Perversions of Purity Culture, Liberal Sexuality, & The Pursuit of Embodied Truth | Tara Rae Behr

<p><em>What does liberation feel like in the body and how do we know when we’ve mistaken violence or an ideology for freedom? </em></p><p><br></p><p>In this episode, Tara Rae Behr shares her journey from an <strong>evangelical upbringing</strong>, where purity culture and child rearing looked like spanking and lots of shame, to almost leaving psychotherapy to pursue a career in <strong>“conscious sex work.” </strong></p><p><br></p><p>Like many women disentangling themselves from extreme religious upbringings, Tara wondered if there was something healing in re-enacting violence through sex or if liberation could be found by swinging to the opposite end of the spectrum. </p><p><br></p><p>While confronting the scandals of evangelical leaders like Ted Haggard as well as her own mentorship with a <strong>BDSM “therapist,”</strong> Tara discovered that both purity culture and liberal pro-prostitution views of the body and sexuality are in fact <strong>distortions of true intimacy</strong>.</p><p><br></p><p>Through MDMA-assisted therapy, Tara began recovering suppressed memories of childhood abuse, leading her to confront her parents and break ties with a BDSM mentor. In this deeply reflective conversation, Tara explores what it means to <strong>discern right from wrong outside of dogma</strong>, how much of her religious upbringing still informs her moral compass, and how she now envisions sexuality beyond objectification. </p><p><br></p><p>Tara asks how we can befriend ourselves, <strong>reclaim intimacy with our own bodies</strong>, and reconnect with the Earth—instead of falling into the abyss of the transhumanist vision of the body as a forever modifiable machine. </p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://whosebodyisit.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips">⁠<strong>⁠p.s. The things I want to say but don&#39;t say live on my substack. Subscribe for $6/month and unlock all premium content →⁠</strong>⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://www.whosebodyisit.com/master-class-library" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Classes for Ex-Liberal Women⁠</a> →</p><p><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/whosebodyisit/p/bonus-episode-with-tara-rae-behr?r=lf1be&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠ChatGPT confessions, critiques of pornified nEw aGe goddess culture &amp; why I took down the German New Medicine episode // Substack BONUS ⁠</a> →</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.tararaebehr.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Tara&#39;s Website</a></p><p>Follow Tara on <a href="https://substack.com/@tararaebehr1?utm_source=profile-page" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Substack</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tararaebehr/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a> </p><p><br></p><p>✦✦✦</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/whosebodyisit/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Follow Whose Body Is It on Instagram →⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://www.whosebodyisit.com/shop" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shop Activist Stickers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ →⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://www.whosebodyisit.com/favorites" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠The BEST grass-fed beef sticks, skin care and more →⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><br></p><p>Music //<a href="https://soundcloud.com/grandakt" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠<em>Time by ASHUTOSH</em>⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a><em></em><a href="https://www.free-stock-music.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠<em>Music promoted by Free Stock Music</em>⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a><em></em><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠<em>Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License</em></a></p>