Of all the places where you expect to hear profound wisdom, The Bachelorette is pretty low on the list. It is, after all, a show where men compete to win the affections of a woman via tasks and 'dates' which are filmed by a full camera crew.
But Bachelorette (who was also Miss Alabama) Hannah Brown, 24, has used her platform on the show to share her surprisingly enlightened views on balancing sexuality and religion.
On the show, one of the contestants, Luke P, who describes himself as 'a good Christian boy from Gainesville, GA' questioned her 'morality' given that she's had sex before. Which, at least to the untrained ear, doesn't really sound like a winning chat up line.
Rather than throwing her drink in his face and sending him home, Hannah replied, 'I have had sex ... and Jesus still loves me.'
Elaborating on her feelings, she told US radio station NPR: 'I do believe that the Lord intended for sex to be in the confines of marriage, but that's not so for a lot of people. And I used to carry a lot of shame because I had had sex before. And in that moment, [being questioned by Luke P.], I felt like I was right back in church, just feeling like I was not enough. And that's what I meant.
'Well you know what, I have had sex, but, like, I know my relationship with the Lord, I know that he forgives me. He loves me. And I'm not alone in that. And that doesn't make me any less worthy of his love or love from somebody who wants to spend the rest of my life with me.'
Her words will hit home for anyone who has previously struggled to balance staying true to the confines of their religion with the perfectly natural desire to experience sex and physical intimacy.
According to Dr David J Ley, a leading expert in human sexuality, religion is one of the prime reasons that people experience issues of guilt, shame and sexual dysfunction. He writes: 'Across the country, therapists are now seeing a tide of young people, feeling immense shame and pain about their sexual urges, desires and behaviors, as these young people encounter the wide world of sexuality available outside the confines of these moral fantasies.'
However, it's perfectly possible for religious people to have healthy attitudes towards sex. Being married tends of absolve most people of their guilt issues, however that's not the a cure all.
Dr Ley writes: 'People can overcome sexual shame in their lives, without abandoning their religious values and beliefs. We need to help religious people develop a new sexual ethic, one that they choose and develop as adults, which focuses on intentionality, authenticity, consent, honesty and mutuality.'
Adding to her insightful perspective on sex and religion, Bachelorette Hannah said: 'I've never been called a slut in my entire life. ... It's been hard, but then I started thinking, once I started being called that: Why do we even use that word anyway? Like, why are women talking to women this way and why are men talking about women in this way? Because I think sex and faith are all very individual relationships, and what I might feel comfortable doing sexually is not the same as the next girl, but that doesn't make her any less worthy.'
So next time someone tries to suggest that your reality TV habit is rotting your brain, point them towards the Bachelorette's meditation on the complicated intersection between religion and human sexuality.
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