Want to learn more? Check out my book Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free. For example, whereas white American women may feel they must unfairly maintain the “purity” they are assumed to have been born with, American women of color and women from other cultures may feel they must attain purity, as it is not something they are assumed to have been born with within the sub-culture. As a result, purity culture influences people’s lives in complex ways resulting in highly intersectional marginalization. The white, American Evangelical Christian Purity Movement is further based in nationalistic and white supremacist assumptions. Underlying these teachings are several assumptions, including those that gender is a binary, and that heterosexual desire is the only “right” and “normal” form of desire/sexual intercourse. To avoid stumbling blocks, men are taught to train their minds using strategies such as “bouncing their eyes” when they see something that brings out a sexual thought or feeling-such as a woman’s cleavage in an advertisement or the knee of the woman sitting beside them at church. If they do “inspire” such thoughts, they are said to be a “stumbling block” – literally a thing over which men trip on their pathway to God. Purity culture also teaches that women are responsible for the sexual thoughts, feelings and choices men make, and so must dress, walk and talk in just the right way so as not to “inspire” sexual thoughts, feelings, and actions in them. Sexual metaphors abound: A “pure” woman is compared to a brand new shiny car while an “impure” one is compared to a used car that everyone around town has already driven and that isn’t worth much anymore a “pure” woman is compared to a delicious hamburger just set down on the table while an “impure” woman is compared to the last slobbery bite of that hamburger, etc. That is to say, men’s thoughts and actions are said to be either pure or impure, while women themselves are said to be either pure or impure. However, men are taught their minds are evil, whereas women are taught their bodies are evil. And upon marriage, they are expected to flip their sexuality on like a light switch. Everyone is expected to maintain absolute sexlessness before marriage (that means no sexual thoughts, feelings, or actions). Women are expected to support them-to be pretty, “feminine,” sweet, supportive wives and mothers. Men are expected to be strong, “masculine” leaders of the household, church, and (to a lesser extent) society. In purity culture, gender expectations are based on a strict, stereotype-based binary. The specifics vary by religion and culture, but gender- and sexual-control upon which purity culture stands is global, cross-religious, and cross-cultural. However, evangelicals don’t have a monopoly on the ethics that undergird purity culture. Baby names for boys and girls that mean pure or innocent include the following.The term “purity culture” is generally associated with the white, American, Evangelical Christian Purity Movement and the corollary Purity Industry launched in the early 1990s. Unique names that mean pure include Agnes, Olwen, and Neve for girls and Sachin, Neo, and Whittaker for boys.Īlso included here are some names with meanings related to purity and its symbols: names associated with the color white, for instance, and names that mean new or virginal. With many names originating from religious sources, from the Bible to the Torah to the Quran to saints' names and other religious tracts, purity or innocence from sin was a common meaning and a desirable quality. Purity or innocence is a name meaning commonly found in the etymology of first names. Along with Finn, other boy names with meanings related to innocence that rank in the US Top 1000 include Arjun, Gavin, and Xavier. The top boy name that means pure or innocent is Finn. Along with Katherine, other girl names meaning pure in the US Top 1000 include Kate, Bianca, Gwen, Jennifer, and Zuri. The top girl name meaning pure is Katherine in all its variations. purity rectitude sincerity virtue candor forthrightness goodness honestness honorableness incorruptibility incorruption righteousness straightforwardness On this page you'll find 101 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to integrity, such as: honesty, principle, probity, purity, rectitude, and sincerity.
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