The Lips of Woman

Morning Edition, February 24, 2009: On Fat Tuesday, there's news of the slimmest costume ever in Rio de Janeiro's Carnival parade. A samba dancer managed to dance along the Brazilian route clad only in a glittery silver headdress, silver arm bands and a G-string measuring barely an inch wide. Before, the thinnest G-string on a samba dancer was 1 1/2 inches.

The letter Hey/5 in the Hebrew alphabet signifies woman; the letter looks like a house with a window: h. The three straight lines that make up the letter Hey/5 form two spaces called in Cabala, the lips above and the lips below. Sex, according to Chaim Vital author of the Cabala, takes place between two kisses—the kiss above and the kiss below. Lips signify speech—the outer expression of our deepest aspirations articulated into space. Though male and female share traits, only woman gives birth from the lips below, bring forth a new generation in the space of the world.

The covering of the lips is an ancient rite of modesty.