Quips and Confessionals with Kate Johnson

We often hear about how purity culture harmed women. Women have indeed borne the weight and the consequences of shame, control, and expectations that were impossible to meet. Like many women who grew up in purity culture, I have spent years untangling the effects on my own life. Yet, I think we make a mistake when we overlook how it impacted men and boys. Purity culture dehumanized both men and wo...

When I lost my church, I also lost my community. That loss was devastating. They say that when I relationship ends, it isn’t usually one event, but a thousand tiny cuts. When I first started deconstructing, that’s what leaving the church felt like to me. One of the hardest parts about deconstructing is how lonely is feels. As I listened to Rachel Held Evans on audiobook in my car, I didn’t feel li...

When most people think about grief, they think about loss after death. So when you first realize you are grieving someone that hasn’t actually died, the experience can be incredibly confusing. We can grieve a lot of different losses that aren’t due to death: * A parent who we may be estranged from or the parent you needed * The loss of relationship due to addiction, abuse, or disease like dementia...

Purity culture doesn’t just affect sexuality. It can impact body image, nervous system regulation, self-trust, shame, anxiety, dissociation, and the ability to feel safe in your own body long after leaving evangelicalism. In this conversation, ‪@real_allison_rose‬ and I talk about reconnecting to your body after purity culture, religious trauma, and shame-based Christianity. We discuss healing fro...