Throughout previous centuries, the experiences of these women have been seen primarily through the lens of Christian literature, such as homilies, Church histories, and saints’ lives. Similarly, with respect to women, it is now thought that the rise of Christianity brought with it sweeping changes, for example, in standards of morality and sexuality, but also firm continuity, for example, in law. This understanding has recently become more nuanced, and we now understand that the period was a dynamic one, involving both continuity and change. Late Antiquity and the associated rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire are often thought to be fraught with violence and radical change. Even the religious right in the US and other western nations has turned its attention away from worries about female modesty and sexual abstinence, since a number of its leaders would, on most traditional measures, be considered sexual sinners, To achieve freedom and justice, it is hard to proceed without generosity, courage, honour, and truthfulness sexual purity, on the other hand, has no clear role to play. For the left, other virtues have mattered more than chastity. A number of histories are in competition, each with its own sense of urgency. Respect and delicacy are not high priorities in public life, and sexual restraint seems the least of our worries. I write at a time when sexual harassment has finally managed to attract the attention of the wider public. Is chastity necessary? What did it mean and to whom? Should we still care about the reasons chastity has played a role in the history of moral thinking and in the complicated career of eros in literature and in life? This book argues that we should. Who cares about chastity? This is the question that motivates The Chastity Plot.
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