Analysis Of The Ex-Gay Movement And The Purity Movement

The “Ex-Gay Movement” and the Purity Movement in the 1990s offered a solution for those wishing to reconfirm their faith with Jesus Christ. The Ex-Gay Movement consisted of ministries, with a focus on the New Hope ministry described in Straight to Jesus within this paper’s realm, that worked to rehabilitate those who wished to abandon their homosexual practices in favor of a heterosexual, Christian life. The Purity Movement, with a focus on the re-masculinization of men, True Love Waits and Silver Ring Thing described in Virgin Nation, within this paper’s realm, served as a sex education organization with a focus on abstinence-only until marriage. The ideas, and descriptions, of masculinity and femininity found their own place within these

Laws of the Father, a video from The Silver Ring Thing, depicted a father threatens his daughter’s love interest if he hurts her. The scene is graphic with the father mentioning killing and burying the boy and removing his hands and eyes because “if you make my little girl cry, I will make you cry.” The end of the video shows that the father served in the Vietnam War; thus, he represents a protective figure for his daughter and must protect her from the sexually aggressive males who want to make her impure. This view of masculinity differs from the typical Purity Movement view of men. Once a man becomes a father, especially to a daughter, he must now protect her virginity. Because of course, the girl cannot protect herself, as she is too vulnerable and weak to defend herself from male

Male and female roles were reestablished by men such as James Dobson that placed males as the strong head of the household and women as less sexually interested and more interested in raising a family. The New Hope Ministry creates an exaggerated masculinity in order to rehabilitate gay men. A painting of Jesus hangs in the facility of a “rugged Jesus dressed in jeans, his biceps bursting out of a work shirt” ; this painting serves as a reminder to its residents that “masculinity equals Christ, Christ equals masculinity.”8 The ministry works to remove the feminine qualities of the residents by constantly questioning the men about how they feel their masculinity is improving and offering classes on how to relate to a woman. The Purity Movement is similar in that they recognize the sexual aggression of “masculine men” and work to help them control it while maintaining power. Both movements agree on the status of women, however. Women, especially feminists, are seen to the threat of the balance of power of men within Christianity specifically. Women must be viewed as the weaker sex with very little interest in sex itself; yet, women must be fearful of men who are sexually aggressive. Both movements sought to keep males and females within their spheres with exaggerated representations