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Notable and Quotable
"Wendy Shalit’s first book, A Return to Modesty. . . created a storm when it was published nine years ago but whose influence can be detected in today’s campus chastity clubs, including here at Harvard. As a veteran of pro-sex feminism who still endorses pornography and prostitution, I say more power to all these chaste young women who are defending their individuality and defying groupthink and social convention. That is true feminism!"
— Camille Paglia, Harvard Feminism Conference Keynote, April 10 2008
Mystery of the body
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 02:00Hi Jessica,I agree with you that modesty is important, but I think it's precisely because a woman's dignity does reside in her body, as well as in the way she lives. I think that's why modesty is so important for women. There is something magical and precious about the female body, and when it is guarded from public view and reserved only for one who, as Shalit writes, has proven himself worthy, it retains this mystery and magic. When it is displayed to the whole world, then there's nothing really exciting about it anymore. It has been sold too cheaply.I think we agree-- I just wanted to clarify that point. I think women's bodies carry tremendous power, and that women have a particular way of being, a presence, that is powerful. Joseph Campbell comments on this-- he says that men's power comes from doing, but women's power comes from being. Also Shmuley Boteach writes about it. Anyway, it's food for thought! (No particular endorsements of these writers, by the way.)Thanks for posting the comment!