Episode 253: Revisiting Purity Culture | A Conversation with C.A. Larson
When Latter-day Saints hear the phrase “Purity Culture,” they may associate it more with evangelical churches than with our own. LDS talks and lessons focus on words like virtue, modesty, morality, and chastity to describe our ideals. But regardless of the specific words used, the messages are the same. Therapist C.A. Larson points out, “Purity culture is a moral control system that ties worth to sexual behavior, especially for women. [...] Purity culture in the LDS Church is institutional, enforced through interviews, modesty rules, and silence around consent.” In Episode 253, Cynthia and Susan welcome C.A. back to ALSSI for a discussion about Purity Culture: what it is, its psychological and emotional impacts, and its systemic connection to sexual abuse. It’s a conversation that makes space for grief and anger, and identifies healing paths. C.A. explains, “Healing is not about becoming more sexual or less sexual. It is about embracing our agency...relearning consent, trusting bodily signals, separating worth from obedience, reclaiming choice, going slowly and allowing ambivalence. You don’t owe your body to doctrine, and you don’t owe your healing to anyone else’s timeline.”
CW: sexual abuse
Notes & Quotes:
From C.A.: Interested in joining a faith journey group? Please email me at calarsoncounseling@gmail.com
ALSSI Ep. 112: What About Purity Culture? | A Conversation with Colette Dalton
ALSSI Ep. 27: It’s Not About the Clothes | A Conversation with C.A. Larson
ALSSI Ep. 37: If It’s Not About the Clothes, What’s It About? | A Conversation with C.A. Larson
Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free, by Linda Kay Klein
Shameless: A Case for Not Feeling Bad About Feeling Good, by Nadia Bolz-Weber
Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life, by Emily Nagoski
“Purity culture taught girls that their bodies were dangerous, sinful and a threat to men’s salvation.” —Linda Kay Klein
“Purity most often leads to pride or despair, not to holiness.” —Nadia Bolz-Weber
“Purity was sold as a commodity. And fear was the marketing strategy.” —Nadia Bolz-Weber
“Shame thrives in secrecy, silence, and judgment.” —Brené Brown
“Sexual shame is one of the most corrosive forms of shame. It isolates us from connection.” —Brené Brown
“Shame doesn’t come from God’s voice. It comes from voices that claim to speak for God.” —Nadia Bolz-Weber
“Sex is not just physical, and shame does not disappear with a wedding ring.” —Rachel Held Evans
“You cannot shame someone into a healthy sexuality.” —Jennifer Finlayson-Fife
“We were taught how not to sin, but not how to love.” —Nadia Bolz-Weber
“The opposite of purity culture isn’t promiscuity. It’s honesty.” —Nadia Bolz-Weber
“Grace doesn’t tell us to deny our humanity. Grace meets us in it.” —Nadia Bolz-Weber