The Courtship That Wasn’t: Darcy’s Story

“Nothing about my courtship or marriage was supposed to happen.”

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

“I can’t wait to teach my children that sexual experience does not dictate their dignity and value.”

Our Courtship, Part Seven: Engagement and Marriage

“If we could survive courtship together, we think we can survive anything.”

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

“To me, the courtship movement gave men and women alike a ready excuse to not speak the truth.”

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.”