Purity Culture & Body Shaming

About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of purity culture and diet culture through the experiences of Ashley Dunston.

What happens when purity culture and diet culture collide? In this episode, Laura Anderson and Andrew Kerbs sit down with writer Ashley Dunston to unpack the complicated overlap between evangelical theology, fat phobia, and body shame. Ashley shares her story of growing up in Colorado Springs during the peak of 1990s and early 2000s purity messaging, navigating intense pressure to present a “perfect” family image, and being pushed into gastric bypass surgery at just 19 years old. After losing...

People in this episode

Hosts: Laura Anderson, Andrew Kerbs

Guest: Ashley Dunston

Topics covered

• purity culture
• body shaming
• diet culture
• evangelical theology
• fat phobia

Keywords

• purity culture
• body shaming
• diet culture
• fat phobia
• gastric bypass surgery

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: evangelical theology

Places: Colorado Springs

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