#222: Stop Being a “Good Girl” with Elise Loehen

My whole life I have strived to be a “good girl.” But after this conversation with Elise Loehnen, I no longer want to be.

You will learn...
- the history behind the 7 deadly sins and how they've been weaponized by the patriarchy
- who Mary Magdalene really was and how she got mislabeled as a prostitute
- why thinness is the dominant beauty ideal in our current culture
- the connection between PRIDE and ENVY
- subtle ways women undermine each other

Elise Loehnen is a writer, editor, and podcast host who lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Rob, and their two sons, Max and Sam. She is the host of Pulling the Thread, a podcast focused on pulling apart the stories we tell about who we are—and then putting those threads back together. Ultimately Elise is a seeker and synthesizer, braiding together wisdom traditions, cultural history, and a deep knowledge of healing modalities to unlock new ways to contextualize who we are and why we’re here. She’s also the author of the instant New York Times bestseller On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good (Dial Press/PRH). The book weaves together history, memoir, and cultural criticism to explore the ways patriarchy lands in the bodies of women and embeds itself in our consciousness—and what we then police in ourselves and in each other. Regardless of our religious provenance, the self-denial implicit in each of the Seven Deadly Sins—Sloth, Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Anger—reads like a checklist of what it means to be a “good” woman. With awareness, we can begin to recognize these patterns of self-restriction, break the story, and move ourselves and each other toward freedom and balance.

Follow Elise on Instagram: @eliseloehnen
Get Elise’s book, On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good

And if you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast and @eliseloehnen

Mentioned In This Episode...
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb