The Impact of Purity Culture - with Meg Cowan
10/09/22 • 55 min
Episode 70: Meg Cowan is a sex and relationships coach who specialises in helping people process through the impact of purity culture. In this conversation we talk about how purity culture (understood as the cultural movement in Evangelical/Pentecostal Christianity that emerges in reaction to the rapid social and moral changes that took place in the 1960s and 1970s) has impacted views on and experiences of sex, embodiment and relationships in the church. We discuss the ways in which men and women have experienced this differently, and the disproportionate impact of purity culture on women in particular. We dive into the detail on gender norms, sexual desire, the nature of arousal, power imbalances between men and women, the orgasm gap, and debunk some of the myths of purity culture. This is the first part of two conversations with Meg - and in an upcoming episode we talk about how to heal and move forward from purity culture and its impact on sex and relationships. [see below for some resource recommendations from Meg]
Get in touch via email: [email protected]
You can find Meg at: https://www.megcowan.com/ including info about her 'Shame Free Sex' course.
Recommended Resources from Meg:
Debunking the myth that men are more visual than women with regards to sex. Meta Analysis: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1904975116
BOOK MENTIONS
> Pure, by Linda Kay Klein
Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free
https://lindakayklein.com/pure/
> The Great Sex Rescue, by Sheila Wray Gregorie.
If you identify as a Christian, this is one of the better books out there on changing the narrative about sex and christian marriage.
https://baremarriage.com/great-sex-rescue/
> Come as you are, by Emily Nagowski
Essential reading on how desire and arousal actually work.
https://www.emilynagoski.com/home
Love and Respect (on the Do NOT read list!) A lot of the teaching around these concepts of Love and Respect is spread in church, due to the bestselling (but truly terrible) book on Christian Marriage called ‘Love and Respect’ by Emerson Eggerich. Read more about why it’s so awful on Sheila Wray Gregoire’s platforms: https://baremarriage.com/2019/01/love-and-respect-why-unconditional-respect-cant-work/
Episode 70: Meg Cowan is a sex and relationships coach who specialises in helping people process through the impact of purity culture. In this conversation we talk about how purity culture (understood as the cultural movement in Evangelical/Pentecostal Christianity that emerges in reaction to the rapid social and moral changes that took place in the 1960s and 1970s) has impacted views on and experiences of sex, embodiment and relationships in the church. We discuss the ways in which men and women have experienced this differently, and the disproportionate impact of purity culture on women in particular. We dive into the detail on gender norms, sexual desire, the nature of arousal, power imbalances between men and women, the orgasm gap, and debunk some of the myths of purity culture. This is the first part of two conversations with Meg - and in an upcoming episode we talk about how to heal and move forward from purity culture and its impact on sex and relationships. [see below for some resource recommendations from Meg]
Get in touch via email: [email protected]
You can find Meg at: https://www.megcowan.com/ including info about her 'Shame Free Sex' course.
Recommended Resources from Meg:
Debunking the myth that men are more visual than women with regards to sex. Meta Analysis: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1904975116
BOOK MENTIONS
> Pure, by Linda Kay Klein
Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free
https://lindakayklein.com/pure/
> The Great Sex Rescue, by Sheila Wray Gregorie.
If you identify as a Christian, this is one of the better books out there on changing the narrative about sex and christian marriage.
https://baremarriage.com/great-sex-rescue/
> Come as you are, by Emily Nagowski
Essential reading on how desire and arousal actually work.
https://www.emilynagoski.com/home
Love and Respect (on the Do NOT read list!) A lot of the teaching around these concepts of Love and Respect is spread in church, due to the bestselling (but truly terrible) book on Christian Marriage called ‘Love and Respect’ by Emerson Eggerich. Read more about why it’s so awful on Sheila Wray Gregoire’s platforms: https://baremarriage.com/2019/01/love-and-respect-why-unconditional-respect-cant-work/
Previous Episode
Celebrities for Jesus - with Katelyn Beaty
Episode 69: Katelyn Beaty is the author of the recently published book “Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms and Profits are Hurting the Church”. We talk here about the nature of celebrity vs fame, and how celebrity pastors and ministers have come to take centre stage in the Evangelical/Pentecostal church. As celebrity pastors have flourished, their churches have become mirrors for their own ego. This leads to numerous problems including a lack of accountability, the abuse of power, the pursuit of growth and brand at all costs, and has distorted the central themes of the Christian message. We finish this conversation by reflecting on how Jesus invites us to resist the allure of power and status, a challenge that is central to the Christian faith itself.
Follow Katelyn's work at https://www.katelynbeaty.com/
Get in touch: [email protected]
Support In the Shift: www.patreon.com/intheshift
Next Episode
Moving Beyond Purity Culture - with Meg Cowan
Episode 71: This is the 2nd part of a conversation with Meg Cowan - sex and relationships coach. In this episode we talk about understanding our own sexuality, and how to find healthy ways of moving forward beyond the binaries of purity culture. We discuss the five circles of sexuality - intimacy, identity, sensuality, health & reproduction, and sexualisation. And we talk through some of the big issues in processing through and healing from purity culture, including attachments and soul ties, finding agency, cultivating a new sexual ethic, getting connected to our embodiment, somatics as a pathway to healing, and finding health in our relationships.
You can find Meg's work at www.megcowan.com or follow her on instagram.
Get in touch with In the Shift: [email protected]
Support In the Shift: www.patreon.com/intheshift
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