Wendy Shalit (; born 1975) is an American conservative writer and author who has written the books '' A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue'', published by Free Press in 1999; '' Girls Gone Mild: Young Rebels Reclaim Self-Respect and Find It's Not Bad to Be Good'', published by Random House in 2007; and ''The Good Girl Revolution: Young Rebels with Self-Esteem and High Standards'', published by Random House in 2008. Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, she is the sister of writer

Ruth Shalit Ruth Shalit Barrett (; born 1971) is an American freelance writer and journalist whose work has appeared in ''The New Republic'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''ELLE'', ''New York Magazine'' and ''The Atlantic''. In 1999 she resigned from ''T ...

and Mina Shalit. She graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

with a BA in philosophy. Her articles on cultural and literary topics have appeared in ''

Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' and ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''. ''A Return to Modesty'' has attracted much controversy, most notably earning her attacks from

Katha Pollitt Katha Pollitt (born October 14, 1949) is an American poet, essayist and critic. She is the author of four essay collections and two books of poetry. Her writing focuses on political and social issues from a left-leaning perspective, including abo ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and

Larry Flynt Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. (; November 1, 1942 – February 10, 2021) was an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as ''Hustler'', pornographic videos, and three por ...

in ''

Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

'' magazine. By contrast,

George Will George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC.Hadas Gold, Gold, Hadas (May ...

reviewed the book positively in ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

''. But, according to the website D1NT, Shalit received many letters of support from young women who were disenchanted with the

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...

, prompting her to start an online support forum called ModestlyYours with 20 bloggers "of all ages and backgrounds whose voices are not normally heard in the mainstream (or even non-mainstream) media."

Mona Charen Mona Charen Parker (; born February 25, 1957) is a columnist, journalist, and political commentator in the United States. She has written three books: ''Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First'' (200 ...

has called ModestlyYours an "antidote to the vulgarity that is shoved in our faces from magazine covers, television, raunch radio, movies, and shows ... Shalit names a 'rebel of the month' on the site, choosing young women who exemplify modesty, intelligence, and integrity. They are the counter counterculture—and not a minute too soon."Townhall.com
/ref> Shalit's second book, '' Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self-Respect and Find It's Not Bad to Be Good'', was released on June 26, 2007.

Books

* '' A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue'' (1999) * '' Girls Gone Mild: Young Rebels Reclaim Self-Respect and Find It's Not Bad to Be Good'' (2007) * '' The Good Girl Revolution: Young Rebels with Self-Esteem and High Standards'' (2008)

References

External links

*
GirlsGoneMild.com

Slate Panel:

Pornified ''Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families'' (alternately titled ''Pornified: How Pornography Is Damaging Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families'') is a 2005 book by American writer Pamela ...

and Female Chauvinist Pigs
ModestlyYours Blog

Interview with Wendy Shalit, online from CBC Words at Large (audio)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shalit, Wendy 1975 births Living people American expatriate writers in Canada American women non-fiction writers Female critics of feminism Jewish American writers Jewish women writers Writers from Milwaukee Williams College alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American Jews