Date of Award
Fall 9-5-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Judson Everitt
Abstract
White Evangelicalism has been studied quantitatively for many years; however, this article examines in-depth interviews with ex-congregants of a specific church located in Chicago. Building from Orit Avasai’s framework of “doing religion,” I argue that due to a high saturation of isolation, sexual regulation and patriarchal power, this specific church’s script of religious performance claims master status in individual identity building, leading to adverse effects in adulthood. Much of the rhetoric utilized to justify the intense regulation of identity mirrors that of the New Right movement of the 1980’s, as well as modern political discourse. This study will assist in understanding the language, tools and power of those who seek social control, as emotion-filled testimonies from ex-congregants pave the way for mitigation work to begin in light of a new right-extremist landscape.
Recommended Citation
Shoemaker, Madelyn, "Keep It in Your Pants: How Sexual Regulation Becomes Identity Regulation" (2025). Dissertations. 4199.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/4199
