Virgin, Mother, Whore

This series discusses how Christianity often categorizes women as either the Virgin, the Mother, or the Whore, with sexuality being the deciding factor in how they’re viewed. It looks at the contrast between “pious” women and those labeled as “disobedient,” tying it all back to the idea that God controls man, and man controls woman. Through collages that showcase these restrictive categories, I hope to show how these rigid tropes limit women and start a conversation about why sexuality plays such a big role in defining their worth.

Being a Good Religious Wife

There are 32 countries that allow marital rape. Of the 150+ countries that do, some explicitly criminalize it, some it is simply considered the same as non-marital sexual assault etc. Some of those countries may in theory not exclude marital rape from being a crime, but those laws have never been tested, in effect meaning […]

Purity Culture v.s. Hook-Up Culture and its Effects on Women in the United States

Attached below is my presentation on the complexities of purity culture, specifically in the Evangelical church, and how this culture influences hook-up culture in the United States (specifically in relation to women). Both of these cultures are incredibly harmful to women. While they perpetuate very different standards for women in the U.S. they are both […]

Metaphorical Purity

For my final project, I decided to create three art pieces analyzing different harmful aspects of purity culture. This installation includes a quote from Elizabeth Smart in her address at John Hopkins on anti-human trafficking. Elizabeth was abducted while in middle school and held captive for 9 months. At one point in her speech, Smart […]

The Intersection of Purity Culture and the #MeToo Movement: PowerPoint & Poetry

(Content Warning: The topics covered in this project concern sensitive topics such as sexual assault and abuse.) PowerPoint: Personal Poetry: Recognizing My Victimization You told me that I was the perpetrator That my actions caused the assault When all I did was just be myself But somehow it’s all my fault – I lie alone  […]