purity culture | To Love, Honor and Vacuum

Do We Need to Stop Using the Term “Virgin”?

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | May 10, 2018 | culture, grace, Sex

“If you get raped, does that mean you’re not a virgin anymore?” That was one of the anonymous questions asked at a small group my 17-year-old daughter was at one summer. The adults leading the discussion hemmed and hawed, saying technically, they...

Why I Blog for All the Real Life Marriage Misfits Who Aren’t Pigeonholed

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Feb 21, 2018 | culture, resolving conflict, Sheila Snippets

I like to be a very down-to-earth Christian marriage blogger. This week I’m taking a bit of a step back, since my daughter is getting married on Saturday! I’m going to be posting some round-ups of some of the best marriage advice I’ve published. But...

The Most Important Way to Prepare Kids for Romantic Relationships

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Sep 27, 2017 | teenagers

How do you prepare your kids to have healthy marriages and make good decisions while dating? Let’s face it: that’s probably one of the biggest questions parents of teens face. And it’s one that my daughter Rebecca was looking at when she wrote her...

Innocence vs. Ignorance: Are We Stressing the Wrong One with Our Kids?

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Sep 8, 2017 | Parenting, teenagers

We all want kids to be innocent. But sometimes I worry that in our quest for innocence, we inadvertently push ignorance. I’ve been thinking about this a lot this last month as my girls and I gear up to launch our course, The Whole Story: Not So Scary Talks about...

Did You Survive “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”?

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Aug 3, 2017 | preparing for marriage, teenagers

Like many parents of 90s kids, I once embraced I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Written by then-21-year-old Joshua Harris, it was all about how “dating” is dangerous and will wreck your ability to have a good marriage. Instead, what we should aim for is...

7 Things the Purity Culture Failed to Teach Me

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Jun 29, 2017 | culture, Sex

Growing up in the purity culture people can learn the wrong lessons about sex–and God. Here are 7 things one woman had to unlearn once she married: How can we raise our kids to have a healthy view of sex–and not perpetuate some of the unhealthy aspects of...