Spaghetti straps on little girls' First Communion dresses

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You may disagree with someone and say so but kindly refrain from being personal with your comments.
Stop being personal with me. I will decide how I post. If you feel that you don’t like how I post, please don’t reply to me. It is as simple as that. What you are doing is sounding like a hypocrite here by telling me to not be personal while being personal yourself in publicly telling me this.

Also, I discussed a position. The position is in error and I stand by my charge. There is nothing wrong with that as I already explained. Now unless you have something valuable to add to the discussion after reading my post, please don’t interrupt by trying to put me down.
 
Perhaps you should make an attempt to understand what WH was trying to say and not throw accusations at him/her? A discussion is not about everyone agreeing with everything you say.

Most people (and certainly not 8 year old girls and their parents) are not out to tempt anyone. WH was I believe, saying it was wrong to make young girls feel ashamed of their bodies by criticising their dress blaming them and their dress for tempting boys, or to that effect.
Why don’t you read the rest of the posts, including WH’s reply to me. It was very clear that the person has a bone to pick with the Church. She plainly said that she felt the Church made women in to victims.

So with all due respect, I defend the Church and I stand by it. This is also not a thread about me, yes? So please stick to the topic. If you continue to make this thread about ME, then I will have to report you to the mods.
 
People who look at 8 year old girls in such a way as to be tempted should get counselling and therapy.
I’m on the side of no-spaghetti straps for my daughter, but it has NOHTHING to do with believing if she were to wear them, she’d be some sort of little-girl-temptress.

I completely agree with you. That is just sick.
 
That 8 year old is the same child that will grow up to be a 21 year old and argue that it is ok to dress that way because that is how she used to always dress.

Now please, I am not sure where you just decided to drop in and thought you can just make claims like that but I would appreciate it if you read all my posts before giving me little sound bites. Otherwise, its really not worth my time to address your posts.
Unfortunately, I wasted time reading your posts too. It is not up to you to determine whether I can post and what I post. You appear to have a big problem with anyone disagreeing with you or even questioning your views. It really does not matter to me if you do not address my posts as I have observed how you “discuss”.
 
I’m on the side of no-spaghetti straps for my daughter, but it has NOHTHING to do with believing if she were to wear them, she’d be some sort of little-girl-temptress.

I completely agree with you. That is just sick.
👍 yup
 
I’m on the side of no-spaghetti straps for my daughter, but it has NOHTHING to do with believing if she were to wear them, she’d be some sort of little-girl-temptress.

I completely agree with you. That is just sick.
Yes, it is.
 
It was very clear that the person has a bone to pick with the Church. She plainly said that she felt the Church made women in to victims.

.
Which post? I do not recall her plainly stating anything of the sort.
 
Why don’t you read the rest of the posts, including WH’s reply to me. It was very clear that the person has a bone to pick with the Church. She plainly said that she felt the Church made women in to victims.

So with all due respect, I defend the Church and I stand by it. This is also not a thread about me, yes? So please stick to the topic. If you continue to make this thread about ME, then I will have to report you to the mods.
Please do not threaten me. You have made personal comments to and about others and complain when you are called up on that… You have made this about you and you being right about everything you say.
 
Please do not threaten me. You have made personal comments to and about others and complain when you are called up on that… You have made this about you and you being right about everything you say.
I only analyzed personal situations when people stated that they anecdotal evidence from their lives. I neither said anything from my personal life or gave any anecdotal evidence. So for you to make this personal is in-fact a violation of forum rules.

I kind ask again to refrain from personally attacking me.
 
I am not sure what is unclear to you. A culture that valued modesty for a thousand years has a more refined set of values on how to be modest. A smaller culture within a large culture that is hostile to modesty and that has only less than 100 years of history is relatively inferior to the other cultures values.

As for what you should pick, it depends on how counter cultural you are willing to be. If you want the best possible, you will most likely have to pick values from an older culture. But that will alienate you from your current society and you might feel uncomfortable yourself. So it is up to you.

I think what you are confusing is that I want a blanket society where every individual is modest. That is incorrect. Rather, we speak of the attitude of a society as a whole. Most Christian societies and even some non-Christian societies of the past held modesty as an important element of their social values. Did some deviate? Of course. But that does not matter because the deviant values are shunned and eliminated very quickly in these societies.

