The internet claims to value honesty, yet consistently punishes women who speak plainly about sex, pleasure, and their bodies.

In this episode, I’m joined by Adrienne Rommel, known as The Yoni Nutritionist, for a conversation about herpes, online shaming, and why the backlash is rarely about the topic itself. When women talk openly about sex, what they often trigger isn’t moral outrage, it’s unprocessed shame.

We explore how herpes doesn’t create insecurity so much as expose what was already there: fear of rejection, perfectionism, religious conditioning, and long-held doubts about worthiness. What many women experience as a sexual health issue is often a nervous system issue, a body responding to a lack of safety.

We talk about why women struggle to orgasm when they don’t feel emotionally safe, how trauma lives in the body long after the mind has moved on, and why symptoms often appear when intuition is ignored in dating and relationships. The body isn’t sabotaging women, it’s communicating.

We also unpack the absurd stigma gap between cold sores and genital herpes, the unseen impact viral mockery has on healing women, and why trying to be universally palatable online leads straight to self-abandonment.

This episode isn’t really about herpes.
It’s about self-respect, safety, and refusing to let shame decide how openly you live.

Key Timestamps

00:00 Being called sluts, whores, 304’s, and receiving death threats, the cost of speaking openly
05:30 Going viral, 3,000 hate comments, and the women who got re-triggered
09:20 “All I saw was hurt men and wounded little boys”
14:00 When the troll is identifiable: the temptation to contact HR (and why she didn’t)
18:30 The NZ TikToker drama, community protection, and public apologies
31:00 “Hands up if…” the universal wounds herpes tends to amplify
54:10 Nervous system safety + orgasm: why the body won’t open when it doesn’t feel safe
1:09:40 Cold sores vs genital herpes: same virus, completely different shame
1:12:15 The brother who judged her… until his sister got herpes and wanted to die

Connect with Me:

Want to work with me? Click this link (https://rebeccaantonucci.com/breakthrough-call) to book a breakthrough call and join my signature method, The Breakthrough Blueprint, today.

Ready to join us at The Bridge Experience in Gold Coast this February? Sign up www.thebridgemethod.org and use the code SEXANDLOVE to save 20% off your enrolment

Connect with Adrienne The Yoni Nutritionist on IG: @yoninutritionist

Connect with me on socials by saying hi over on IG: @rebecca.antonucci (http://www.instagram.com/rebecca.antonucci)