Our Readers Respond
"Slutoween" scares some, amuses others and forces one reader to reach for his catechism!

Dr. Christine Whelan’s Pure Sex, Pure Love “Slutoween” column generated a good deal of responses from our readers. Many thanks to those who took the time to write in, we’ve posted a selection of your letters below.

***********

When I first read the title of your article "Slutoween" in this week's e-newsletter, I was offended, frustrated, and disappointed. I've grown weary of the numerous commentaries that come out every year around this time condescendingly decrying women for their sultry costume choices. I was happy to read on and find that you opted against the status quo and offered an original, insightful, multi-faceted analysis of the issue.

While I still don't care much for the title, I appreciated the article's attempt to look past the post-feminist clinches and take a psycho-analytical approach. Most refreshing was your ability to comment on the issue without judgment.

Thanks for the insight!

—Julia

***********

Thanks for writing this article so that I can just link it from my blog rather than having to write it myself. I thought you'd like to see this proof-positive of your point. If you have a myspace, look up what was on the main page today as the "hot video" of the day. "Dedicated to the girls that spice up Halloween". It's by Nikki Katt called "this Halloween".

Geez... I wish more feminists would hop on this BS that really matters and screws with people's minds.

—Ray

***********

Thanks for the article, Slutoween, on bustedhalo.com. I lead a class between Masses on Sunday mornings in Auburn, Alabama and this past week we discussed Halloween's past and present. The conversation will continue this week and I'm going to encourage everyone to visit the website to read your lucid and articulate treatment of the slut-i-fication (a word?!?) of Halloween. 

Very refreshing, very. 

—Cory

***********

I thought you might be interested in the following piece, which examines the "Slutoween" phenomenon that you discuss in your recent article, but with an opposite take. Here is the link: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&
friendID=59522416&blogID=324165933&indicate=1

Your column always provides a fresh, relevant take on modern relationship topics, and I look forward to reading it.

—Grace

***********

Church teaching is an essential part of informing our consciences on how we should dress, just as it is for all other parts of our lives.

The Church stresses modest dress.

Modest dress - for both men and women - respects the dignity of every person and strengthens our relationship with and love for God and each other and ourselves. Immodest dress damages the person wearing it, people who see it and people who don't, and the wearer's relationship with God. And it's inherently unloving.

This is certainly a counter-cultural message. Jesus though was so often counter-cultural and calls us to be the same, whenever the culture conflicts with His truth. He cares about every aspect of our lives. And so does the Church. And so should we. (proportionately of course)

The Catechism puts it elegantly:

"Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity.

Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.

The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.

Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate. It requires of the communications media that their presentations show concern for respect and restraint. Purity of heart brings freedom from widespread eroticism and avoids entertainment inclined to voyeurism and illusion.

So-called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom; the necessary precondition for the development of true freedom is to let oneself be educated in the moral law. Those in charge of education can reasonably be expected to give young people instruction respectful of the truth, the qualities of the heart, and the moral and spiritual dignity of man.

'The Good News of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man; it combats and removes the error and evil which flow from the ever-present attraction of sin. It never ceases to purify and elevate the morality of peoples. It takes the spiritual qualities and endowments of every age and nation, and with supernatural riches it causes them to blossom, as it were, from within; it fortifies, completes, and restores them in Christ.'" (#'s 2521-2527)

—Nathaniel

Read the original "Slutoween" article.

Comments to: editor@bustedhalo.com.