Breaking Free from Purity Culture: Reclaiming Our Lives and Choices

💡Purity culture, born from white American Evangelical Christian Church, shaped the sexual development of millions of adolescents.

🌱Purity culture instilled deep shame and anxiety surrounding sexuality, leading to sexual trauma and dysfunction.

💥Suppressing feelings and intuition made individuals vulnerable to sexual assault and violence.

🤷‍♀️Reclaiming our lives means valuing, listening to, and trusting ourselves, overriding others' expectations.

🧪Breaking free from purity culture allows us to create lives on our own terms and find true happiness.

What is purity culture?

—Purity culture is a global movement born out of the white American Evangelical Christian Church in the 1990s. It shaped the sexual development of millions of adolescents, promoting abstinence and instilling shame and anxiety surrounding sexuality.

What are the effects of purity culture?

—Purity culture can lead to sexual trauma and dysfunction, as well as the suppression of feelings and intuition. It can make individuals vulnerable to sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and other threats.

How can we break free from purity culture?

—Breaking free from purity culture involves valuing, listening to, and trusting ourselves. It means overriding others' expectations and making choices based on our own desires and beliefs.

Can religious individuals still reclaim their lives after purity culture?

—Yes, reclaiming our lives is a personal and individual journey. Some individuals may choose to reconstruct their faith on their own terms, while others may distance themselves from organized religion altogether. It is about finding what brings true happiness and fulfillment.

What is the gift of choice?

—The gift of choice is the ability to make decisions based on our own desires and beliefs. When we make choices out of fear of others' judgment, we deny ourselves this gift. Embracing our own choices allows us to live authentically and find true happiness.

00:00Purity culture, born out of the white American Evangelical Christian Church in the 1990s, shaped the sexual development of millions of adolescents.

06:06Purity culture instilled deep shame and anxiety surrounding sexuality, leading to sexual trauma and dysfunction.

07:03Suppressing feelings and intuition made individuals vulnerable to sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and other threats.

09:39Reclaiming our lives means valuing, listening to, and trusting ourselves, overriding others' expectations.

13:46Breaking free from purity culture allows us to create lives on our own terms and find true happiness.