You bring up a really good point about the overlap between purity culture beliefs and rape myths! I hadn’t thought to consider that before since I’m not as familiar with the purity culture literature. It makes me wonder if those measures are essentially tapping into the same construct. I just read an interesting paper that looks at sexism as the mediator of the relationship between gender and rape myths. Now it’s making me question the overlap between a lot of measures (e.g., sexism, rape myths). I guess my question is should we talk about these constructs (e.g., purity culture, rape myths, sexism) as distinct from each other? Are they the same “things”?

Hi Christine! You did a great job on your presentation. I had never heard of purity culture and I agree that it has a negative effect on how society views women. It’s great that most of your participants don’t agree with purity culture or rape myths but it was shocking that the mean for sexual assault was so high (4 -5 experiences). I also thought it was interesting how rape myths can be comforting because it lets women think they can control rape if they behave “appropriately”.

Hi Christine! I thought you did a great job on the presentation, and I loved your topic. I have heard about purity culture, but I didn’t realize how involved this culture was in our society. I thought it was interesting how purity culture and rape myths/ culture play a role in sexual assault and how women deal with it when it happens to them. I thought it was shocking how sexual assault was so high in your research. I also liked the pictures and scales you put into your presentation because they helped create a better understanding of how important this topic is. I also thought it was interesting how rape culture and rape myths can comfort women because it allows them to have this false sense of control over it. I believe purity culture directly links to why society and laws are so strict and unbelieving for women and sexual assault. Overall, I thought your topic is significant in today’s society, and it helped shed light on this issue. Great Job!

Hi Christine. It’s great to see what you’ve been working on this semester!

I thought it was interesting that you opted to recruit such an international sample. To what extent do rape myths and purity culture seem stable cross-culturally? I know that myths and practices tied to menstruation (one of my areas of expertise) have some similarities across culture, but there are also some real differences.

I’m also curious how the study was pitched to potential participants. Given your high rates of sexual assault experiences, I’m curious if there was any self-selection at work related to people’s prior experiences…

This was an excellent presentation! It was well-thought out and organized in an effective way. It seems surprising that this is still such a relevant culture across many countries. Women have to deal with so much when it comes to rape/purity culture and I had no idea how much it played into sexual assault cases. It really brings to light how much needs to change for women to be as equally as they are almost tricked into thinking they are.

I loved this presentation. Such an important topic to talk about and research. I am impressed by the set up of your research – it is a very clever hypothesis. Purity culture and rape myths definitely contribute to a more oppressive society for women. I can understand why people who have been sexually assaulted would experience worse mental health, especially on top of the purity culture and rape myths society holds. I agree that purity culture and rape myths likely breed a rape culture which exasperates the issue. Despite the limitations of your study and the less than significant findings in some of your areas, I think your study was very important and valuable. Thanks for your hard work!

Hello Christine!

This was such a great presentation, thanks so much for sharing your research! I personally love this topic and it goes straight into the idea of rape myth culture and the false beliefs that surround it. I was not aware that purity culture and rape myth acceptance could be intertwined and correlated with some of the same beliefs and it’s such a dangerous thing to teach. I was very surprised as well by some of the results that you found in your study. The first being how anxiety is lower among those who have rape myth acceptance. You bring up an excellent point that it may serve as a form of protection that if it happens to them, it won’t happen to me. Another interesting finding was how sexual assault experience did not have a relationship with negative mental health. I found this very unusual but considering the past year of mental health struggles, it may definitely not be completely accurate. I think your research adds a lot more information on the dangers of rape myths and purity culture and should help shed light on how to better educate themselves on this subject. Very well done!

Hi Christine! You carried out your research in such an elaborate way, I really enjoyed how well presented your topic and discussion was! I too was taken aback and shocked at the correlation between sexual assault experiences and negative mental health. I was definitely expecting the data to be much higher. Nice work!

Hey Christine! This was an interesting presentation; I think this effect is something I have not thought about before. The data was really shocking to read, I did not realize how frequent sexual assault experiences were. The images and scales you used were super helpful in depicting the topic. Specifically, today, the relationship between purity culture and rape myths should be talked about more. Great work!

Hi Christine! You did a fabulous job on this project, thank you for shedding light on such an important topic. Purity culture and rape myths are not talked about enough in regards to sexual assault. Have you thought about including religious trauma in this study? I think it would be interesting to see if religious trauma has an effect on mental health and sexual assault. You’re a wonderful speaker, and I can tell you’re very passionate about this topic. Again, thank you so much for sharing, I really enjoyed watching your presentation!

Hi Christine! Your research was super interesting! The results in particular were surprising, seeing as I also thought purity culture and belief in rape myths would lead to higher anxiety as well. Do you think there could be something about the Christian faith beliefs specifically that alters the way a person deals with the aftermath of sexual assault, and therefore changes the anxiety level?

Hey Christine! This is my favorite presentation that I have watched so far! This study was a great idea. You did a wonderful job giving an engaging presentation and did an awesome job explaining everything so that it is easy to follow. I am glad that you did purity culture and rape myths together especially in relation to sexual assault and I hope that more studies are done with these variables in the future. Your findings were not at all what I expected! It surprised me that rape myths where correlated with lower anxiety. Thanks again!

Hi Christine. You did a great job on this presentation. It was very well organized and explained. I did not know a whole lot about purity culture and rape myths, so it is good that you are spreading the word about their effects. It is unfortunate that rape myths have persisted for so long, but I understand how difficult it must be to convince everyone that they are not true. You spoke very clearly and in depth about this topic, and I can tell you researched this thoroughly. Awesome job on this project.