The current Western society is a different beast. There is no modesty requirement and any deviant value set is allowed to thrive.

Now you are being circular by trying to go from the details. As I said before, the bubble has to be a society. My question to you is how does this society achieve its bubble within this hostile larger society? What gives them the necessary isolation of thought to encourage, help and correct each other? If such a social structure does not exist, your bubble society probably does not exist either.

I don’t know. Because so far, you keep speaking about a bubble but give no indication as to where it exists, who founded it or anything else for that matter. All I see is just random claims that a bubble exist 🤷

As I said, I don’t know because there is no reason to even think such a bubble exist from the information you have given. But a hypothetical social structure, like a town filled with people who do strive to be modest as a whole while not discarding the values it had from before can indeed form a bubble and may have even progressed organically with refinement. But if this bubble is a dispersed community, then it most likely is not a bubble or even have a culture that it can call its own. It is more likely that each person in this society wants to be modest and has come up with what they think is the best way possible. That is obviously not what we are speaking about here.

As I said before, until more detail as to the location, the proximity of the individuals engaged in the culture and its founders are revealed, all I see is speculation and sweeping claims. It sounds more and more to me like a dispersed group of individuals who perhaps have enrolled in a “Modesty club”. As great as it is on its own and intent, it is not really a culture. It cannot grow organically as a whole because its members are far dispersed. There will most likely be no correction mechanisms involved either because none of the members will feel comfortable enough to correct each other due to the dispersed nature of the relationship. Even in the event that one is corrected, the other person might just choose to leave the society and form their own subculture.

This is why we usually consider society as a whole as more superior in the development of such values. In such large societies, those who try to deviate are forced to adapt because they cannot go outside and form another subculture by recruiting others. It is less likely that others exist with the same mindset or are willing to go against the social pressure. But in today’s Western world, your bubble will leak members and subcultures out in to society because there are enough confused members and lack of social pressure to conform to values.

Now I understand that this is a very complex topic that not only deals with modesty but on value propagation in general. I am only going in to this level of detail because you asked. If you want to understand this issue, you have to grow in your understanding of value of propagation and understand how a culture comes in to be. It may also prove important to learn the various teachings of the Church about the topic of culture and values.
I am not going to give you details of the whereabouts of this society because I do not want you to have any idea of what the particular standards of modest dress in this society are. And, again, I assure you this is not a widely spread out community so your claims against such a widely-spread out community do not at all apply. Again, does this community fit your definition of a modest community whose standards of dress we can look at to help determine what the universal standard of modesty is? If you need more information, what specifically, is the further information that you need?
 
I’m on the side of no-spaghetti straps for my daughter, but it has NOHTHING to do with believing if she were to wear them, she’d be some sort of little-girl-temptress.

I completely agree with you. That is just sick.
👍
 
I am not going to give you details of the whereabouts of this society because I do not want you to have any idea of what the particular standards of modest dress in this society are. And, again, I assure you this is not a widely spread out community so your claims against such a widely-spread out community do not at all apply. Again, does this community fit your definition of a modest community whose standards of dress we can look at to help determine what the universal standard of modesty is? If you need more information, what specifically, is the further information that you need?
Well for starters
  1. Founders
  2. Location
  3. Population size
  4. Proximity of members of the society
would be good to know.

Otherwise what you are saying is similar to “There is a society X in Lala land that is modest. What do you think?”
 
Well for starters
  1. Founders
  2. Location
  3. Population size
  4. Proximity of members of the society
would be good to know.

Otherwise what you are saying is similar to “There is a society X in Lala land that is modest. What do you think?”
I’m curious why you need to know the founders and location, I don’t really see what they have to do with anything… well, I guess thats not true, the founders do to some extent, but only because they have to be people who truly cared about modesty and continued the tradition of modesty from the past cultures that goes back however many thousands of years, no?

As for population size and proximity of members, its pretty much all contained in one town, so its not huge, but the members are, like I already told you, very close together, your problems of being spread out do not at all apply.
 
