When Purity Has a Gender
Christianity is often praised as a faith that challenges superstition, questions rigid traditions, and offers spiritual freedom. Yet my lived experience within Christian institutions tells a more complicated story. Having been born and raised in a Christian household, I’ve observed several church-imposed rules that disproportionately burden women rules that feel less biblical and more patriarchal. One example that has disturbed me is the colour white, who it is meant to represent ? In Christian weddings, the bride’s dress is treated as an indicator of purity or impurity —while the groom’s attire carries no such moral weight. His clothes are neutral. Hers are symbolic, scrutinised, and judged. Yet the Bible never assigns moral value to a bride’s wedding colour. White in Scripture is symbolic of righteousness and joy, not a gendered measure of virtue. And still, it is the woman alone who is assessed through colour: • A second marriage: no white. • A non-Christian...