What does it really mean for a woman to be free? And how can we understand consent when we don't yet know what we're consenting to?

In this episode of Women Reading Confessions, philosopher Abigail L. Rosenthal and Amanda Horgan explore the relationship between consent, female vulnerability, and the realities of living in a woman's body.

Reading from Confessions of a Young Philosopher, Abigail begins with the Jewish people's covenant with God, a historical partnership grounded in consent, responsibility, and the preservation of lived experience. Amanda draws an unexpected connection to Abigail's own experiences as a young woman in Paris, where romantic expectations and sexual innocence raised difficult questions about what genuine consent means.

Their conversation challenges the idea that women's freedom can be understood apart from the physical and social realities of female life. Abigail reflects on sexuality, pregnancy, the expectations placed on women, and the vulnerability that persists even when society insists that women are as free and invulnerable as men.

The discussion also returns to Jewish history, the meaning of being a chosen people, and the troubling persistence of antisemitism in the modern world.

Through personal experience and philosophical reflection, Abigail and Amanda ask what it means to recognize vulnerability without surrendering freedom, and to face the realities of life without denying them.

Read Confessions of a Young Philosopher by Abigail L. Rosenthal:
https://a.co/d/1ypibqo

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Join the discussion and explore a life lived philosophically.

Get the book, Confessions of a Young Philosopher: https://a.co/d/1ypibqo

Explore more about Confessions of a Young Philosopher.

Dr. Abigail L. Rosenthal is a distinguished philosopher, educator and author of Confessions of a Young Philosopher, (following the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau, but from a woman’s perspective, with illustrations) and of A Good Look At Evil, Pulitzer-nominated.

Through her platform, Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column, Abigail engages her audience with thought-provoking blogs and podcasts, discussing among other things the fascinating intricacies of women’s lives and shedding light on contemporary experience. Her philosophical and other articles span a wide range of topics which can be found in academia. She is also the editor of The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes’s Secret; Spinoza’s Way by Henry M. Rosenthal, her late father.