Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free

I also grew up in this era of purity culture and it’s so healing to read other stories that make me feel so much less alone.

As other reviewers have said, this book just made me feel like I wasn't alone. All these years I've been assuming there's something wrong with me because many aspects of the "purity culture" made me feel uncomfortable, but I never felt safe enough to say that out loud. I want to make peace with my past, and this book went a long way in helping me through that process. Definitely one I will reread as I continue to work through issues. Thank you, Linda, for writing this book and sharing stories so that those of us who were harmed by this culture don't feel so alone anymore.

Agree with the damage the purity movement did on our generation. Was not expecting the graffic details from the lives of those interviewed. Though they do have a story to tell it is sad the directions they took.

If you grew up in the Evangelical church during the True Love Waits era, this is the book for you. What a refreshing read on how damaging the purity movement was for young women in the church! This book discusses shame, secrecy, masturbation, and sexual identity that is insightful for anyone involved in the Christian faith. How I wish I had had something like this when I was a teenager. Females are not objects. Females are worth more than their virginity status. God made us as sexual beings!

The purity movement in the Evangelical church came about when I was in my 20s but this book was still very relevant to me. My upbringing reflected many of these principles and I struggled for many years with guilt and shame. Although, I feel that I had overcome these issues, this book confirmed how I feel.

This book was so healing for me to read...it really helped me to realize the ways that the Bible was used as a weapon against me. Also just knowing that I'm not alone in the negative effects of Purity Culture.

As someone recovering from the purity movement, this book changed my life.

I have basically been at the end of my rope because of the shame and pain I grew up with over my sexuality. I have found out that everything I was taught was wrong. The people out there sleeping around and having multiple partners are the ones having fun and it's only being told it's wrong that brings pain. my husband didn't grow up with shame so he enjoyed his experiences and now I find myself feeling completely robbed. This book confirmed everything I've been afraid of. It completely demolished how I was taught doing sex God's way would bring bliss and joy but doing it outside of his way brings pain. It's more the opposite.nthe entire book strips away your gravity. Everything you believed in and based your entire life of. I kept waiting for the hope. Waiting for the truth. Well if this isn't true about sex then what is? You've just taken everything away where is the truth that fills that space now? She has none. I just finished the book and it ends with how she can't go to a conservative church but a progressive church doesn't feel right either so she stays home. There is absolutely nothing about sexual healing just demolishing everything I ever believed in about sex. I grew up thinking I was ruined for what happened to me and believed God would restore it with this magical waiting for each other. As a teen I tried suicide and cutting all because I felt so dirty for being sexually active after being abused and thinking I was ruined anyway so what's the point. Just to find out the man I'd marry has been with all kinds of women, watched porn, gone to strip clubs and hooters and never felt guilt once simply because he was never told to feel wrong about those things. It seems being a christian is what causes suffering. Now I'm left feeling like my entire world has been taken and I don't even know what's real anymore who I am what is right or wrong. This book offers nothing but to give the excruciating realization that my life has been a lie.

I grew up in an evangelical community, and I have been wrestling with so many ideas around gender and Christianity. Upon reading this book, so many things about my experience as a woman in the church, how horrific the teachings on sexual ethics and gender distinctions can be. This book motivated me to go into a master's on the subject. I am so thankful for the research and the words spoken here.