{"product_id":"2940170809561","title":"Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom a woman who has been there and back, the first inside look at the devastating effects evangelical Christianity's purity culture has had on a generation of young womenamp;mdash;in a potent combination of journalism, cultural commentary, and memoir.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the 1990s, a \"purity industry\" emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual \"stumbling blocks\" for boys and men, and any expression of a girl's sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girlsamp;mdash;resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorderamp;mdash;and trapped them in a cycle of shame.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is the sex education Linda Kay Klein grew up with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFearing being marked a Jezebel, Klein broke up with her high school boyfriend because she thought God told her to, and took pregnancy tests though she was a virgin, terrified that any sexual activity would be punished with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. When the youth pastor of her church was convicted of sexual enticement of a twelve-year-old girl, Klein began to question the purity-based sexual ethic. She contacted young women she knew, asking if they were coping with the same shame-induced issues she was. These intimate conversations developed into a twelve-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communitiesamp;mdash;a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSexual shame is by no means confined to evangelical culture; \u003ci\u003ePure\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful wake-up call about our society's subjugation of women.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47160790155504,"sku":"2940170809561","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940170809561_p0.jpg?v=1763718218","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940170809561","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}