Purity: “freedom of immorality, especially sexual nature.”
Do you remember the era of purity rings worn on nearly every 2000s Disney star? This act was in relation to purity culture. According to The New York Times, purity culture is a strict view of abstinence before marriage. In purity culture “gender expectations are based on strict, stereotype-based binary” (Klein). Some evangelical Christian movements attempted to promote sexual abstinence until marriage. In religious circles, some people are taught that purity is their only value.
These teachings create unhealthy and unrealistic views about sex, relationships, and inaccurate views about our bodies. Limiting sexual education is harmful to the youth and purity culture is overall harmful to adolescents. Without proper sexual education, people could resort to unhealthy sexual behaviors. According to Linda Kay Klein, underlying some of these dangerous teachings are assumptions, including those that gender is binary and that heterosexual desire is the only normal or right form of desire. These harmful ideologies perpetuate the idea that adolescents need to attain “purity” to be “normal” in society.
Purity culture restricts women’s agency in terms of marriage, having children, etc. It tells women that it is their responsibility to live up to these patriarchal expectations. Women are taught that sexual freedom is vile in nature whereas men are taught to be dominant in terms of their sexuality. This narrative is false.
To disband these patriarchal ideals it must start with institutions switching the narrative from sexuality is vile to sexuality is positive. Society needs to dismantle misconceptions about sex. We must overall not place our worth on sexual purity. So, I encourage you all to define and explore your own sexuality without fear, shame, or guilt.