Because of their lack of experience, they have to look toward elders for the formation of opinions. Comparing women to children in this sense completely discredits all experiences they have had.
Not only is the second part of this quote a contradiction in and of itself, it sets the stage for future inconsistencies. On a more permanent level, it is impossible to give a tangible entity the qualities of an intangible one. That is comparable to personifying a spirit; it just doesn't work. Even when one stays in the philosophical realm, which is the tone that this quote is implying, a similar problem arises. A soul is usually associated with a physical body. Despite the fact that these women were seen as the purest form (a soul) of the physical, they were still of this physical form. The expectation to be the embodiment of a soul renounces all the concrete qualities that are associated with the flesh. This fact leads her to one of two fates. Either the southern white woman would have to suppress all desires caused by the flesh or she would have to be prepared to consequences of showing these desires.
A specific consequence of this high level of purity expected from the southern woman came into the realm of sex. As Kathryn Lee Seidel cites Thomas R. Drew, "she cannot give utterance to her passions and emotions like a man She is thus frequently required to suppress the most violent feelings; to put a curb on her most ardent desires, and at the same time to wear the face of contentment and ease" (Seidel, pg. 26). It could be argued that this is the basis of all the discomfort that southern white women felt in those situations. In most cases; black/white, rich/poor, it was looked down upon for women to openly embrace and/or express their sexuality. What sets southern white women apart from all these other women is that fact that they couldn't even discuss sex in a group of their peers. These women were fully aware that they were expected to remain pure.
