From Purity Culture to Sex Positive Christianity with Brenda Marie Davies (God Is Grey)

Listen to "From Purity Culture to Sex Positive Christianity with Brenda Marie Davies (God Is Grey)" on Spreaker.

In this episode, Hannah is joined by Brenda Marie Davies (God is Grey), who is a YouTuber, podcaster, and writer who champions sex positive, intellectual, LGBT+ affirming Christianity. Brenda discusses her upbringing as a casual Catholic, how she became more exposed to evangelicalism and purity culture, and how she became a sex positive Christian from there. She and Hannah talk about masturbation, pleasure, and hook up culture. Finally, Hannah asks Brenda questions from the Doing It Instagram audience about religious kink, guilt and shame around sexuality, and sexual integrity.

Content warnings for mentions of conversion therapy, rape culture, and eating disorders.

Read the episode transcript here!

SHOW NOTES

What we chat about…

What does “God is Grey” mean?
How do sex positivity and LGBTQ+ acceptance align with Brenda’s Christianity? Have they always aligned or was it a journey to get here?
The concept of the divine as someone who really loves you
What helped Brenda realise that sex positivity made sense within her Christianity?
Brenda’s self-named “trampage” in her twenties
The concept of “purity” in Christianity
Brenda starting to attend an evangelical church at 12
The evangelical rhetoric about sexuality even blooming to begin with
Brenda’s sexuality from an early age
References to masturbation in the Bible
Brenda’s early marriage and how and why it ended
Sexuality as a pendulum
Brenda exploring her self-worth outside of being a virginal Christian
The Madonna/Whore complex
Hook-up culture
Hannah’s experience with hook-up culture
Religious kink and roleplay
BDSM rules of consent and communication
How do you break the stigma of sexual exploration and solo sex with a significant other who has been raised very Christian?
Books for further reading and resources for healing
Becoming comfortable with your body and sexuality with others
Intentional masturbation
Embracing sexual integrity
Comparing sex and food in terms of cultural ideas of pleasure, guilt, and shame
Purity culture YouTubers
How does Brenda deal with the criticism she receives from other Christians?
Brenda’s upcoming book, “On Her Knees”