Graham crackers and good girls: a historical and theoretical case for expanding the conceptual reach of purity culture’s control of bodies assigned female at birth

In this work, we make a historical and theoretical case for expanding the conceptual reach of purity culture’s control of bodies assigned female at birth to include body shape and size. Purity culture is a sub-cultural phenomenon primarily recognized as a Protestant Evangelical abstinence movement,...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Wolfe, Rebecca (Author) ; Vickery, Rebekah (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group 2023
In: Theology & sexuality
Year: 2023, Volume: 29, Issue: 2/3, Pages: 92–108
Further subjects:B Christian Nationalism
B Eating disorders
B Body Image
B Purity culture
B Evangelical
B Christianity
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In this work, we make a historical and theoretical case for expanding the conceptual reach of purity culture’s control of bodies assigned female at birth to include body shape and size. Purity culture is a sub-cultural phenomenon primarily recognized as a Protestant Evangelical abstinence movement, though recently seeing further attention in the academic literature. We utilize the visceral, embodied language of an original poetic work from Rebekah Vickery, one of the authors, to weave experiential knowledge into our analysis. We utilize the theories of biopower and stigma, as well as the materiality of the female body, to understand purity culture’s control and discipline of the female body in and through three mechanisms: mind–body dualism, white supremacist patriarchy, and appetite control. We contextualize these mechanisms by tracing their historical roots leading up to the purity culture movement, and then utilize theoretical frameworks to understand the impacts of this history in purity culture.
ISSN:1745-5170
Contains:Enthalten in: Theology & sexuality
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13558358.2024.2332984