I have an Orthodox friend who married a dancer. A real dancer, not a stripper. When he tells Orthodox guys that his wife is a dancer, they always react, "Like on a pole?"
When done right, Orthodoxy develops a reverence for sex missing in most men, but some of the time traditional Orthodoxy — where people don’t marry for love — seems to develop a barbaric view of sex devoid of feelings.
I’m reading a terrific 2005 book called "Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels."
It’s by a secular Jewish woman getting her PhD in Sociology — Hella Winston.
"Leah also now receives phone calls from men who are still living in her old [Satmar] community, and who want to get together with her, assuming that because she has left that way of life, she must be a "whore" — or at least a madam, willing to put them in touch with other women who might be interested in sex. Leah finds herself having to explain to these men that changing her style of dress and growing her hair does not mean she has no morals or values. In fact, she explains, her values are clearer and stronger than they ever were, and she has more respect for herself today than she did when she was living in the community." (Pg. 143, 144)
