EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. — OCT. 29, 2026
A recently arrived El Dorado Hills resident is bringing a challenging conversation about faith, gender, leadership and personal responsibility to readers with the upcoming release of her book, I Am Not Your Jezebel.
Julia Clemmons, a longtime public-sector executive, Christian writer and ministry leader, sat down with Gary Kinghorn, host of the El Dorado Hills Insider, to discuss the experiences and convictions behind her new book, scheduled for release Nov. 11.
The conversation reaches beyond religious doctrine, examining how cultural expectations influence relationships, how women are perceived in positions of authority and why accountability should apply equally to men and women.
For Clemmons, the subject is not simply academic. It is rooted in personal experience.
A new resident with deep Sacramento-area connections
Clemmons said she moved to El Dorado Hills approximately a year ago, looking for a good school for her son and a community where her family could establish roots.
A military child, she described growing up around several military installations, including Travis Air Force Base and other locations associated with her family’s military life.
Although new to El Dorado Hills, she is familiar with the greater Sacramento region.
She said her family has embraced the community and that she attends Vintage Grace Church in El Dorado Hills.
The community also became the place where she completed the manuscript for I Am Not Your Jezebel, a project she had been developing for nearly three years.
Personal experiences inspired the book
Clemmons brings more than 20 years of Christian ministry experience to the subject, including mission work in Haiti and Mexico.
But her motivation for writing the book also came from painful experiences in her first marriage, which she described as involving sexual addiction, betrayal, sexual assault and domestic violence.
She explained that those experiences led her to question herself and assume responsibility for circumstances and decisions that were not hers.
She recalled searching marriage books, church teachings and conferences for ways to change herself in hopes of repairing the relationship.
Eventually, however, she began asking a different question: Why had she accepted responsibility for someone else’s choices?
That realization prompted her to examine certain teachings about purity, modesty, submission and what some Christian communities describe as a “Jezebel spirit.”
“I believe we can do better,” Clemmons said, describing the central motivation behind the book.
Reexamining the meaning of Jezebel
The title refers to a biblical figure whose name, Clemmons argues, has taken on a meaning in modern Christian culture that extends beyond the biblical account.
She explained that the phrase “Jezebel spirit” does not actually appear in Scripture, although Jezebel is a character in the Old Testament.
Over time, she said, the name has become a broad accusation directed at women perceived as promiscuous, rebellious, overly confident or unwilling to conform to particular expectations.
Clemmons argues that this modern characterization often obscures the actual biblical narrative, which includes issues of idolatry, corruption and political power.
She also questions why characteristics associated with wrongdoing in the biblical account are sometimes treated as uniquely female when men in positions of power engaged in similar conduct.
In her view, the label can become a convenient way to dismiss women who challenge established expectations rather than addressing the substance of their words or actions.
“Let it be on the merits of what they’re doing and not this overarching lazy label,” she said.
Leadership, confidence and the expectations placed on women
Clemmons’ professional background adds another dimension to the discussion.
She has served as a public-sector chief executive, working in senior leadership positions where confidence, assertiveness and the ability to challenge decisions are essential.
She told Kinghorn that women in leadership often face a balancing act between being perceived as strong and being expected to demonstrate softness.
She also questioned the assumption that professional ambition and family responsibilities are incompatible with Christian values.
Clemmons pointed to Proverbs 31, describing the biblical woman as someone who demonstrated business acumen, evaluated and purchased property, produced goods for sale and exercised economic influence.
Her interpretation challenges the notion that biblical womanhood necessarily requires women to remain outside professional or public leadership.
She said women should be able to exercise their gifts, establish boundaries, ask questions and speak honestly without automatically being considered less faithful.
A call for greater accountability among men
One of the book’s central arguments is that traditional approaches to sexuality and modesty can place too much responsibility on women to manage men’s behavior.
Clemmons believes this approach can unintentionally lower expectations for men by portraying them as unable to exercise self-control.
She argues that men should be treated as individuals capable of personal discipline, emotional maturity and spiritual growth.
“We have to stop confusing an explanation for someone’s struggle with an excuse for their behavior,” she said.
The distinction is important to her broader message: accountability should not be interpreted as an attack on masculinity.
Instead, she argues, personal responsibility is an expression of spiritual maturity.
Clemmons also discussed how she approaches these subjects as a mother raising a son, emphasizing consent, respect and the importance of recognizing women as people rather than objects of desire.
She believes boys and men should be taught that their thoughts and actions are their own responsibility, regardless of how another person dresses or behaves.
Challenging the church without abandoning faith
Clemmons was careful to distinguish her criticism of certain religious teachings and institutional practices from a rejection of Christianity itself.
She said writing the book required her to examine Scripture closely and reconsider teachings that she believes have become attached to Christianity through cultural expectations rather than biblical foundations.
She wants churches to be willing to acknowledge harm, reconsider practices and examine how authority and accountability are exercised.
Among the issues she raised were modesty teachings, purity culture, gender roles and restrictions on women’s leadership in certain denominations.
Her position is that churches can acknowledge mistakes without abandoning their religious identity.
She also believes greater transparency could help rebuild trust among people who have become disillusioned with religious institutions.
“Our faith should be strong enough to withstand a very truthful examination,” Clemmons said.
Healing, restoration and a different vision of relationships
Although the book addresses difficult experiences, Clemmons said its ultimate message is not about blame or condemnation.
It is about restoration.
She discussed how meeting her current husband helped her recognize that the kind of relationship she had envisioned while writing the book was possible.
She described experiencing a sense of safety and observing personal integrity and self-discipline in the way he interacted with her and other women.
That experience helped shape the book’s later chapters, which explore what she describes as a healthier vision of biblical manhood.
She also emphasized that women should not be expected to become smaller or less visible to make men feel more powerful.
Instead, she advocates relationships built around partnership, individual strengths and shared responsibility.
In discussing the book’s spiritual foundation, Clemmons returned repeatedly to the example of Jesus and the importance of treating people with dignity regardless of their background or past.
She described love as an antidote to the tendency to objectify, control or diminish others.
Why the conversation matters now
The interview also addressed contemporary discussions surrounding sexual misconduct, abuse of authority and institutional failures to protect victims.
Clemmons said she is troubled by how frequently public conversations about misconduct shift toward questioning the behavior of women rather than examining the responsibility of the individuals who caused harm.
She believes religious institutions should lead conversations about accountability rather than struggle to respond after wrongdoing becomes public.
She also raised concerns about the use of forgiveness and grace in ways that can place additional burdens on victims while softening expectations for those responsible.
For Clemmons, faith and accountability should not be competing principles.
She believes churches have an obligation to confront difficult truths, including failures within their own institutions.
The book ultimately asks readers to reconsider what responsibility, dignity and spiritual maturity should look like in relationships between men and women.
Book release scheduled for November 11
I Am Not Your Jezebel is scheduled for publication Nov. 11.
Clemmons said readers can order the book through her website or Barnes & Noble. Her website will also provide updates about upcoming book signings and author conversations.
For El Dorado Hills, Clemmons’ arrival represents the addition of a local author whose work tackles questions extending well beyond the community.
Her message is directed toward women who have felt pressured to become invisible, men who may have been taught to expect less of themselves and churches willing to examine whether their teachings reflect the values they profess.
As she explained during the interview, the goal is not to tear down faith, but to encourage a fuller expression of it.
Book: I Am Not Your Jezebel
Author: Julia Clemmons
Release date: November 11, 2026
Availability: Author’s website and Barnes & Noble
Local connection: El Dorado Hills, California
