The Grown & Liberated Love Club™

What if STI’s aren’t about recklessness... but about shame?

This week on The Grown & Liberated Love Club™, we're going somewhere uncomfortable. We're connecting the dots between patriarchy, purity culture, sexual shame, and sexually transmitted infections.

In this episode, you'll learn: → Why purity pledges actually INCREASE STI risk (the research will shock you) → The 3 ways patriarchy creates sexual shame that silences women → Two client stories that will make you rethink everything you thought about "risky behavior" → 7 beliefs that can protect your body, your heart, and your worth → Why your Divine Equal Match™ can have grown conversations about sexual health

Then in Segment 2, we're breaking down Aaliyah's "The One I Gave My Heart To" so you can bop along and still thrive. 

This episode is for you if you've ever silenced your instincts because you were taught "good girls don't ask questions." If shame has ever kept you from protecting yourself. If you're ready to believe that you deserve pleasure AND protection.

Ready to heal the shame? Apply for a consultation at candiceharperlovecoach.com/grown-liberated-love

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🎵 Theme Arrangement by Wes Kilgore

STUDIES & SOURCES CITED:

1. University of Massachusetts Amherst (2016) – Sexually active teenage girls who pledged abstinence for religious reasons were at higher risk of HPV and unplanned pregnancy
2. Kansas State University – Over 70% of newlywed Southern Baptist couples had sex before marriage despite purity pledges
3. CDC Data – Young people ages 15-24 account for nearly half of 20 million new STI cases annually; 1 in 4 college students has an STI
4. PMC/NIH Research on Gender and STI Transmission – Women have higher biological vulnerability; male-to-female herpes transmission is 19% vs. 5% female-to-male; gonorrhea transmission 60-90% male-to-female vs. 20-30% female-to-male
5. NIH Research on Patriarchy and STI Prevalence – Patriarchy increases STI prevalence through impaired negotiation power, double standards and stigma, and the double bind of responsibility without power
6. Sheila Wray Gregoire Study (2021) – 22.6% of women raised in purity culture reported vaginismus or primary sexual dysfunction
7. Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association – Only 7% of male college students reported STI testing in 12 months vs. 20% of female students