The Purity Battle
In this episode, Caz and Em explore how the Bible is used to validate evangelical Christian teachings about sexual purity. Taking a deep dive into one purity-promoting ‘self-help’ book, they assess how the book’s sexual purity teachings undermine women’s sexual agency, equate female sexuality with sin and shame, and promote harmful myths about sexual violence.
Show notes
Find us on Twitter @BloodyBiblePod, on Facebook @TheBloodyBiblePodcast, and on Instagram @bloodybiblepodcast. You can also email the podcast at BloodyBiblePodcast@gmail.com.
The Bloody Bible podcast is produced by Caroline Blyth, Emily Colgan and Richard Bonifant
Episodes are recorded and edited by Richard Bonifant
Our podcast music is ‘Stalker’ by Alexis Ortiz Sofield, courtesy of Pixabay music https://pixabay.com/music/search/stalker/
Our podcast art was created by Sarah Lea West
Resources for this episode
Shannon Ethridge and Stephen Arterburn, Every Young Woman’s Battle: Guarding Your Heart, Mind, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World. WaterBrook Press, 2009.
Stephen Arterburn, Fred Stoeker, and Mike Yorkey. Every Young Man's Battle: Strategies for Victory in the Real World of Sexual Temptation. WaterBrook Press, 2009.
Caroline Blyth, Rape Culture, Purity Culture, and Coercive Control in Teen Girl Bibles. Routledge, 2021.
Priscilla Frank, “Why Men Masturbate In Front Of Women Without Their Consent.” HuffPost, 10 November 2017. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/masturbation-sexual-assault_n_5a04dcc4e4b05673aa584c89
Elizabeth Gish, “Are You a ‘Trashable Styrofoam Cup’?: Harm and Damage Rhetoric in the Contemporary American Sexual Purity Movement.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 34.2 (2018); 5–22.
Kait Kelly and Josh Taylor, “Big W removes sex education book from shelves after staff members abused.” The Guardian 19 July 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/19/yumi-stynes-welcome-to-sex-education-book-big-w-removes-bans
Linda Kay Klein, Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shaped a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free. Atria Books, 2018.
K.R. Klement and B.J. Sagarin. “Nobody Wants to Date a Whore: Rape- Supportive Messages in Women-Directed Christian Dating Books.” Sexuality & Culture 21 (2017): 205-223.
Sara Moslener, Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence. Oxford University Press, 2015.
Sarah Moslener on Substack. https://afterpurity.substack.com/
Olivia Stanley,“A Personal Encounter with Purity Culture in an Evangelical Christian School.” Bible & Critical Theory 16.1 (2020): 187–206.
Support Services
List of sexual assault support services (NZ) – https://sexualabuse.org.nz/resources/find-sexual-assault-support-near-you/
RAINN (USA) – https://www.rainn.org/
For US listeners, to find a sexual assault support provider in your area, call 800.656.HOPE (4673)
Helping Survivors (USA) – https://helpingsurvivors.org/
Rape Crisis (UK) – https://rapecrisis.org.uk/
Rape Crisis Scotland – https://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/
Full Stop (Australia) – https://fullstop.org.au/
Find a Helpline (lists helplines internationally) https://findahelpline.com/
