a pugilist's opinion

"Where do you find diamonds?  Deep down in the ground, covered and protected.  Where do you find pearls?  Deep down in the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell.  Where do you find gold?  Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock.  You've got to work hard to get to them . . . Your body is sacred.  You're far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too."   -- Muhammd Ali

(More Than a Hero:  Muhammad Ali's Life Lessons Presented through His Daughter's Eyes,

Hana Yasmeen Ali, Pocket Books, 2000)

Biblical femininity is both sacred and radical.  It is beautiful in stunning and surprising and honorable ways.  At its very core is the recognition of its great value. 

" . . .a woman must not betray her mystery. She must be a guardian of purity, not staining her precious gift by flaunting her sexuality in the way she dresses, the way she carries herself, or by her thoughts, speech, or actions. Because woman has been entrusted with such a deep and profound mystery, and because her body and soul are so united, when she betrays her purity, she wounds herself very deeply." 

(Jean Zampino, http://www.theroadtoemmaus.org/)

Womanhood is a sacred trust under which we are to live our lives.  Respecting ourselves and others in our appearance is the most obvious way we can respond to this call.  It shows how much we value our femininity.

“Womanhood is a call. It is a vocation to which respond under God . . . “

(Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be a Woman, Tyndale House, 1976,p. 62)