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Friday, August 26, 2011

Father Z gives misogyny a pass-what a surprise, not.

Every now and again the subject of girls being allowed to serve at the altar comes up on Fr. Z's blog.  Not surprisingly he always admonishes people to remain civil.  But in reality if a 'pro female server' argument comes up he is ruthless in applying his standard of civility.  But a man dissing women?  Go right ahead.

I took issue with one person who commented:
  "Seamas O Dalaigh says:
Father,
Of course it should be reversed. The sooner the better.
Cardinal Vingt-Trois’ observation makes sense. Everybody knows that little boys of a certain age do not wish to be involved in anything that includes little girls. Enter the little girls, exit fast the little boys.
There is a clear and obvious link between altar boys and vocations to the priesthood. Although the reasons for a drop in vocations are many and complex, serviettes can only have aggravated the problem.
In places where they exist what do serviettes wear? Alb and cincture? Soutanne and surplice? But these are men’s garments! Is it really wise to encourage little girls to dress as men?
(I wonder how many members of COW, sorry, WOC were once serviettes? Just a thought…)
James Daly?"

In one post (which was held for 'moderation') I called the user on it.  In a follow up post to Fr. Z I said I expect my follow up post to be deleted as I wanted to be as full on candid with him as I could be.  I, not for the first time, I might add, took him to task for permitting the inflammatory term 'serviettes' as applied to women servers.  Frankly, it comes off as something bitchy gay queens say.  I'm not saying the fellow who said it, IS one.  I am saying, that to one who is familiar with gay culture, it sends my own gaydar off the map and comes off as bitchy, spiteful, mean and nasty.
The upshot?  Z deleted both my posts, and let the nasty 'serviette' business stand.
Not that I'm especially surprised... but for such a 'rock star' Fr. Z. can be an awful ass.

update:  Here's what else passes for 'clever comment' on the blog - it's quite okay to make fun of girls who have physical problems.  But I doubt if she was a 'he' 'giggles' would get smug approval.

From Papaefidelis:
"At my parish, there was a female server who walked like a T. Rex (I think she had physical problems), causing giggles in the nave during mass."

Just a girl.  Okay to hurt her feelings.  

9 comments:

Andrew Guidroz II said...

It is a difficult situation.

The 8 AM mass at my parish had no server for years. An elderly gentleman, a Latin teacher and great proponent of the 1962 mass, encouraged my youngest daughter to become a server when she came of age to do so. I had some reservations but she was persistent. She's served now for 7 years.

Her brother, younger by 10 months, asked to become a server as well and serves as well.

Now ... our servers at all masses number closer to 40. Reverent serving, be it boy or girl, seems to have finally motivated servers. And it looks like we have our first vocation in our parish in years. A server in a later mass will enter seminary next fall.

But the numbers nationally speak pretty clearly. The largest vocation numbers come out of parishes where large numbers of young men serve.

gemoftheocean said...

Andrew, I expect in your parish, a lot of it has to do with the leadership and piety exhibited by the priests. I will grant, that there are some young boys who are reluctant to do anything with girls. For those boys, you could certainly have some all boy teams. Just don't shut the girls out, is all I ask. In those diocese where a lot of young men serve, don't forget you also have good overall catechesis. Poland, for instance, has the NO Mass, but kept the number of priests up, in part because they weren't infected by the slack kumbaya and no content teaching that went unchecked for decades in the west.

Terry said...

Any chance of seeing you a little more on UK misogynist priest blogs (if you can get a look-in)?

I complained about Father Z's ageism-horrendous photos of walking frames meant to illustrate a point but very offensive)
I visited San Diego years ago. We went to Tijuana and La Joya. Great fun.

gemoftheocean said...

Hi Terry, yeah, will be blogging more frequently now. Have missed it.

Richard Collins said...

I don't find anything mysogonistic about Fr Z. Faithful to the teachings of the church, yes.
Satirical at times but always compassionate.

pelerin said...

I agree with Richard Collins and I'm a woman.

Anonymous said...

Karen I stopped reading that blog a long time ago because of the attitude you have seen.
Sadly he isn't alone.

On the subject of boys serving with girls. All three of my sons have and do serve alongside girls and none of them have turned their noses up at the prospect. If they did they would spend some time studying a wall while they considered that both male and female have inherent dignity, and would then have to apologise to their sisters.
While I do understand some concerns about men and the priesthood, I am getting deeply tired of the "deep lace" approach to everything.

While I am no "liberal" I do know a few good, gentle and wounded people who lean heavily that way and I am increasingly fed up of seeing them mocked. One of those terrible habitless nuns they go on about is a hard working, poor people caring for and genuine holy person who saved me from a life of abuse.

Православный физик said...

My position on altar girls is well known....So no need for me to go into it.

I will say this much, from an aesthetic point of view, it looks better with "teams" of the same sex.

I would rather have a parish with altar girls and a priest who is solid an orthodox, than a parish with altar boys with a priest who is a heretic.

I really think the catechesis has been abysmal over the past 40 years, and has more to contribute to the vocations crisis than altar girls ever will have in their lifetime.

Altar girls should be the least of our worries in battles in the Church. How about we be more faithful to the teachings of the Church first before we start fighting about these things. (I include myself in this as well)

Joe of St Therese blogging under his real name now :D

priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd said...

while I prefer no females servers (and the Byzantine rite doesn't use them)- FR Z and others should be an example of Christian charity

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