anthrodish transcripts: rebecca wolfe

how 2000s purity culture shaped eating disorder experiences in the midwest

This month’s AnthroDish Transcript is with Rebecca Wolfe, a doctoral candidate in the department of Social and Behavioural Sciences at UCSF.

The episode first aired on March 9, 2021. The following is an abridged transcript of the show, lightly edited for clarity. If you want to listen instead, you can check out the audio link below, or on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Show Intro:

If you grew up in the early 2000s, you might remember the American push for True Love Waits, abstinence only-sex education, and purity rings being sported by celebrities like Jessica Simpson or the Jonas Brothers. Known as Purity Culture, this Protestant evangelical movement emphasizes sexual purity through abstinence… but beyond sex, how has the culture shaped how women understand their bodies, experiences with food, or informed the broader American diet culture?

My guest this week is Rebecca Wolfe. She is interested in the intersection of race, class, gender, religion, embodiment and eating disorders. Her current work is focused on the impact of the Protestant, Evangelical movement known as “Purity Culture” on the development and manifestation of eating disorders in people assigned female at birth and raised within the movement.