Greslé-Favier (American studies, Dortmund University) makes an examination of the conservative movement and its campaign for sexual abstinence before marriage. The resurgence of the emphasis on abstinence in the late twentieth century may be seen by some as puzzling. However, Greslé-Favier argues that it is a reaction to the sexual revolution of the 1960s. The movement also became a political tool of the G.W. Bush administration, during which government money was withheld from programs both in the US and abroad that taught any other methods of birth control or safe sex. She believes that this served to reinforce patriarchal hierarchy in the family and the government. While she seems relieved to report that many of these regulations have been abandoned by the Obama administration, she does conclude that there is a place for individual vows of abstinence, provided that they are not mandated. The political nature of the debate is very clearly stated, as is its role in defining a society. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)