When my behavior pushed my grandmother to the edge, she’d threaten to lock me up in a convent, which is odd -- since she was Jewish. She thought this would scare the rebellion out of me, but it was an idle threat since I didn’t know anything about the Roman Catholic Church (other than I was pretty sure the Holy Trinity was chili cheese fries.) If I had the tiniest inkling about how much fun they had in ancient Italian convents, I would’ve packed my bags on the double.

During the Renaissance, if a girl refused to marry the man her family selected (generally a guy who was much older and whose breath smelled worse than a sheepdogs’ scrotum in summer) she was sent away to a convent. Convents also became dumping grounds for girls who were too smart and outspoken for the time. Not surprisingly, few of these girls developed a spiritual calling. Historians have recently discovered the church’s dirty little secret. Convents were hiding places where Venice’s well-born, single girls could reside and enjoy a level of sexual freedom unheard of for that time. Instead of dank rooms with horsehair mattresses, Italian convents were like Ian Schrager hotels.

These rebellious girls enjoyed a lifestyle that would make a Harlequin Romance novelist choke on her crumpets. The church looked the other way while these girls wore high fashion, low-cut dresses, took unchaperoned gondola rides and entertained the male visitor of their choice with gourmet dinners where wine and sexual language flowed freely. Eventually the church would charge these suitors large sums of money, allowing the couple to elope and live happily ever after.

Imagine that. These girls rebelled against societies misogynistic traditions and found romantic love at a time when most women were traded like cattle. I’m grateful for rebellious girls because they paved the way for us to be able to choose who we want to marry. While history leads us to believe convents were places for punishment, these girls knew true punishment was being forced into a loveless marriage. While society has changed and convents aren’t the same as they were in the 15th century, there’s still a place where unmarried, rebellious girls are sent, only we send ourselves. It’s called Cabo San Lucas and I’m packing my bags right now.

And that’s why I’m grateful for rebellious girls.