My daughter is doing her FHC this weekend. Her dress had spaghetti straps but the dress was perfect in length and every other way. I asked them to remove the spaghetti straps and sew on capped sleeves that cover her shoulders. I was very glad they were able to accommodate me. 👍
 
I get a bit concerned when I see criticism of a woman’s outfit include “no sense of shame” or other such expressions. I think “shaming” a woman is an ineffective and cruel way to gain compliance in matters of modesty. It ends up sending a wrong message, namely that she should be ashamed of her body, or at least certain body parts, and she would be holier if she could completely hide her body which offends others. Women’s bodies seem to incite lust, jealousy or anger so much that it is a wonder that ANY woman could ever have a healthy appreciation for her body.
We do not dress modestly because our bodies are shameful.
Rather, we dress modestly because our bodies are holy, and we do not expose that which is holy to what is profane.

Little girls, and women of all ages need to be loved into modest dress. They need to see why we protect what is precious to us, and our bodies are our first examples of that. Nobody should be made to feel ashamed of their body.
Although self-loathing and the shames surrounding it are to be avoided at all costs, there is a ditch on the other side of that road, the vice called vanity, in which also lurks shames because one’s body is not fit to compete in vanity’s meat markets. Even when there is no insecurity involved, pride is still a vice and a spiritual fault, they didn’t take it off the books. You do agree that anyone who has reached the age of reason can sin out of vanity, right? (There are people who don’t think that sins really count as sins until one is old enough to be beyond the reach of juvenile hall, but I don’t think there are many at CA.)

I’m not saying this with regards to spaghetti straps on girls under ten–I do not find a problem with little boys under eight or ten wearing shorts in church or little girls of that age wearing dresses much more “revealing” than would be appropriate in formal church attire for anyone closer to adolescence. I don’t think that the suits used by either gender in competitive swimming are cut that way in order to tempt towards lust. I’m saying it with regards to this whole “don’t be ashamed of your body” thing. We have to be very careful that when we say “don’t be ashamed of your body” that we do not mean “don’t hesitate to put your body on display” or “it’s OK to dress in order to garner particular attention for yourself” or “you are in a looks competition with every other girl who is out in public with you, and you must not suffer by comparison.” Shame about your body lies in both ditches. Pride lies in wait in both ditches, too, to be frank. A healthy sense of self-respect and a high regard for others is in the middle course.

No, instead I would point out that traditionally those on the center stage of rituals in a Catholic church cover themselves in the modesty not of lust prevention–for a pre-adolescent?!? Ick!–but in the modesty of moderation and care in both dress and grooming for the celebration of liturgy. We dress with a different care for worship than for swimming, because the goals are entirely different. If liturgy were first about comfort and efficiency, then vestments would be optional in hot weather, wouldn’t they? I’m thinking so…what priest would want a stole around his neck when it was in the triple digits, let alone an alb?

Presuming the bishop gives this discretion to his priests, which bishops normally do, excepting perhaps for liturgies where the bishop himself will be presiding, it seems to me that this falls into a realm where it is the pastor’s office to decide what the norm for moderate formal attire ought to be for that time of year in his parish and the example the Church ought to set, and that he is competent to decide the age at which dresses well above the knee and sleeveless dresses are either no longer moderate or no longer formal. If it were my decision, I’d ask for a standard somewhat older than for a normal Sunday when the occasion is First Holy Communion, because it is a rite of passage.

Let’s all admit, however, that this is the bishop’s decision, or if he deems fit (as he usually does), the pastor’s. We can have our opinions all we want, but excepting the little girls at our own houses, these are the pastor’s cats to herd, not our own. OK, grandparents and the parishioners or staff members helping to organize the liturgies can throw their two cents in, but they’d better realize that as long as they are within what their pastors dictate, the parents have the call.
 
Although self-loathing and the shames surrounding it are to be avoided at all costs, there is a ditch on the other side of that road, the vice called vanity, in which also lurks shames because one’s body is not fit to compete in vanity’s meat markets. Even when there is no insecurity involved, pride is still a vice and a spiritual fault, they didn’t take it off the books. You do agree that anyone who has reached the age of reason can sin out of vanity, right? (There are people who don’t think that sins really count as sins until one is old enough to be beyond the reach of juvenile hall, but I don’t think there are many at CA.)
What exactly IS the sin of vanity though?

