Kristin Kobes Du Mez releases new book on white Christian women

Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez has released a new book titled ‘Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made’. The work examines the cultural influence of white Christian women through the lens of consumer products and ground-up ideas rather than traditional top-down histories.

The book explores how cultural artifacts and a specific brand of positive thinking encouraged women to accept their social circumstances and prioritize domestic happiness. It touches upon the legacy of figures such as Henrietta Mears, a highly influential evangelical leader and educator in Hollywood who mentored prominent figures like Bill Bright and Jim Rayburn.

Du Mez, a professor of history at Calvin University, builds upon her previous work, ‘Jesus and John Wayne’, to analyze how these cultural trends and consumer habits shaped the broader evangelical landscape.