Are Catholic women required to be beautiful?

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I hear you. But it’s Instagram… it is shallow by definition since the pictures are all there is posted. Even if you put pictures of icons and they can be stared at as beautiful art, is it really evangelizing?
In addition…
This girl is probably young and misguided. The fact is if you put pictures of yourself on the net there is no way to control what everyone is doing with your pictures and what a “like” actually means. And your privacy is gone. And any guy can just pretend to be converted by you to get to you. Internet fame is very dangerous imho to the average individual who does not have an army of bodyguards, PR employees, lawyers, to defend you in case of net-aggression.
I pray God wises her up and keeps her safe or takes her back to safety.
 
There is the danger that her image could be used by internet romance scammers looking to hook lonely people into a scam.

These scammers use the pictures of attractive people as bait to lure lonely individuals into an online romance and once the victim is hooked, start asking them for money. What the victim does not know, is that the person he is corresponding with is not a sweet devout Catholic girl in the picture but a Nigerian man.

Lots of people have been scammed.
 
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I am so confused by the woman you linked.

On the one hand the veil is supposed to be a symbol of humility, isn’t it?

On the other she posts so many pictures that are clearly vanity driven.

So is she humble or vain? SO CONFUSED.

As for you. Catholic women ARE beautiful. Every last one. Societies definition of beauty is just that… it’s a human construct and means little in the eyes of God.

We should look at each other with the same eyes God sees us with. We are each daughters and sons and deeply loved.
 
Lots of people are spiritually hideous.
 
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Good point. I’ve met a few. Haha.

Let me rephrase: We were all created to BE beautiful. But beauty isn’t what’s outside, it truly is what’s inside. I know that’s cliche but I believe it 100%
 
Virtue creates beauty in all forms because it leads to health, physical, spiritual, and psychological health.

Sin and disorder on the other hand disfigures us.
 
somecanadian said:
I am so confused by the woman you linked.

On the one hand the veil is supposed to be a symbol of humility, isn’t it?

On the other she posts so many pictures that are clearly vanity driven.

So is she humble or vain? SO CONFUSED.
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She sells veils. She is advertising in addition to everything else. I’m not sure vanity is the right word for it.
 
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If she were a little old lady who did wedding photography, sold veils and had some mastery of Instagram, would we be asking the same questions?
 
 
somecanadian said:
I am so confused by the woman you linked.

On the one hand the veil is supposed to be a symbol of humility, isn’t it?
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They are selling veils, and as such they are trying to put the product in the best possible light to encourage gals to say “I like that look” and pull out their credit cards.
 
Calliope said:
I looked at a bunch of those photos and honestly they don’t come across as very Catholic or glorifying God. It’s a woman who knows she is sexually attractive and apparently gets someone to take photos of her in Church alot, and receiving communion. Like WHO DOES THAT? What normal person gets someone set up to take photos of them receiving communion bent over with their backsides poking out?
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She’s a photographer who has a video camera set up for a wedding. She isn’t having anyone taking pictures of her, she captured a still from a video.

And how else do you perform a bow? If I don’t bow like that I either look like I’m just bobbing my head or I throw my back out. I swear I’m just going to go back to making the sign of the cross if people are going to be judging my posture like you are.
 
As a Catholic, it’s better to be feminine. You have a great deal of respect for those Saints and that is good. I’m not sure your argument works though. When women chose to be nuns, they would cut their hair and wear a habit. I doubt they were perceived as masculine while wearing their habits. I think it was more of a means to an end.

There is still a lot you would need to write to disprove my basic suggestion that we women should strive to be as feminine as possible within our personalities. Besides, it’s much more enjoyable for all.
 
Im not querying really about the veils though,selling them,or photography in general etc…
It’s more specifically my confusion about the “showy” style of the photos (in a Catholic setting and context) and the potential messages sent regarding equating Catholicism/catholic women with another form of external beauty goals /ideas -(there’s a lot of that physical beauty aspiration message already in worldly things).

Regarding little old lady,and to get the focus off purity the linked Instagram girl,there are Catholic websites out there that are actually doing the same thing(same message) which potentially are run by a little old lady.
For example there is a website called Truecatholicfemininity which is full of the similar images of very feminine beautiful women and drawing a connection between Catholic femininity and this “external”.
 
