#47: Gila Manolson - The Power of Personal Dignity
Description
How can you exert power without taking center stage?
How can you use the practical to concretize the abstract?
Are traditional roles actually more empowering for women?
These and other unorthodox questions are addressed when feminist author and speaker Gila Manolson joins The Rabbi and the Shrink.
1:30 A story of personal transformation
A feminist atheist sees gender roles in a new way
A vision of purity introduced a different view of life and intimacy
6:00 Modesty is an expression of self-value and self-worth
Directing our attention toward the internal rather than the external
The astounding personal dignity of a former Miss America
The relationship between man and wife is a paradigm for intimacy with the Creator
Using the practical to concretize the abstract
10:30 The paradox of distance bringing us closer
The case for sexual integrity
Rules are set in place for our benefit
Superficial intimacy can teach us not to trust
Even the truest, most articulate message needs the right messenger
18:00 The more you liberate yourself from external validation, the more secure you become in yourself and your value will be recognized by others
The secret to a successful relationship
The mission to “civilize” men
Arousing the inner will rather than the outer will
Women have more power than they know
25:00 Are traditional roles actually more empowering for women?
Women are less attracted by superficiality than men
Don’t pretend men and women aren’t different
30:00 Why is there a partition in traditional synagogues?
Avoid distraction and focus on our individual relationships with the Almighty
Modesty applies to men as well as women
“The absent sense of self”
I’m not my body, my achievements, or my associations… what is my essence?
37:00 How can women feel responsible for men’s reactions without feeling like second class citizens?
As members of the same society, we are all responsible for one another
Power is the ability to affect change, even without taking center stage
43:00 There is nothing more powerful than putting others in touch with their own souls
Too few people in this world are truly in touch with themselves
What is the contribution that we have the unique ability to make?
Women owe nothing to men (or anyone)
Not needing to be liked gives us the freedom to be our best selves
49:00 How the sixties destroyed boundaries and defeated their own purpose
We don’t need sheep, we need leaders
When it comes to our children (and ourselves), we have to stand up for what’s right
Believe in yourself
The C in ETHICS is courage, which is only possible with confidence
56:30 The word of the day: saccade
the act of checking a horse quickly with a single strong pull of the reins.
Ophthalmology. the series of small, jerky movements of the eyes when changing focus from one point to another.
Modesty is the filter that protects from the distractions of the world and enables us to rein in our baser impulses
Reclaiming wholesomeness