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Erica Smith, Sexuality Education and Consulting

The Connection Between Purity Culture and Fascism

Published 28 days ago • 2 min read

I care about purity culture not just because I want people to to feel more joy and ease and less shame in their sexuality. I also care about purity culture because it's part of a much larger and sinister political project.

So I'm absolutely thrilled that this week, the I've Had It Substack features an in depth interview with me- their first of a few! The Purity Culture to Fascism Pipeline was written by brilliant journalist Julia Sonenshein.

​I've Had It is a hugely popular podcast by Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan. The New Yorker describes Jennifer as "A left-wing, atheist reality-TV host from Oklahoma" and "one of the most popular liberal podcasters, channelling outrage with MAGA and with Democrats she views as complacent."

Some excerpts from the piece:

Purity culture is a highly effective system of control, and we need a tightly controlled electorate for authoritarianism to take over. It’s far from the only system of control at play in American society, but I’ve spent many years researching how things like mass surveillance or even climate change impact our senses of intimacy, sexual or otherwise. What I’m struck by is just how easy it is to take control of someone’s body and thoughts with the right mix of fear, misinformation, social control, and punishment.

What's the fascism connection? Well.

The endgame of purity culture isn’t just control of our sex lives, it’s authoritarian control over every aspect of American life. Authoritarian control of our bodies from outside explicit state actors (like faith leaders who are theoretically separate from the government) works in tandem to bring about policies in the works to exert more and more and more control over our marriages, bodies, conduct, families, and movements. Bodily autonomy threatens authoritarianism, and so it must be stamped out.

THAT SAID...

We can resist. We can push back. We can do something.

I'm choosing to reach out directly to men, to involve you in discussions about bodily autonomy, patriarchy, purity culture, masculinity, gender, violence, and related topics.

​Purity Culture and Masculinity: A Group for Men. ​

Shame-free discussions, open hearts, venting, space to process feelings of confusion, guilt, shame, fear, anger, grief, all of it. Bring it to me, guys. We're gonna talk about it. I'm a compassionate facilitator and I am here to support you.

Purity Culture and Masculinity: A Group for Men is an 8 week support, discussion, and education group for men who want to examine masculinity and patriarchy, especially in light of the rise of Christian Nationalism.

Five more days to join Wednesday's group (begins on 5/6).​

Six more days to join Thursday's group (begins on 5/7). ​

Nine more days to join Sunday's group (begins on 5/10). ​

You can reply directly to this email if you have any questions about these groups.

xo,

E

ps: Social media suppresses my reach, as is common with sex education content. If this group sounds important to you, please share it with anyone who may be interested- especially therapists who may want to refer clients. Thank you!!!

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

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600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
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Erica Smith, Sexuality Education and Consulting

The Purity Culture Dropout™ Program

I developed the Purity Culture Dropout™️ Program to help people learn all of the sex education that they missed growing up in purity culture- sex ed that is accurate, queer inclusive, trauma informed, compassionate, and comprehensive. I have worked with hundreds of people to help them learn about healthy sexuality after high control religion. Subscribe if you're curious about / invested in shame free sexuality education that's specifically tailored to the needs of people coming out of high control religions and purity culture. Expect information not just about healthy sexuality and upcoming programming, but also cultural commentary on sexual politics in the US. I'm a sex educator with 25 years of experience and I'm excited to share that with you.

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