We are all confident in some areas of our lives more than we are in others, but sexual confidence is rarely felt or talked about. Feeling confident in your body and knowing what pleasures you, gives you confidence in the way that you carry yourself and interact with others. Our sexuality is an important and integral part of being human, so why do we shy away from exploring it more openly? Why do parents find it difficult to discuss sexuality and body autonomy with their children? Why is shame tied to sexual pleasure in so many cultures?

My guest in today's episode of Breaking Free is sex educator Zina Malas. Born in the UK and raised in the UAE, Zina is a third culture kid who’s lived in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UK. She started out her career in media and research and made the shift to sexual health after becoming a mother to two young girls and noticed a lack of sexual education and knowledge in the Middle East.

Discussed in this episode:

Why Zina chose to train as a sexuality educator in a region that regards sex as taboo (1:16)
How feeling comfortable with our sexuality can increase our confidence (3:52)
How Zina starting to educate her girls early about sex in order to give them body autonomy, surprised the school (7:40)
Sexual shame is a feeling, not a fact! (13:11)
How when women are mostly raised as dutiful caretakers, it becomes hard to be vocal about what they want (15:27)
How we can give our kids an age appropriate sex talk (17:05)
Deciding on the Values, beliefs and messages you want to pass down to your children instead of passing on generational ideas that have never been questioned (21:20)
The danger of kids turning to porn for answers when they don't feel comfortable asking their parents (22:30)
Typical gender roles can harm relationships (24:00)

Connect with Zina:

https://www.instagram.com/sexualhealth_jo/

Let’s connect!

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Becoming sexually confident