Elizabeth, Meg, and Mary explore purity culture, the weight of being a “good girl” as defined by church communities, expectations to be pretty and pure, and looking the part by smiling and being nice. Traditional Christian understandings of being a good girl to become a good wife and mother historically pushed women into specific behaviors, beauty standards, and acceptance of submission. Elizabeth unpacks the dangers of misinterpreting being a “Proverbs 34 wife.” Literal intreprations of scripture undermines how holy scripture serves to lift up women by challenging the prevailing views of scripture’s historical contexts. Meg calls out the unspoken cultural pressures for women to be “good girls” as “I approve of the editing of yourself.” Who defines “good girl” and how do we allow this definition?
How have you bumped against this “good girl” pressure?
Next Episode: Personal faith statements and the challenge of saying what we DO believe.
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