Jesusland: Stories from the Upside Down World of Christian Pop Culture

(Paperback, No Edition)

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Using a blend of cultural criticism, humor, and personal memoir akin to Jia Tolentinos Trick Mirror or Grace Perrys The 2000s Made Me Gay, Joelle Kidd writes about her evangelical adolescence through the lens of Christian pop culture of the early 2000s, giving readers a peek into this odd subculture and insight into how evangelicalisms growing popularity around the turn of the millennium has shaped culture and politics including todays far right.

An empathetic, funny, and sharply critical collection of essays exploring the Christian pop culture of the 2000s and its influence on todays politically powerful evangelicalism

In 1999, after three years of secular living in Eastern Europe, Joelle Kidd moved back to Canada and was enrolled in the strange world of an evangelical Christian school. In Jesusland, Joelle writes about the Christian pop culture that she was suddenly immersed in, from perky girl bands to modest styling tips, and draws connections between this evangelical subculture and the mainstream, a tense yet reciprocal relationship that both disavows the secular while employing its media markers. But none of this was just about catchy songs: every abstinence quiz in a teen magazine was laying the foundation for what would become a conservative Christian movement that threatens womens healthcare, attacks queer and trans rights, and drives present-day political division.

Through nine incisive, honest, and emotional essays, Jesusland exposes the pop cultural machinations of evangelicalism, while giving voice to aughts-era Christian children and teens who are now adults looking back at their time, measuring the length of their skirts, and asking each other if their celebrity crush was Christian enough. With care and generosity, Jesusland shows us how the conservative evangelical movement became the global power it is today by exploring the pop culture that both reflected and shaped an entire generation of young people.

Author Bio

Joelle Kidd is a writer, award-winning journalist, and editor living in Toronto. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in outlets including The Walrus, LitHub, Catapult, PRISM International, Prairie Fire, and This Magazine. Joelle holds an MFA from the University of Guelphs Creative Writing program. Jesusland is her first book.