Leslie Young

“Traditional feminism has been utterly incapable of dealing with problems that girls are facing. They are so committed to the idea that that we have to be like men and that any differences between the sexes are socially constructed the result has been extremely unhealthy for girls. Let’s be clear: A lot of men are wonderful, but it’s the adolescent male that the third-wave feminists are now imitating.”

This quote comes from an article in today’s Toronto Star that profiles Wendy Shalit, author of a new and somewhat controversial book, Girls Gone Mild. This book seems to be getting a lot of attention (and marketing!) with several articles, a website, and even a blogged debate featuring Shalit and sex columnist Dan Savage, among others.

In her books, Shalit encourages young women to embrace modesty and expresses doubts with what she thinks is the feminist belief that being overtly sexual empowers women.

Okay, I haven’t read the book. I have taken a look at the various websites. I don’t think I agree with her overall message, but she probably makes a few good points. I do think girls are over-sexualized these days and, as she says, it is very likely that a few of them aren’t comfortable with it. I’m sure too though that there are those who are quite comfortable, and also that there are those who find their own happy medium and don’t buy in to either extreme: extreme modesty or extreme sexuality.

Anyway, in the interest of exposing people to various viewpoints, I’m writing this blog entry and providing all the links above. Take a look if you’re so inclined. I promise, if I find a really good sex-positive story in the news I’ll feature it in the blog too. Help is always appreciated, as I don’t see many in the mainstream media. I am an avid reader of Dan Savage’s weekly column though, so that blog linked above (and here too, why not) was pretty interesting to me.