Disobeyed: Elissa Wall鈥檚 Journey To Reclaim Her Body

深夜福利

Disobeyed: Elissa Wall鈥檚 Journey To Reclaim Her Body

By Audrey Smith,

Anita Rao

Published October 14, 2022 at 10:57 AM EDT

An illustration of a woman running in dark woods, looking behind her with a scared look on her face. She is wearing a purple prairie-style dress. The episode title "Disobeyed" is on the left side of the illustration.

After Anita watched the Netflix docuseries "Keep Sweet," it was on her mind for weeks. She sat down with Elissa Wall, one of the central figures in the series, to talk about growing up in an isolated, polygamist religious community in which everything was decided for her 鈥� from what she could wear to whom she would marry. Elissa talks about adjusting to life outside the FLDS Church, her process of healing after a traumatic childhood and her ongoing journey of embodiment.

Meet the guest:

, speaker, advocate, mother and author, talks to Anita about her upbringing in the FLDS church, her forced marriage at the age of 14, and her ongoing journey to re-establish a relationship to her body after leaving the community. She is the author of the memoir

Please note that this episode contains references to religious trauma, pregnancy loss and sexual assault of a minor.

Read the transcript |

Tags

Audrey Smith

Audrey Smith is a writer, educator, and temporary producer of "Embodied" based in Greensboro, NC. She holds a Master's degree in Secondary English Language Arts Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2018) and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Nonfiction Writing from Oregon State University (2021).

See stories by Audrey Smith

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.

See stories by Anita Rao