Our Courtship, Part Six: Courtship by Committee

“I put the ring on my own finger; not exactly like how I had pictured it when I was a little girl.”

Don’t Touch Me — A Reflection on Courtship and Purity: Merab’s Story, Part One

“I never deconstructed how this mindset created a harmful image of my identity—I was only as valuable as my state of purity.”

Our Courtship, Part Five: It Begins

“I was in love before, but I finally felt free to feel all those feelings.”

The Dangers of Ideology: Salome’s Story, Part Two

“Ideology led my parents to exercise parenting techniques which left me vulnerable, broken, and with the deeply internalized belief that I’m worthless and unclean.”

Our Courtship, Part Four: Falling in Love

“I was in denial about how deep my feelings went, because I simply wasn’t allowed to be in love before courtship.”

The Dangers of Ideology: Salome’s Story, Part One

“My family, my church, and my homeschooling group were up to their eyeballs in purity culture.”

Our Courtship, Part Three: Missing Him

“I felt very ashamed to have such a strong crush — it wasn’t holy and pure to give so much of my heart to someone else before we were even courting.”

Wanting to Date, Being Told to Wait: Adah’s Story, Part Three

“We dated, wouldn’t be forced into courtship, and we are okay.”

Our Courtship, Part Two: Boy Meets Girl

“I, like most homeschool girls, thought Pride and Prejudice was quite possibly the greatest love story ever written.”

Wanting to Date, Being Told to Wait: Adah’s Story, Part Two

“I wasn’t taught consent, so I didn’t know any better.”