Searching for chastity

Author: (USA) Charlotte / Yang Rongxin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: Once upon a time, young women felt ashamed of having sexual experience, but now girls are embarrassed by the lack of sexual experience. Not long ago, young women considered cohabiting with someone or openly expressing their sexual desires as humiliating, yet today they feel ashamed of longing for love. From receiving sex education from a young age to sharing bathrooms in university, everything young girls encounter today mercilessly suppresses their sense of shame, their "modesty," especially their expectations for romantic love. Meanwhile, the troubles girls face are becoming increasingly severe: from sexual harassment to stalking, to date rape, from anorexia and bulimia to self-harm. Both men and women are constantly lamenting the loss of privacy and intimate relationships. What's wrong with this world? Conservatives believe the dangers young women face are exaggerated, while feminists firmly blame everything on patriarchal domination. Wendy Charlotte disagrees with both sides and points out that the root cause lies in our loss of respect for a classical virtue—sexual modesty. The Search for Chastity employs a highly personal narrative while also being an engaging rational exploration. From 17th-century etiquette guides to Antonio Canova's Venus sculpture, to Frank Sinatra's 1948 song ?That's All?, from Balzac to Simone de Beauvoir, the author, like a chastity detective, searches for a failed concept and clarifies its importance in the process. Then, she peels away the layers of mystery to reveal the true face of modesty to the readers. It turns out that modesty is not, as commonly believed, some kind of ?double standard? but a virtue closely tied to male morality and honor. It is not a product of social constructs but an innate response. Modesty is not pseudophilosophy; rather, it is the best protection for our normal sexual desires. Charlotte, with her unique humor and keen insight, guides us beyond the facade of shyness to uncover the new strength hidden in an ancient ideal. She insists that the fundamental flaw of early sex education is that it forces us to overcome our restrained attitude toward sex—what is now called ?modesty?. With groundbreaking courage, Charlotte brilliantly argues that without legitimizing this so-called ?modesty?, there can be no truly intoxicating sexual pleasure, no genuine and soulful sexual relationship. Modesty is an inherent tendency—it is not a ?modesty? that needs to be treated but a wonderful instinct. When modesty returns and is supported by society, it will unleash the tremendous energy capable of reforming society.