Girl Defined and the Representation of Women's Sexuality

Kaitlyn CooperFollow

University

Shawnee State University

Major

English/Humanities with Communication Concentration

Student Type

Undergraduate Student

Presentation Types

Oral Presentation

Keywords:

Girl Defined, purity culture, women's sexuality, YouTube

Abstract

Girl Defined is an Evangelical YouTube channel hosted by Kristen Clark and Bethany Beal, two sisters who have dedicated their online presence to taking passages from the Bible and applying them to common scenarios that Christian women experience. There is little research on Girl Defined, but they often receive criticism for perpetuating harmful messages from purity culture and targeting young, impressionable women as their central audience. Kristen and Bethany have attempted to distance themselves from this perception multiple times in the past, yet many social media influencers continue to describe the sisters’ videos and other materials as dangerous and manipulative. Using content analysis, I analyze patterns within videos and blog posts from the Girl Defined channel and website. Of these materials, I examine those that refer to various aspects of sexuality to understand how Kristen and Bethany represent women’s sexuality as it relates to religion and an individual’s personal worth.

Human Subjects

no

IRB Approval

no

Faculty Mentor Name

Jennifer Scott

Faculty Mentor Title

Associate Professor

Faculty Mentor Academic Department

English and Humanities

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Girl Defined and the Representation of Women's Sexuality

Girl Defined is an Evangelical YouTube channel hosted by Kristen Clark and Bethany Beal, two sisters who have dedicated their online presence to taking passages from the Bible and applying them to common scenarios that Christian women experience. There is little research on Girl Defined, but they often receive criticism for perpetuating harmful messages from purity culture and targeting young, impressionable women as their central audience. Kristen and Bethany have attempted to distance themselves from this perception multiple times in the past, yet many social media influencers continue to describe the sisters’ videos and other materials as dangerous and manipulative. Using content analysis, I analyze patterns within videos and blog posts from the Girl Defined channel and website. Of these materials, I examine those that refer to various aspects of sexuality to understand how Kristen and Bethany represent women’s sexuality as it relates to religion and an individual’s personal worth.