Surviving Purity Culture

Surviving Purity Culture: Essays on Healing from Shame and Creating a New Sexual Story is a collection of essays from people who are in the process of healing from purity culture. Overlapping with rape culture and religious trauma, purity culture is a type of indoctrination that restricts the freedom of anyone who does not naturally desire a cisgender, heterosexual, monogamous, lifelong partnership centered on male pleasure. The authors describe how this results in very real harm, especially for those who fall outside of the “ideals” of the shame-based system. The essays describe each author’s experience of healing thus far.

Through vital and heartfelt stories, this book lays the groundwork for survivors of purity culture to live liberated and healthy lives. Helpful for people who have experienced purity culture as well as their health care providers, therapists, partners, and loved ones, this book validates the experiences of those who have grown up in this system while also helping readers develop a deeper understanding of this type of trauma and how to care for those who have experienced it.