Kate Bowler’s memoir pushes back against a deeply ingrained American belief system she calls the “cult of positivity” (54). This ideology, which equates virtue and success with relentless optimism, has roots in both religious and secular traditions. One of its most influential sources is the prosperity gospel, a theological movement which Bowler chronicled in her academic book Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel (2013). The ideology teaches that God rewards faith with material wealth and physical health, effectively rendering suffering a sign of spiritual failure. Further, the belief indicates, “God wants his followers to have a prosperous life, that is, to be rich, healthy and happy. This type of Christianity places the well-being of the believer at the center of prayer, and turns God the Creator into someone who makes the thoughts and desires of believers come true” (Menadue, John. “The Prosperity Gospel: Dangerous and Different.” Pearls and Irritations, 29 Aug. 2018). 

This mindset extends into the secular world through the self-help industry, which, as author Barbara Ehrenreich argued in Bright-Sided (2009), promotes positive thinking as a universal cure. The origins of the prosperity gospel can be traced to the United States and are entangled with the myth of the American Dream, and more specifically with “New York Pastor Esek William Kenyon (1867-1948). He maintained that through the power of faith you can change what is concrete and real. A direct conclusion of this belief is that faith can lead to riches, health and well-being, while lack of faith leads to poverty, sickness and unhappiness” (Menadue). Other thinkers and theologians, for example Kate Ward, have also tied the prosperity gospel’s origins to thinkers like Adam Smith, and more recently to the prophet Kenneth Hagin and the ideals of President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.  

In Joyful, Anyway, Bowler critiques how this cultural pressure creates a spiritualized “go, go, go” (43) ethic that promises “totalizing happiness” (43) at the cost of authentic emotion. This context is crucial for understanding her central conflict between acknowledging life’s pain while seeking genuine joy. Bowler’s critique of toxic positivity is not aimed at happiness itself but at a cultural script that pressures people to “Fake It ‘Til You Make It” (55). By framing this mindset as a national “cult,” Bowler argues that it silences grief, shames struggle, and confuses cheerfulness with moral worth, leaving no room for the human suffering she calls “the ache.”