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Women, Sex, and Empowerment Summit

Women struggle with a variety of sex-related issues, be they physical, emotional, or intellectual. While secular resources on sex abound, there are few Catholic ones, and we want to help fill that gap. We hope this summit with be a starting point for conversation and learning, together. We want women to walk away empowered with a perspective on their sexuality that is both pro-woman and Catholic, and more tools and encouragement to live it out in their own lives.

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Episodes

How Modesty Culture Has Hurt Catholic Women

October 23, 2020

Did you know that you can equally objectify a woman's body through telling her to cover up every inch? Hyper modesty feeds into the same problem we're trying to fight against -- that a woman's body is made to be consumed. As a result, we've fallen into the same trap that the secular world has fallen into, just on the opposite extreme. "Modesty culture" has resulted in women seeing their bodies as inherently shameful, vehicles for trapping men in lust. In an effort to completely avoid temptation, women have overcompensated by intentionally dressing in frumpy clothes that not only hide their bodies but also their God-given beauty. In this talk, I will go over my experiences within hyper modesty culture. I will also talk about my experience with Theology of the Body and how it helped me to pay reverence to the body without throwing out feminine sexuality and beauty. I will also talk about how women have been given the special gift of feminine beauty and how the errors of modesty culture have led us to reject this important gift. I will also talk about how we should change our approach and mindset to modesty, including changing the very word "modesty" itself to a term that truly reflects the Catholic teaching behind a woman's beauty, body, and sexuality.

Reconstructing Healthy Sexual Conversations about Women

October 23, 2020

In this talk we will evaluate the harm that mainstream purity narratives can cause when they are not phrased within a holistic nature of working to understand and embrace the gift of female sexuality. Together we will break down ways in which we as women can stand with each other, and build conversations of holy and healthy conversations of female sexuality and its impact on our everyday lives.

When Sex Is Hard, Painful, or Difficult

October 23, 2020

A pelvic PT’s perspective on issues with sex that are common but not normal from newlywed to post partum.

The Absorption of Shame

October 23, 2020

In Love and Responsibility, St. John Paul II explored a metaphysics of shame. Shame has a dual purpose for the human person - positive and negative. This talk will explore shame and how it relates to the woman, how we can learn to embrace and overcome shame especially within conjugal love.

The Right to Know Yourself: Fertility Awareness + Reproductive Justice

October 23, 2020

We have a right to understand our bodies and our health. And yet for far too long, women seeking understanding of their cycles, fertility challenges, and general reproductive healthcare have been dismissed, ignored, or simply given birth control as the first and often only line of defense. This talk will explore the Black feminist theory of reproductive justice, explaining why Fertility Awareness Based Methods are vital to empowering women to not only make informed decisions about their healthcare, but also claiming their right to self-knowledge across the spectrum of their lives.

Ovaries Aren't Catholic: What does the science of modern FABM's mean for Women's Health?

October 23, 2020

FABM is short for Fertility Awareness Based Method; and the modern methods of fertility awareness are founded in the science of how a woman’s body works. Changes in a woman's monthly cycle are a reflection of her health and wellbeing, but as women we have lost touch with our own bodies and no longer know how to listen to what our bodies are trying to tell us! Learn about some of the basics of FABM’s and what you can see and learn from charting one’s cycle besides just “when can/can’t I get pregnant!"

The Theology of the Body: A Feminist Perspective

October 23, 2020

John Paul II's Theology of the Body has often been approached as "the chastity teaching of the Church" which was never its intention. If we look carefully at his proposed anthropology, we will find his rigorous commitment to mutuality, reciprocity, and communion. This talk will ask what does it mean to be created "for her own sake," and how does John Paul II repeatedly emphasize that women and men are each a whole expression of God's image and love, through sameness and differences?

