LDS Theology and Sexuality

Chastity  The main goals of this lesson are to give Young Women:     a way to value sexuality a sense of the power that sexuality can have in relationships a way to relate to and direct their sexual power/sexuality in adolescence  an understanding of how to navigate pressures with peers and romantic partners while maintaining one's sexual standards and boundaries The following outline could be expanded to two lessons, each section being a lesson. If having two lessons is more than what would be appropriate or allowe...

The following is an article published in the Winter 2014 issue of the Exponent II Magazine: The topic of modesty has been getting a lot of attention in LDS circles recently. Whether provoked by the BYU student who infamously challenged his co-ed for her supposed immodest dress last year or the recent Friend article depicting a young girl prompted by the Spirit not to buy a sleeveless shirt, members of the Church are grappling with questions around the impact and legitimacy of these cultural messages. As a couples’ therapist who works primarily with marital sexuality and desire, I believe...

Riley Risto: It's our great pleasure to welcome LDS counselor and coach Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife. Jennifer, we're so glad to have you on the program. Jennifer specializes in fostering couples in their intimate relationships.  We've been talking about doing an episode on the Divine Feminine. But one thing always slowed us down. What is that?  Christopher Hertado: We needed a feminine guest, a female guest. We just don't have the authority to talk about this. It's just not how it works.  Riley Risto: Just having the input and perspective of a female is really important for us, and...

Some people have written in expressing concern about this week's Come Follow Me lesson in which we address our beliefs about polygamy.  In my work with Latter-day Saint women, it is clear how many women privately and quietly struggle over this topic.  Our collective understanding that God ordained polygamy historically and, on a more personal level, believing that polygamy might be a part of our future, points to a troubling view of God, and more specifically how God views women relative to men.  This is the meaning that many women have suffered under.   Many clients of mine have feared that i...

Monica: I just want to start this whole interview off with a thank you. Thank you for the work that you both do, and for being here together, it’s such an honor! Let’s talk about the topic. We see this come up a lot in the women all of us serve together, this power dynamic that we have within partnerships. We’re going to talk specifically about marriages today. We all have dynamics in marriages, but there tends to be one more about power. I've learned so much from both of you about how to increase partnership in marriage, and that is our topic today. But we can’t talk about that without first ...

I think a lot about sex—-although maybe not in the way that some people do. In particular, I think a lot about why people like and don’t like to have sex, what ignites desire and what suffocates it. As a therapist, I meet with people almost daily who are trying to figure out why they don’t like to have sex, why their spouse doesn’t like to have sex, or why their spouse does like to have it. It is an elusive question sometimes as well as a painful one for many couples.   My dissertation research focused on the question of Mormon women’s sexual agency. That is, Mormon women’s capacity to be acto...

Jody Moore: Hey everybody, welcome to Episode 281 of the podcast. Today's episode is so good, you're going to love it! And it's not bragging for me to say that because the goodness comes from my guest today, Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife. If you aren't familiar with her, I don't know where you've been, but I'm happy to get to introduce you to her. Most of you probably have already heard from her, but she's one of my most favorite people to listen to and learn from, because she's brilliant. She has really valuable insight for all the things that she speaks about. Her specialty is in relationships...

Dr. Finlayson-Fife was briefly interviewed on an episode of This American Life, a national radio show and podcast. The radio drew from Dr. Finlayson-Fife’s expertise around intimacy among members of the Church. The episode is a challenging yet important piece looking at the vulnerabilities around worthiness interviews. Click on the link below to listen the full episode: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/661/but-thats-what-happened 

Doug Fabrizio led a discussion about Mormons and sex with Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, Kristin Hodson, and Chris Duce that aired live on KUER on June 29, 2017.   The recording is available here: http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/mormons-and-sex Doug Fabrizio, host and executive producer of RadioWest

While in Utah to record courses, Dr. Finlayson-Fife took a side trip to Provo where BYU Radio's Julie Rose interviewed her about Navigating Sexuality as a Chaste Single. The link will autoplay the audio, but it may take up to a minute to start!

“The ones that had a hard time really internalized this idea that sex is bad … as opposed to sex is good, but the context of marriage really matters. Those who saw it as unfeminine, that pleasure is a problem, that sexuality is an inherent problem, they had a really difficult time making it now okay, except for an accommodation of their husband’s desire, which, of course, doesn’t work long, if at all,” Finlayson-Fife said.