Sanctified Sexism: Effects of Purity Culture Tropes on White Christian Women’s Marital and Sexual Satisfaction and Experience of Sexual Pain

Abstract

Since the 1970s, research consistently links conservative religiosity with higher rates of primary sexual pain disorders in women. The effects on women’s marital and sexual satisfaction and experience of severe primary sexual pain due to belief in sexually restrictive and sexually coercive gender ideological tropes common in evangelical resources are described in a large snowball sample of white American Christian women (Sexual Satisfaction and Function Survey, N=5489). We found that belief in purity culture tropes was associated with higher rates of sexual pain disorders. Current belief in sexually restrictive tropes was associated with lower marital and sexual satisfaction as was past belief in sexually coercive tropes. Current internalization of two tropes was associated with higher marital satisfaction, likely explained by decreased marital satisfaction among those who deconstructed compared with those who still believe. Never believing tropes were protective for women’s marital and sexual satisfaction while belief deconstruction showed mixed effects.