physical world.

Some groups that propose sexual abstinence consider it an essential means to reach a particular intellectual or spiritual condition, or that chastity allows one to achieve a required self-control or self-consciousness.

Author Judith Levine has argued that there might be a natural tendency of abstinence educators to escalate their messages: " Like advertising, which must continually jack up its seduction just to stay visible as other advertising proliferates, abstinence education had to make sex scarier and scarier and, at the same time, chastity sweeter.

" ( Harmful to Minors, p. 108 )