Abstract
This paper explores how Christian moral frameworks have historically shaped Western perceptions of sexuality, gender, and intimacy, particularly through purity culture and religious teachings on sin, virtue, and desire. The objective of this work is to reinterpret the cultural and theological roots of sexual shame and control, examining how Christian ideologies developed through nineteenth century religious thought continue to structure communication about sex, pleasure, and morality in contemporary society. This work is significant for scholars of communication, cultural studies, and feminist theory seeking to understand how historical religious narratives persist in shaping modern attitudes toward sex and intimacy. Situated within communication studies, cultural studies, feminist theory, and theology, the study draws on interpretive traditions in critical social theory and feminist cultural critique. The research employs literature review, historical analysis, and close textual interpretation of religious texts, theological commentary, and social purity movements, drawing from theological writings, feminist critiques of Christian ethics, and cultural texts that illustrate purity culture’s evolution into modern forms of moral control. The interpretive process involved theoretical synthesis and conceptual remapping of Christian sexual ethics, examining the relationship between religion, gender, and power through frameworks such as muted group theory, symbolic interactionism, and critical feminist analysis. The research finds that Christian purity discourse operates as a system of emotional and behavioral control that perpetuates gendered double standards, racial hierarchies, and silence around sexuality. This reinterpretation suggests that confronting theological roots of moral hierarchies can foster more equitable, self affirming, and embodied communication about intimacy.
Presenters
Ebony HoustonStudent, Master's of Arts in Strategic Communications in Leadership Communications, University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Religious Community and Socialization
KEYWORDS
Christianity, Purity Culture, Gender Roles, Sexual Shame, Communication, Feminist Theory
