Purity Culture
What is Purity Culture?
The term purity is familiar to those who have grown up in and around various religious systems that emphasize sexual abstinence and modesty, placing an unequal burden on women to not only maintain their “purity,” but to be responsible for the purity of men as well. This can carry a very heavy, sometimes triggering weight for many, many women.
The emphasis on purity has come rightly into question as the darker consequences of it have become more well known. In a study completed on Christian men and women, the results signified that there is a strong correlation between the acceptance of purity culture and mislabeling marital rape as consensual sex, as well as endorsing rape myths (Owens et al., 2020).
Rape myths include prejudiced and stereotyped explanations behind rape such as, “Women lie about being raped” (Owens et al., 2020). Rape myths, alongside purity culture, can explain many issues within patriarchal systems and especially within power and control relationships.
Some core concerns with purity culture, from a therapist’s perspective:
1) Purity culture has taught people, mostly men, that they do not have to be responsible for their own thoughts and actions.
Linda Kay Klein wrote, “The church views men as animals with no agency. The whole ‘as a girl it’s your job to stop guys from doing stuff’ line of thinking” (Klein, 2019). Within patriarchal and religious systems, women learn that not only are men sexual creatures, but they are now responsible for men’s struggles and choices. Many women recount experiences of sitting in religious services, listening to leaders share how difficult it is for them to see girls in bikinis on social media or at the pool. Stories like these make it difficult and painful to unburden themselves from the concept that their outfit choices, body type, and occasional cleavage are causing the men in their lives to stumble into sexual sin.
2) Purity culture has even further isolated those in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Purity culture, especially in relation to the Evangelical church, furthers the belief system that sex is only “correct” if in a heterosexual context. Within purity culture, sexual exploration is discouraged, especially if sexual exploration involves anything outside of heteronormative standards. In a recent study that was completed by the Trevor Project, it was found that nearly half of LGBTQ youth have seriously considered suicide in the past year (Torchinsky, 2022).
3) Purity culture creates a division between people and their bodies.
Linda Klein writes, “The purity message is not about sex. Rather it is about us: who we are, who we are expected to be, who it is said we will become if we fail to meet those expectations. This is the language of shame” (Klein, 2019). Most people can agree that shame, especially related to our bodies, is pervasive and can cause long-term consequences. Those who feel shame about their bodies often feel disconnected to their bodies and in a sense, disconnected from their personhood.
What do we (I) do now?
The ramifications of purity culture are significant. At Walls Counseling, we have a diverse staff of therapists who are experienced in working with issues like purity culture and spiritual abuse. Additionally, our team will be hosting a purity culture recovery group starting this fall!
Klein, L. K. (2019). Pure: Inside the Evangelical movement that shamed a generation of young women and how I broke free. Atria Books.
Owens, B. C., Hall, M. E., & Anderson, T. L. (2020). The relationship between purity culture and rape myth acceptance. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 49(4), 405–418. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091647120974992
Torchinsky, R. (2022, May 5). Nearly half of Lgbtq youth seriously considered suicide, survey finds. NPR.