Shame Around Female Sexuality
Throughout my life as a woman, I have repeatedly encountered the same phenomenon – society tries to control female sexuality through shame.
Women are judged for their clothing, appearance, photos, sexuality, profession, or simply for expressing themselves openly.
In modern culture there is even a specific term for this – slut-shaming. It is a social mechanism in which a woman is publicly or implicitly shamed for behaving in a way that is perceived as “too sexual.”
Modern research shows that slut-shaming is directly linked to a decline in women’s mental health. For example:
- The study “The Psychological Impact of Slut-Shaming on Adolescent Girls” (2023) found a correlation between slut-shaming and depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts among adolescents.
- The review “Sexual Shame and Women’s Well-Being” (MDPI, 2024) shows that sexual shame affects 30–50% of women, reducing their quality of life.
- The study “Online Gender Harassment and Slut-Shaming” (2025) links slut-shaming to anxiety, low self-esteem, and risky behavior.
Beyond psychological harm, there is another dangerous effect.
The stigmatization of female sexuality often leads society to offer less support to women who experience sexual violence, blaming them for “provoking” it.
When I began researching the origins of this phenomenon, it became clear that this is not just an accidental feature of modern culture.
It is a very old historical construct.
Has It Always Been This Way?
In my research on religions and female archetypes in ancient cultures, I noticed something fascinating.
In many ancient civilizations, female sexuality was not considered shameful. On the contrary, it was often seen as a sacred force of life and creation.
For example:
- In Sumerian culture, the goddess Inanna embodied love, sexuality, and cosmic life energy.
- In the Vedic and later Indian traditions, the energy of Shakti was regarded as the creative force of the universe, expressed in part through female sexuality.
- In Greek culture, the goddess Aphrodite symbolized the power of desire leading to creation (sexuality), as well as love and beauty.
In many early cultures, a woman’s sexuality was intimately connected with life, fertility, and cosmic order.
The Modern Framework of Suppressing Female Sexuality
Although long before the rise of Christianity in Europe, female sexuality had already begun to be gradually suppressed through various patriarchal power structures (which deserves a separate discussion), it was the Christian tradition that had the strongest influence on the culture of sexual shame that we still see today.
When I studied the history of religions and European culture, I was struck by how sharply attitudes toward women’s nature changed in the early centuries of Christianity’s spread.
Christianity began to spread actively in Europe roughly from the 2nd to 4th centuries CE, and after Emperor Constantine legalized the religion in 313 CE (the Edict of Milan), and especially after Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in 380 CE, the new religious morality gradually started shaping the cultural norms of an entire continent.
It was during this period that female sexuality began to be seen not as a life force, but as a danger that needed to be controlled.
Theologians of the 2nd–5th centuries, such as Augustine and Tertullian, interpreted the biblical story of Eve as proof that women were sources of sin and temptation. Sexuality came to be seen as an expression of lust, and sex was considered acceptable only within marriage.
This idea became deeply entrenched in European culture for centuries.
In the Middle Ages, the female body was often considered impure, and women were described as more prone to sin and the influence of the devil. The culmination of this fear was the witch hunts of the 15th–17th centuries.
In the book “Malleus Maleficarum” (1486), it is explicitly stated that women are more easily led into devilish temptations because of their sexuality. Thousands of women were accused of witchcraft, often simply for their independence, beauty, or sexual expression.
As you can see, the history of early Christianity in Europe is closely intertwined with, and has shaped, the modern perception of female sexuality in a shame-focused way.
Acceptance and Love for One’s Sexuality
In a world where female sexuality has been suppressed and surrounded by shame for centuries, learning to accept it and relate to it with love is not easy. Many women grow up in a culture where their desire, their bodies, and even the very idea of female sexuality are constantly questioned or judged.
But in my research on the history of cultures and religions, I’ve become increasingly convinced of one important truth: systems of suppression never arise by accident. They exist because someone benefits from them, while others suffer pain and restriction.
Throughout history, control over female sexuality has often been a tool of power – social, religious, or economic. But that does not mean women are obliged to continue living within these old frameworks.
That is why I sincerely hope that every girl reading this article can see her own benefit in gradually letting go of imposed shame and begin to perceive her sexuality differently – as a source of pleasure, life energy, and even sacred power, which it truly is.
Below, I want to share some quotes from ancient cultures where female sexuality was not condemned but sacralized and even deified. Perhaps they will help you view this topic more broadly and realize that we are not required to remain within the narrow framework of thought imposed on our culture for centuries:
- “Women have a greater capacity to enjoy sexual pleasure.”
– From Vedic and Puranic texts (referencing the story of Indra) - “I know where to deliver physical pleasure to your body… Touch me as the veil touches the measured cup.”
– From the Sumerian text Shu-Sin B, where Inanna expresses confidence in her sexuality as both an art and a sacred, experienced practice. - “I am the power of the strong, free from lust and attachment… I am sex, not contrary to dharma.”
– From the Bhagavad Gita (Vedic text) - “Let the great pearls among his pearls rest upon our sacred chest!”
– From the Sumerian text Dumuzi-Inanna I, where Inanna celebrates sexual union as a sacred and joyful ritual. - “My vulva, horn, Boat of Heaven, full of ardor like a young moon. My untilled land lies beneath the steam.”
– From the Sumerian myth of Inanna and Dumuzi, where Inanna describes her sexuality as a sacred source of fertility and desire, inviting union as a ritual of life. - “Let us greatly rejoice in my genitals! Dance, dance! Later it will bring him pleasure!”
– From a Sumerian hymn to Inanna (Bau hymn fragment), where female genitals are celebrated as a source of joy and dance – the woman freely celebrates her sexuality and shares it. - “Woman is the embodiment of Shakti… Within her body lies the entire cosmos, her orgasm is an explosion of light.”
– From Tantric texts, where female sexuality (Shakti) is sacred divine energy and a free path to enlightenment through union and ecstatic experience. - “Xochiquetzal encouraged love relationships as a means of pleasure, not reproduction… She is a symbol of the emancipation of female sexuality.”
– From Aztec mythology - “The Morrígan used her sexuality proudly… She slept with many men and bore children from unknown fathers – in ancient Celtic culture this was not shameful; sex was a natural part of life.”
– From Celtic mythology (Táin Bó Cúailnge and related legends), where Morrígan’s sexuality is a tool of power, seduction, and life/death union, completely free and sacred. - “You are the Mistress of Joy, Queen of Dance, Lady of Music… Mistress of Endless Ecstasy.”
– From an ancient Egyptian hymn to Hathor, where her sexuality and passion are connected to ecstasy, dance, and intoxication – free bodily pleasure as a sacred ritual of joy and vitality.
In my manifesto, I formulated one of the principles as follows:
“I choose to freely accept, express, and enjoy my sexuality as an energy of creation in all its forms and expressions.”
This principle perfectly reflects what I wish to convey to women today: that we gradually learn to accept ourselves without shame, seeing in our nature not a problem, but a source of life, pleasure, and creative power.
I sincerely wish every woman love, inner harmony, and success on her own path.