02/26/2026
Purity Culture also objectifies women.
Women’s bodies have long been treated as public property, skirts measured at fingertips. Shirts must cover bra straps. Our bodies won’t violate community guidelines as long as they’re outdoors in a swimsuit. Or, you’re a lingerie company backed by a billionaire.
Femme bodies are presented as temptation for men. Sexuality is a black and white formula, not a colorful spectrum.
Having been in the undergarment industry for almost a decade, I mean it when I say all walks of life come through these doors. Everyone. If you wear underwear, you’re wearing lingerie.
When we allow society to determine modesty, we take a persons autonomy out of the equation. We call those that don’t adhere to the rules as a temptress, a slut, a prude, stuck up, or say that they’re asking for it. We don’t ask why some refuse to see women as separate beings from their own desires.
When we hide aging bodies, say women are too old for cuts of fabric, or that any woman that posts herself on the internet is seeking attention, instead of saying bodies are normal and we should be loud with them, you’re allowing a decades long pattern of grooming and pe******ia to win.
I’ve been quiet this year, trying to put all of these thoughts into words. Feeling a sense of protection of lingerie wearers against the whole wide internet. The Epstein Files, L Brands, and the shift I’ve watched for the past few years have been frustrating. I’ve felt the crushing weight of community guidelines shape the female form into something else entirely.
I feel old. I think that’s the point. I’m saying no to rich old men policing my body and my worth. I’m saying your body, and your taste on how you decorate yours, is normal.
I don’t have all of the answers, and all I know is maybe this time we won’t let them get away with it.
