The State of Girlhood

My heart breaks at articles like this and this (warning: descriptive content). So many little girls have lost, or perhaps never experienced, the privilege and joy of being just that: an innocent young girl. They are merely victims of a culture gone mad. Really, when we take a good hard look at what we feed our children—the entertainment we offer, the playthings we buy, the role models we uphold—what can we expect? Likewise, how can we encourage our little girls to be "sexy", teaching them to "flaunt what they've got", and then be surprised at the amount of child molestation and sexual abuse that goes on?

Little girls—and their present, future, and eternal happiness—are very, very close to my heart. Maidenhood—and all the purity, loveliness, innocence, wonder, and charm that goes with it—must not be lost. And this is precisely why I distribute a special book for young girls through my movement.

In contemplating all of these thoughts today, I went running to one of my favorite books: The Privilege of Being a Women by Dr. Alice von Hildebrand. This little book is brimming with pearls of wisdom...

"The fearful sexual decadence that we have witnessed in the course of the last forty years can be traced back, at least in part, to the fashion world's systematic attempt to eradicate in girls the 'holy bashfulness' which is the proper response that women should give to what is personal, intimate, and calls for veiling."

"The fashions of the day are all geared toward destroying women's sensitivity for the dignity of their sex... The state of our contemporary society sheds light on the fact that when women 'no longer know how to blush,' it is a portent that this society is on the verge of moral collapse."

"If little girls were made aware of the great mystery confided to them, their purity would be guaranteed. The very reverence which they would have towards their own bodies would inevitably be perceived by the other sex. Men are talented at reading women's body language... Perceiving women's modesty, they would take their cue and, in return, approach the female sex with reverence, instead of with today's brutal irreverence which unleashes lust and impurity."

The state of romance today is a troubling one because the state of womanhood and of girlhood is a troubling one. I'm not saying that the pervasive misunderstanding and abuse of human sexuality is all our fault, or that men bear no part of the guilt. We both do. But we women have to come to grips with and teach our young girls this simple truth: we can't hope for or demand respect when we don't have it for ourselves.

A maiden of 1902... and today