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The requirement of beauty is not in the Catechism.
 
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Rozellelily said:
It’s more specifically my confusion about the “showy” style of the photos
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She’s a photographer, this is her art. She likes pretty things. She has a medium to share them.
Rozellelily said:
(in a Catholic setting and context)
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This is her niche.
Rozellelily said:
the potential messages sent regarding equating Catholicism/catholic women with another form of external beauty goals /ideas -(there’s a lot of that physical beauty aspiration message already in worldly things).
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She’s one person. She is not going to change the perception of Catholic women in a significant way from her pictures alone. Someone up thread said that Instagram was shallow because it’s all pictures and neither is 100% true; not everything on social media is shallow otherwise politicians, organizations, and movements wouldn’t use them. Nor is it “just pictures”, not by a long shot. Never mind text posts, let’s consider the captions and comments. The captions can be one pithy word or a long paragraph about the backstory of a photo. Then there are the comments, they can be illuminating and if an account has enough followers the comments it’s even better.

Catholics thinking that Catholics need to eschew social media altogether is shortsighted; if Catholics aren’t creating or inventing it we need to keep up and use what is out there for good. St. Maximilian Kolbe was a believer in using the latest technology to evangelize. The woman whose IG you featured is doing that. And I think she is authentic in how she is doing it. She’s a beautiful woman. She likes beautiful things. She shouldn’t have to pretend to be something else. She isn’t Mother Theresa. She isn’t St. Gianna.
Rozellelily said:
For example there is a website called Truecatholicfemininity which is full of the similar images of very feminine beautiful
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And sensual. I found a lot of the images on that site rather sensual. I wonder what men would think of some of them, especially if you take them out of the context of that blog. About half would not suggest anything Catholic, spiritual nor holy. They are feminine and beautiful, yes but also secular and sensual; which is not a bad thing but I don’t think comparing them makes the point you want to make.
 
@bruisedreed,

Personally I can’t see much difference between those linked Instagrams photos and a lot of the photos on the truecatholicfemininity website.They both seem a bit sensual-one just adds in mantilla’s and Church location settings.

Personally I agree with you about Catholics and social media.
We live in the technology era and while some people may choose to forgo it,it won’t make it go away and it’s here to stay.
Bruised_Reed said:
Rozellelily:
(in a Catholic setting and context)
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Doesn’t a line though have to be drawn somewhere between self promotion (business) and Catholic Christian spirituality?
I run a business too and ,while I considered the idea, personally I never chose to go into selling spiritual related stuff of any kind because I didn’t trust myself that I personally could always fully separate business from Christianity and keep the focus on God.
Business (and women in business) in itself is great,but should a church become a venue for business promotion?
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Rozellelily said:
Doesn’t a line though have to be drawn somewhere between self promotion (business) and Catholic Christian spirituality?
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It depends.
Rozellelily said:
I run a business too and ,while I considered the idea, personally I never chose to go into selling spiritual related stuff of any kind because I didn’t trust myself that I personally could always fully separate business from Christianity and keep the focus on God.
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Not everyone has the same opportunity. If someone leads with their faith they might risk alienating potential clients/customers (friends) and only gain a fraction for the same reason. You will never please everyone as her example shows; she is sharing her faith in her own, (I believe) authentic way, and you find fault. All the better reason to do what works for her instead of worrying what others think. Trying to protray Catholic femininity how others imagine is a better way would only make her fake and still not be Catholic enough or “something” enough for someone.

I think her laying up her beauty, wearing make-up is more modest than someone putting on a dress they sewed from a 50s pattern and doing something domestic. One is very current and the other kind of playing at something.

The rest of us have to keep these things separate, and some more separate than others. In my case, it’s my preference.
 
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Rozellelily said:
Personally I can’t see much difference between those linked Instagrams photos and a lot of the photos on the truecatholicfemininity website.They both seem a bit sensual-one just adds in mantilla’s and Church location settings.
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Just one huge difference: Her joy and her reverence. Is that two differences? Anyway, the images and the text echo the other. As far as the blog, I’m still wondering how Frida Khalo fits with “true Catholic femininity”
 
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