Religious teachings and sexuality of women living in Rafsanjan: a qualiattive inquiry

Background: Islamic doctrine and related teachings play a seminal role in constructing the sexual performance of followers, women in particular

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Objective: the aim was to explore women's understandings of Islamic Shiite principles related to their sexuality

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Materials and Methods: in a qualitative content analysis approach, four individual interviews and seven focus groups conducted in Rafsanjan, a big city in Kerman province in Iran. Content analysis was used to extract meanings and themes

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Results: three major themes were emerged describing the sexual concepts and religious-related teachings concerning women's sexual understandings and performances: "unconditional sexual submission" [Tamkin], "paradox between virtue and unconditional sexual submission" and "misconceptions"

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Conclusion: religious teachings have a basic and comprehensive role in sexuality construction and sexual health of women. However, occasional inconsistency between beliefs, learning and sexual expectations, practices, and situations would lead to jeopardize the psychological and somatic health of women. Religious-related misconceptions have essential role in creating sexual problems