THURS-075 - The Duty of Sex: Associations Between Purity Culture, Sexual Beliefs, and Relationships Among Cis-gender Women
Thursday, April 17, 2025
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PST
Location: Pacific I/II, 2nd Floor
Area of Responsibility: Area V: Advocacy Subcompetencies: 5.1.1 Examine the determinants of health and their underlying causes (e.g., poverty, trauma, and population-based discrimination) related to identifie, 5.1.2 Examine evidence-informed findings related to identified health issues and desired changes.
Undergraduate Student The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas, United States
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Identify and describe purity cultures' impact on sexual beliefs and expectations in cis-gender women.
Describe how participation in purity culture, feelings of sexual agency, and the role of shame all influence experiences in intimate relationships.
Reflect upon and discuss methods to reform sexual education to best support positive sexual health outcomes.
Brief Abstract Summary: Explore the associations between growing up as a participant in purity culture, sexual beliefs, and intimate relationships later in life in cis-gender women. The religious movement of purity culture has given rise to a plethora of practices intended to emphasize virginity until marriage. These practices and teachings are often targeted toward young girls and adolescents and support traditional gender roles— particularly reinforcing sexual shame and the role of women as sexual objects. Associations are supported between participation in purity culture in adolescence and sexual beliefs that reflect sex as a duty within intimate relationships later in life. Reformed sex education for adolescents, particularly in religious contexts, may allow for more positive outcomes for cis-gender women engaging in intimate relationships later in life.
Detailed abstract description: The religious movement of purity culture has given rise to a plethora of practices intended to emphasize virginity until marriage. These practices and teachings are often targeted toward young girls and adolescents and support traditional gender roles, particularly reinforcing sexual shame and the role of women as sexual objects. Sex education in purity culture tends to be incomplete and may include misinformation. This analysis intends to respond to the hypothesis that participation in purity culture in adolescence is associated with sexual beliefs that reflect sex as a duty within intimate relationships. This study seeks to identify associations between participation in purity culture, sexual beliefs, and intimate relationships in cis-gender women. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 27 participants who were selected via random convenience sampling. Participation criteria included that the participant is a cis-gender woman, an English speaker, over the age of 18, and who reported participation in purity culture. Interviews were qualitatively coded according to themes of purity culture, family, religion, sexual beliefs and experiences, and relationships. Qualitative analysis supported the hypothesis The implications of this research on sexual health promotion are particularly potent with regard to purity culture, religion, and abstinence-only sex education. Findings may be used to inform sex education and promotion at preventative and interventional levels.
