The ‘Celibacy Trend’

Celibacy is not a “new thing”, but it’s trending. More and more celebrities have been putting the spotlight on the vow of celibacy in relationships. There are lists of celebrities that have made it known that they practice or have practiced celibacy in their relationship(s) and, recently, the spotlight has been turned on a few.

Couples like Ciara and her (now) fiancé, Russell Wilson have received attention for discussing their decision to take a vow of celibacy in their relationship. Meagan Good and her husband, Devon Franklin discuss the vow of celibacy in their book “The Wait”. Although much of the response to these couples’ decisions has been positive, some of this attention has caused controversy.

 

Recently, Khloe Kardashian received some backlash for her discussion of celibacy on her new show, Kocktails with Khloé. During the episode, she and her guests referred to couples Ciara and Russell Wilson and Meagan Good and Devon Franklin. Because these couples involve celebrities, their acts of celibacy have been receiving more attention than the average person or couple may. The episode, “Eat, Drink, Pray”, aired a few weeks ago.

Here’s how some of the segment went…

“[Khloé:] With all due respect to Ciara, she has a baby. It’s not like we don’t know if she’s a virgin or not. Like we know she… [Cassie:] Well, it’s a vow of celibacy, but it’s after you’ve already had sex in your life. [Khloé:] None of us would know about it if they weren’t publicly telling us that they are practicing celibacy. So who are you trying to prove this to?  Is it a look?”

After all the backlash from the episode, Khloe posted these tweets on her account:

I hadn’t watched the episode when I saw the tweets. After watching the episode, I understood all the backlash. Many people brought up a quote at the beginning of the segment where Khloe and her guest, Alec Mapa, say the couple (Ciara and Russell) should be having sex. That statement, I believe, was meant to be a joke, describing how good they look together. In that case, I understand Khloe’s tweets. As for everything else that was said during the segment, I was shocked by the fact that someone with a television show, who is expanding their audience, would bring up a topic with such ignorance. Listening to the conversation, it was clear that Khloe and her guests had absolutely no idea what celibacy was about in these cases. For starters, everyone is different and the practice can be based on different values, but both of the couples used as examples have explained their vow is spiritually based, which was not mentioned in the episode. Then, virginity was brought up but… celibacy and virginity are not the same thing. Not only that, but it seemed as if their was an issue with couples discussing their vow of celibacy. If couples and individuals can discuss their sexual activity, as many of them do on Kocktails with Khloé, what is the issue with discussing your celibacy?

Maybe the issue is with those that actually practice celibacy as a trend; just because it’s the “new thing”. Celebrities like Ciara and Russell Wilson or Meagan Good and Devon Franklin will reach an audience that will may just go along with the trend. But, they may also educate or encourage others to make the same decision or even decide that this vow is not for them. Whatever the case may be, someone else’s decision does not have to be your decision, but your decision is just that, YOUR DECISION.

No matter what others think, keep making your own (HEALTHY) decisions. What’s right for you, may not be right for someone else. In this case, neither Ciara or Russell responded to the issue (if they did, it wasn’t public), showing you don’t have to explain yourself to people who don’t share the same vision. They may never understand.

Stay beautiful.

XO,

Sydney Robinson