The impact of Christian purity culture is still being felt – including in Britain

By Chrissie Thwaites, PhD Candidate in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds

In the 1990s and 2000s, a Christian movement now known as “purity culture” reached its height. Purity culture was most significant in America, and since the noughties, it has gradually faded from cultural prominence. Its impact, though, is global and ongoing.

Purity culture was built on an established religious ethic: sexual abstinence until marriage. But it came to encompass a subculture in American evangelical Christianity centred around maintaining “sexual purity”.

During this period, a prolific industry of purity-themed bibles, rallies and books emerged. Sales of purity…

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