Purity Culture’s Impact on Relationships, Sex & Pleasure

In this conversation, Sam Sellers sits down with Meg Cowan, a Sexologist and Relationship Coach dedicated to helping people heal from the harm of purity culture. Together, they dive deep into the themes of shame, fear, and obligation surrounding sex and pleasure after purity culture. They also explore the role of consent and boundaries, as well as the emotional and physical impact of purity culture conditioning.

Disclaimer: We aimed to pack as much depth and value into this discussion as possible. As a result, the conversation primarily focuses on heterosexual relationships. The impact on Queer folks is significant, layered, and complex, and we didn’t want to reduce it to a side note.

We acknowledge the Indigenous people of the lands we have recorded on. Our speakers and hosts are located on Aboriginal Country all across the lands now called Australia and Maori lands across Aoteoroa. We pay our respect to Indigenous elders who are custodians of these lands and extend that respect to any Indigenous people attending our event.