New memoir "Pure" takes on shame surrounding female sexuality

Linda Kay Klein long ago left the evangelical church that prized sexual purity and placed the burden of that requirement on women and girls.

But when she left, she didn't just walk away from the shame it had instilled in her. Breaking free of that took considerable time and hard work.

Klein went on to launch an organization called Break Free Together, which tries to help those who (like her) were brought up to see bodies as sinful.

And she has since written a memoir called Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free, which she discussed on Fresh Air.

You can listen to the interview below or read an edited transcript on NPR’s website.