But Bailey followed that comment by saying, “I feel like if you do personally feel like you do need those companionships specifically with the opposite sex that you cannot somehow get with your spouse or those of the same sex, that’s a problem.”
Bailey explained that she and her husband avoid making new friendships with the opposite sex, although they do maintain such friendships if they made them prior to getting married. If either Bailey or her husband were to meet with a friend of the opposite sex in person, the two would meet with that friend as a couple. If Bailey were to text a male friend, she would let her husband know that she had done so, and vice versa.
The rules not to have work boyfriends or girlfriends and not to be alone with the opposite sex are the “bare minimum,” said Bailey. “If it sounds like prison to not respect your spouse like that…that’s a red flag.” In the caption for the video, she wrote, “At the end of the day, I don’t expect non-Christians to understand Christian marriages.”
However, even among Christians, there are different opinions regarding how to handle opposite-sex relationships, and what is beneficial for one couple might not be for another. It is worth noting as well that a common critique of the purity culture movement is that it sexualized relationships, making it difficult for men and women to have healthy friendships with one another.
