I’ve been following your blog for awhile now and I think it’s great, but I’m glad you bring this up here and I love that you recognize the statement of celibacy being more than just “giving up sex.” I’m about ready to start my dissertation in sociology on women religious and I’ve been really honing in on the experience of religious women in this country from my perspective (which is as a single woman but not a vowed religious woman)…this statement is much more profound in the effect it has as a counter-cultural act, I think. It does build an image. And it’s something that honestly seems to fascinate (and almost mystify) those outside of it. It’s really definitional but I’m always taken aback by the people who just “can’t wrap their heads around it.” It honestly seems simple in concept, although clearly challenging in practice which is why people talk about it perplexing them just makes me laugh.

Great post. From my standpoint (as an ardent supporter and admirer of religious women), I’m glad that someone “on the inside” sees it in a contemporary and honestly real way. Kudos.