Untangling Duty Sex with Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers

Jun 19, 2025

Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers, a licensed sex and gender feminist psychotherapist, dives into the complex world of consent and sexual agency. She discusses how patriarchy and political strategies shaped women's experiences with unwanted sex. The conversation highlights the historical context of purity culture and its effects on sexual education, emphasizing the need for compassion and understanding. Dr. Sellers also critiques the misinformation parents face regarding their children's identities and advocates for male involvement in reproductive health, challenging longstanding societal norms.

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INSIGHT

Historical Roots Of Duty Sex

Tina links consenting to unwanted sex to long cultural and political shifts, not just individual choice.
She traces how patriarchy and 1980s political moves created a vacuum of sexual knowledge and control.

INSIGHT

Politics Fueled Purity Culture

Tina describes the 1980s rise of the religious right as a political strategy that shaped sexual messaging.
Deregulation and abstinence-only education amplified misinformation and removed protections.

ANECDOTE

Grad Class That Became Research Catalyst

Tina assigned sexual autobiographies in grad school and watched students heal through sharing their stories.
Reading those narratives made her begin formal research into cultural sexual harms.

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What happens when women repeatedly consent to sex they don't want? Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers, founder of the Northwest Institute on Intimacy and author of "Sex, God and the Conservative Church," joins us to explore this question with unexpected depth and historical context.

This conversation takes a fascinating turn as Dr. Tina traces how patriarchy, politics, and religious messaging converged to create a profound disconnect between women and their sexual agency. She reveals how the rise of the religious right in the late 1970s wasn't just about faith but part of a calculated political strategy that fundamentally changed how Americans view sexuality. While abstinence-only education created "a vacuum of actual knowledge," media deregulation flooded culture with harmful messaging about gender and sex.

Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers is a licensed sex and gender feminist psychotherapist, best-selling author, researcher, emeriti professor, and media personality whose expertise spans sex therapy, spiritual intimacy, parenting, medicine, and social justice.

Her revolutionary perspectives have been expressed on platforms such as Spirituality & Health, Refinery 29, Vocal, Medium, and Bust Magazines, along with many podcast, radio, news, and TV outlets. Known for exposing the
impact of patriarchy and sexual shame on our ability to securely attach to our partners, and instruct our children to attach to theirs, Dr. Sellers’ book Sex, God, & the Conservative Church – Erasing Shame from Sexual Intimacy has
had a global impact. Her latest book, Shameless Parenting – Everything You Need to Raise Shame-free, Confident, Kids and Heal Your Shame Too! was a New Release Bestseller in eight categories. She speaks throughout the world on how to heal, and how to raise shame-free relationally confident children. In 2015, Dr. Sellers founded the Northwest Institute on Intimacy, a post-graduate institute to train psychotherapists, educators, clergy, and physicians in sexual
health, healing sexual shame and trauma, and understanding their sexual biases.

In 2023, Dr. Tina founded InannaRising.org - A private membership community for psychedelic assisted therapists and medical providers to
get ongoing clinical consultation, collaboration, training, and support in creating scholarships for the under resourced, and participation in an indigenous reparation fund. Dr. Tina can be followed on Instagram
@DrTinaShameless. At Facebook facebook.com/TinaSSellers Online at www.TinaSchermerSellers.com