Love My Nationality: Erika Dandenongs on Being Open-minded

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Erika Dandenongs, an island of Australia’s Queensland, is a small coastal town of Prahran in the state’s South East Queensland. Her parents were Russian immigrants, and she grew up there as a girl with a smaller than average height gap of just over 2 inches between her classmates. Despite this, Erika, now a woman in her thirties, perseveres to set new heights in both her career and personal life. She is today a successful entrepreneur, a practicing psychotherapist and a teacher of both public and private sector education. She has dedicated her life to helping others through many endeavors.

The Nationality of Erika Dandenongs, who is known by her pen name Erika Diane, is a clear example of how nationalities can affect sexuality. As an adult, she has no qualms about revealing her partner’s nationality even if her partner is not of the same nationalities. In fact, Erika holds a bachelor’s degree from Russia and a master’s degree in counseling from the United States. She married a Filipino man in 1998 and two years later they had their first child, which came almost accidentally as her husband was not at home for the delivery.

Through her marriage to a Filipino man, Erika managed to open her mind to nationalities and sexuality. While it might have been difficult for her to adjust to her husband’s nationality, she found it helpful as both her marriage and sexuality flourished during their time as a married couple. She shared the story of her marriage with her audience in an online speaking course and explained that through the shared nationalities, they were able to “cross the barrier of sexual boundaries”. Specifically, she shared how she discovered her husband was not Filipino and how learning about his nationality allowed her to explore her sexuality in a way that never occurred before. This is a helpful tip for women who find themselves in relationships with men of different nationalities or for those who want to overcome societal pressures that keep them from being sexually comfortable.

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