The Good Girl Revolution

Wendy, I just finished reading your first book, A RETURN TO MODESTY, and am greatly looking forward to reading GIRLS GONE MILD. I recognized my younger self in so many of the portraits of dissatisfied young women depicted in _Modesty_ that it was sometimes painful to read. It saddens me to think of how much of my true self I squelched when I was in my twenties because I didn't want to be known as "the prude" or "the crazy girl" or "the one who isn't a good sport."

When I was 18, I began to be intimate with my first serious boyfriend. I loved him, but the L-word never came up in our conversation-- at 18, we were told by grownups that we were "too young to settle down" or be in love-- and because of this I convinced myself that 'love' was a bourgeoise concept, one that was beneath me. At the same time I entered into a deep, chronic depression that would come to a head at several critical points in my life.

I married a man when I was 27 but divorced him several years later. Now I am remarried to the boy I loved when I was 18, who has grown into the most wonderful gentleman you could imagine. It was what I wanted all along-- to have ONE love that I could be with for the rest of my life. Looking back, I have to question the society that told me this secret wish was impractical, old-fashioned, or even ridiculous.

Thank you for writing so truthfully about the state of womanhood today.