Pure : inside the evangelical movement that shamed a generation of young women and how I broke free / Linda Kay Klein.
From a woman who has been there and back, the first inside look at the devastating effects evangelical Christianity's purity culture has had on a generation of young women--in a potent combination of journalism, cultural commentary, and memoir. In the 1990s, a "purity industry" emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual "stumbling blocks" for boys and men, and any expression of a girl's sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls--resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder--and trapped them in a cycle of shame.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781501124815
- ISBN: 1501124811
- ISBN: 9781501124822
- ISBN: 150112482X
- Physical Description: x, 340 pages ; 24 cm
- Publisher: New York : Touchstone, 2018.
Content descriptions
General Note: | Publisher, publication date, and paging may vary. |
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-321) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | Movement I: The stumbling blocks -- Sin, psychosis, or system -- The lie -- Pure destruction -- Sexual violence, classified -- Movement II: Stumbling through church -- Man-made girls -- The virgin -- The tigress -- Family values -- The stained-glass ceiling -- Movement III: Stumbling out of church -- Trapped -- Frozen -- The G(od) spot -- Dementor -- Movement IV: How we get over -- Going home -- The no shame movement -- Sanctuary. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Christian women > Sexual behavior. Evangelicalism. Sex > Religious aspects > Christianity. Women in Christianity. Women's rights > Religious aspects > Christianity. |
Genre: | Biographies. |
Available copies
- 6 of 7 copies available at Missouri Evergreen. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Rolla Public.
Holds
- 1 current hold with 7 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rolla Public Library | NF 261.8357 KLE (Text) | 38256101823700 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Pure : Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free
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Summary
Pure : Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free
From a woman who has been there and back, the first inside look at the devastating effects evangelical Christianity's purity culture has had on a generation of young women--in a potent combination of journalism, cultural commentary, and memoir. In the 1990s, a "purity industry" emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual "stumbling blocks" for boys and men, and any expression of a girl's sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls--resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder--and trapped them in a cycle of shame. This is the sex education Linda Kay Klein grew up with. Fearing being marked a Jezebel, Klein broke up with her high school boyfriend because she thought God told her to, and took pregnancy tests though she was a virgin, terrified that any sexual activity would be punished with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. When the youth pastor of her church was convicted of sexual enticement of a twelve-year-old girl, Klein began to question the purity-based sexual ethic. She contacted young women she knew, asking if they were coping with the same shame-induced issues she was. These intimate conversations developed into a twelve-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communities--a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality. Sexual shame is by no means confined to evangelical culture; Pure is a powerful wake-up call about our society's subjugation of women.