Last week, I asked a question on social media. For anyone not familiar with purity culture, it’s common within Christian circles. While Christianity has traditionally promoted chastity (as it should), purity culture placed the emphasis…
Posts tagged Purity Culture
A Male Supporter’s Guide to #MeToo
It’s been five months since #MeToo was trending. At the time, I saw a lot of men expressing support and asking what they could do. I don’t see those questions being asked now. Women haven’t…
We Don’t Want to Believe Someone We Like is a Predator
Why is it so hard to believe someone we like is a predator? When we hear a report of predatory behavior about someone we know, our immediate reaction is usually, “What? Him? Not him. I…
This Post is Definitely, Absolutely, Positively Not About Mike Pence
I don’t normally jump on the latest topic that’s flying around on social media. And I’m not going to jump on Mike Pence. (I mean. I’m a pacifist. Jumping on people is frowned upon.) What…
Asking for It
Angela lent me a dollar to buy this composition book. I told her it’d be a journal—and that wasn’t a lie—but two self-indulgent entries later and I’m tracking research in it instead. You’re asking…
What Does Being Stalked Look Like?
If you’re interested in the whole story, I wrote a book about that. If you want to know what being stalked looks like, it looks like this. If you scrolled all the way down here…
MST3King My Death Threats
Two nights ago, while sorting through old pictures, I found some folded up sheets of paper tucked into a box. I grabbed the stack and unfolded them, figuring it was a poem my sister or…
Murderous Theology
When I was eighteen years old, I broke the law and was condemned to a violent death. I would burn for my sin. I wasn’t a time-traveling witch or heretic. I was just a church…
When I Was a Thing
MINE One word, scribbled across the picture of a bride he’d ripped out of a magazine. It was one of many “presents” he’d been leaving me. A pair of stolen underwear, generously returned to me…
Evangelical Christians & Sex
About a month ago, I “met” Rachael Prensner. She is currently working on her honors thesis which focuses on, “women who are (or were) part of an evangelical community [and] messages they receive about sex, sexuality, and…