All images and text © Kevin Moloney
Photographed on assignment for The New York Times and the ITV production of Purity Girls
Girls attending the annual Father-Daughter Purity Ball at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs watch as other guests arrive for the evening. The ball, created by Rev. Randy Wilson of the Generations of Light evangelical Christian ministry, aims to make fathers more responsible to their daughters and encourange chastity and social restraint in the girls.
Ruffled ball gowns cascade from teen girls as Purity Ball attendees prepare for dinner. The key event of the evening is the signing of a pledge by girls and their fathers. The pledge asks the girls to remain chaste until marriage and asks the fathers to assume a socially responsible role in the lives of their daughters.
Courtney McAlpin, 14, of Minneapolis, gazes at her father Steve as he reads a pledge from a covenant the two signed at Rev. Randy Wilson's Father-Daughter Purity Ball at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.
The pledge signed read, "I, _____'s father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity. I will be pure in my own life as a man, husband and father. I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and my family as the High Priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to influence generations to come." Daughters sign as a witness.
Young ballerinas carry a cross into the ballroom at Rev. Randy Wilson's Father-Daughter Purity Ball. Similar events nationwide have been called creepy by many critics, who worry a girl's virginity is not for a father or stepfather to own. Others argue most teens involved are still likely to have sex before marriage, and thanks to their pledge are less likely to be prepared. At Wilson's event, girls themselves do not take a pledge. They simply witness their fathers doing so.
Young women affiliated wth Wilson's ministry perform a ballet venerating the cross that punctuates the ballroom at the Historic Broadmoor Hotel. The dance troupe is directed by some of Wilson's five daughters.
Ballerinas swirl through the ballroom, emphasizing the fairy-princess nature of the ball.
All images and text © Kevin Moloney
Niger River || Next Page 