Beauty of Sex for All

October 23, 2020

So much of the Church’s teaching on the beauty of sexuality is transformational. The teachings on why sex is reserved for marriage, how contraception can harm our bodies and our marriages, what the Theology of the Body is or how to practice Natural Family Planning all have the potential to unlock the possibilities of increased grace, goodness, and joy in our lives. But are these teachings accessible to all the faithful? What cultural, economic, educational, and familial aspects of her faithful is the Church failing to consider, and could these teachings reach a great many more if a more inclusive approach was employed?

Authentic Connection and Emotional Intimacy

October 23, 2020

Who doesn’t know that emotional intimacy means a lot to women? It is the gateway to authentic connection and meaningful relationships. Believe it or not, it is also the gateway to more satisfying sex! In this presentation we will discuss why women and men get their wires crossed about emotional intimacy and what we can do about it.

What Do You Do If Your Man is Addicted to Pornography? Empowerment, Hope and Healing

October 23, 2020

What do I do if the man I love is addicted to porn? A painful, difficult question the Church does not speak about. In this talk, Patty will share her own experience of navigating this in a previous marriage. She will offer practical resources and tools for Catholic women to keep themselves safe and aware, as well as offer hope for relationships facing this struggle.

Adding Information on Sexual Healing to Chastity Education in the Church

October 23, 2020

We often hear about saving ourselves for marriage when it comes to chastity talks, but that generally leaves out a large group of men and women whose first experiences with sex are either from some kind of sexual abuse or early exposure to pornography. The church has a unique opportunity to help young men and women all over the world fully enter into sexual healing that is desperately needed. This teaching goes beyond the messaging “save yourself for marriage,” which is often the primary or only part of chastity talks/education. We will dive into the life of someone who has a broken relationship with sex, whether through abuse, pornography addiction, or the hyper-sexualized influence of our culture. Then we will dive even deeper into the resources and steps it takes to enter into a sexual healing journey.

Be My Hands: A Catholic Feminist's Journey to Learning How to Love Well

October 23, 2020

My talk presents my journey with love, sexuality, and relationships and how I moved from doing what felt good and/or what I figured "everyone else was doing", to moving into a place of truly inviting Christ to be my hands, my heart, my eyes, my words, etc. Just as Teresa of Avila writes, "Christ has no body now but yours", I have come to find great peace, hope, and joy in invoking this prayer in my romantic life. I will share about how I came to a renewed sense of chastity, how my experiences with Jesus and the Sacraments intersected with that, how the 12 steps have influenced my faith and relationships, and how I practically live out love in action through Ignatian discernment. I will also connect my talk with my musical vocation and how my last EP Be My Hands was written as an arc of my journey with chastity and recovery.

The Power of Women: The Intersection of Motherhood and Sex

October 23, 2020

Women receive messages from childhood on what it means to be a female in this world. Some of us are victims of sexual abuse as children who then go on to be wives and/or mothers. The search to know what love, safety and sex all mean in the light of motherhood and marriage as we work through all these messages is not easy and we are often left alone to figure it out through trial and error. I hope some of my own lessons are helpful for other women.

Owning Your Sexuality During Infertility

October 23, 2020

As Catholic women we understand that the Church teaches the importance of sex in marriage. We also believe that sex has the two major purposes to be both unitive and procreative. What happens to a women’s sexuality when the marital union can no longer be procreative?

More Videos

Forget Having It All - Week 3: 🎥 Video Chat

The Choice Driven Life: A Feminist Conversation about Abortion

Reconstructing Healthy Sexual Conversations about Women

How to Advocate for Paid Leave at Your Organization

Embracing Edith Stein - Week 1: 🎥 Video Chat

The Theology of the Body: A Feminist Perspective

Invisible Women - Week 5: 🎥 Public Life & When Bias Kills You

The Wild Diversity of Catholic Femininity – Meg Hunter-Kilmer

How to Stop Losing Yourself in Relationships: A Workshop on Boundaries

The Absorption of Shame

Forget Having It All - Week 2: 🎥 Video Chat

From Grief to Growth: How to Build Resilience In Adversity

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