Technologies of Purity: Decoding the Rhetoric of Purity Culture in Religious and Secular Spaces

Abstract

This dissertation explores the pervasive influence of evangelical purity culture on identity, body politics, and societal norms, using a technologies of purity framework. Chapter 1 introduces the framework and its application to legislative and postcolonial contexts in Oklahoma. Chapter 2 examines purity culture in Falls Creek church camp dress codes and Instagram’s censorship practices. Chapter 3 analyzes historical weaponization of purity in Native American boarding schools. Chapter 4 presents interviews with Oklahoma millennials deconstructing Christian purity culture, highlighting its psychological impacts and strategies for resistance. This interdisciplinary study reveals purity culture's complex dynamics and suggests pathways for critique and recovery.