He further demonstrated his support for evangelicals by funding abstinence-only education in public schools. In 1983 Ronald Reagan published his pro-life book Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation. Moslener says, “You go from the 70s, the whole ‘save the children from the gay people,’ into the pro-life movement, save the babies, so you’re positioning youth and innocence as the thing to be protected.” White evangelical leaders promoted anti-abortion and anti-homosexuality messages not only in their churches, but also publicly and with the help of the politicians they courted. Starting especially in the 1970s, following the rise of feminism and gay rights, white evangelicals became increasingly concerned about adolescents’ sexuality. The purity movement’s roots stretch back decades. ![]() She went on saying, “The trick is getting people who don’t benefit from that power to endorse it.” And women, despite it not being to their benefit, have become powerful proponents of purity culture. She distilled all of purity culture in one, simple remark: “The whole point of purity culture is patriarchal power.” According to Moslener, regulating evangelicals’ sex lives is about keeping women submissive to their fathers and husbands. It turned out that Moslener, author of Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence, was just as engaging over the phone. She agreed to a phone call the next week. One particular scholar in the film, Sarah Moslener, captured my attention. Historians, ex-church leaders, and current ministers shed light on how the movement swept the hearts of millions of teenagers at its peak in the 1990s and why it still resonates today. The film pulls back from personal narratives to explore the origins of evangelical purity culture. One person recalls praying for God to allow him to live long enough to have sex. The film opens with a simple prompt: “Talk to me about purity.” Some interviewees laugh. I’ve since outgrown that world, joined the ranks of what’s now known as the ex-evangelical movement, but purity culture rages on-in church basements, in arenas, and most recently, on social media.Įager to engage in conversations about the implications of purity culture, I watched the 2015 documentary Give Me Sex Jesus. I grew up in that culture: hair curled for Daddy Daughter Dances with a gel pen ready to sign the school-wide abstinence pact. An entire purity culture has developed to instill in adolescents, especially teenage girls, the importance of virginity until marriage. “Purity” is a term evangelicals use to describe sexual abstinence until heterosexual marriage. We knew “how far was too far.” We were told our hard work would pay off when we could present our bodies to our husbands, untouched and pure as unused white paper. We wore silver rings to proclaim our virginity. We signed pledges promising our fathers we would stay pure. They had us write letters to our future husbands. The adults at my evangelical school and church cared deeply about our sexuality. She cringed and said, “It’s creepy the adults care so much.” She was right. Later that night I described the lesson to my friend in public school, a proud non-virgin. “Nobody wants something dirty,” he finished, shooting the paper wad into the nearest trashcan. ![]() Pass it around to any guy who asks for it and this is all you’ll have to offer your husband.” He lifted the now wrinkled sheet above his head like an oracle and crumpled it dramatically. He lifted his eyes, poised for a heavy message: “This paper represents your purity. After a minute or two, we handed it to the guest speaker, a male youth pastor with stiff gel hair and a gummy smile. The sheet traveled between the hands of my best friend who had two boyfriends at a nearby public school, onto the girl who asked during Bible class if the “M word” (masturbation) was a sin, and then to my own sweaty palms. We passed a plain white sheet of paper around the study hall room. ![]() (Image credit: Michele Constantini/Getty Images)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |