May 11 2023 16 mins
This week I'm diving into the topic of sexual desire. Purity culture taught us that men can't help but be tempted to sexual sin and women are just not that into it. We have been tasked with being the gatekeepers. The truth is that our relationship needs are actually the same.
Both men and women need connection, intimacy and enjoy sexual pleasure. Our culture doesn't make it safe for women to express their sexuality or men to be emotionally vulnerable. But I believe there's hope for healing. Our sexuality is a testament to God’s abundant grace.
Here are a few resources that I used in this episode:
2001 Forbes article on the business of pornography: https://www.forbes.com/2001/05/25/0524porn.html?sh=5d95108b7984
1999 Guardian article that talked about the history and rise of internet pornography: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/1999/sep/30/onlinesupplement#:~:text=In%201993%20and%20'94%2C%20the,text%20and%20file%20transfer%20capabilities.
The Great Sex Rescue has an extended chapter on how evangelical women have been taught to believe they are obligated to have sex even when they don't want to. Definitely worth the read. I’ll talk more about this in an upcoming post.
Gregoire, Sheila Wray, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, Joanna Sawatsky. The Great Sex Rescue. Baker Books, 2021, page 12.
Forbes article that talks about the Orgasm gap and sites studies that confirm these numbers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicebroster/2020/07/31/what-is-the-orgasm-gap/?sh=e42159660f8e
Baptist News Report on Evangelical’s sex lives https://baptistnews.com/article/do-conservative-evangelicals-enjoy-better-sex-and-marriage-a-response-to-josh-howerton/