I don’t believe that taking care of yourself, being happy with your appearance, and thinking you look pretty is a sin of vanity. To my understanding, the sin of vanity is something that happens when we put appearances ABOVE other more important things. Such as not wanting to have any children for fear it’ll change your body. That’s one good example I can think of. But shaving your legs, working out, putting on a pretty outfit/makeup, and looking at yourself in the mirror with approval? No… that cannot be vanity.

What do you think?

I feel the same way about the sin of pride too. The sin of pride cannot be about reaching a great achievement and feeling happy with yourself after all the hard work you put towards it. I see the sin of pride as being more about self absorption. Like feeling you’re better than other people, or refusing to apologize or admit you’re wrong.

What do you think?

To me, the sin of vanity and pride have little to do with simply feeling content with ourselves… and more to do with taking it all a few steps too far to the point where it becomes detrimental to ourselves and/or others.
 
What exactly IS the sin of vanity though?

I don’t believe that taking care of yourself, being happy with your appearance, and thinking you look pretty is a sin of vanity. To my understanding, the sin of vanity is something that happens when we put appearances ABOVE other more important things. Such as not wanting to have any children for fear it’ll change your body. That’s one good example I can think of. But shaving your legs, working out, putting on a pretty outfit/makeup, and looking at yourself in the mirror with approval? No… that cannot be vanity.

What do you think?

I feel the same way about the sin of pride too. The sin of pride cannot be about reaching a great achievement and feeling happy with yourself after all the hard work you put towards it. I see the sin of pride as being more about self absorption. Like feeling you’re better than other people, or refusing to apologize or admit you’re wrong.

What do you think?

To me, the sin of vanity and pride have little to do with simply feeling content with ourselves… and more to do with taking it all a few steps too far to the point where it becomes detrimental to ourselves and/or others.
I think the question is this: When you groom yourself and select your clothing, do you do it for yourself, or for others? Are you upset when you are asked to dress for someone else, instead according to what you want? Are you just as happy with your looks when you are placed next to someone who is more beautiful? Are you happy with their efforts, or do you feel put down? Are you just as happy with the achievements of others as with your own? Do you think all great achievements ought to be celebrated no less than if they were your own? Do you want to be recognized for what you do? Why? Is there a good reason, such as wanting guidance about what efforts please others and whether you are meeting the expectations for your place on a “team”, or do you want “payment” beyond the payment of having done well at something worthwhile? If someone else is praised and you are not, do you feel hurt or insulted or left out? Would you ever avoid giving yourself something nice because you know those around you can’t afford it, and you don’t want them to feel left out or lacking in comparison to what you have, or do you secretly want others to look up to the things you have accumulated and the things you can have done for you?

I think taking care of yourself can be vanity–it is more the attitude than the action itself–but that not taking care of ourselves can also be a vanity. The vanity of that attitude is “why should I care what other people think? Why should I put myself out to dress to please anyone but myself? If I don’t want to groom myself, why is that anyone’s business but mine?” Instead of having an undue thirst for the approval of others, the slovenly proud have a contempt for the approval of others. That is a form of pride, too. The idea is to care about making life pleasant for everyone and, in the case of liturgy, to make the event to especially turn all eyes to God in how we prepare and how we conduct ourselves. We put others first because we tend to give too much weight to our own perspective otherwise. If we really do “love our neighbors as ourselves”, though, then yes, we’ll care the same about our own looks as for anyone else’s.
 
I think the question is this:
Wow… lot’s of questions. Ok. I will answer each one.
When you groom yourself and select your clothing, do you do it for yourself, or for others?
Hm, I guess I don’t really think that much into it. I select my clothing according to the occasion. Obviously I try to pick out something that I think looks nice, so naturally I think others would think it looks good too. I don’t open up my closet in the morning and thing “hm, should I wear something for myself or for someone else?”
Are you upset when you are asked to dress for someone else, instead according to what you want?
You mean like a uniform for work or school or whatever? No, uniforms have never upset me. It makes things easier actually.
Are you just as happy with your looks when you are placed next to someone who is more beautiful?
Unfortunately, no. 😦
Self esteem and self confidence is something we should all strive for and I’m not always perfect. I have my insecurities, unfortunately.
Are you happy with their efforts, or do you feel put down?
I don’t necessarily feel “put down.” I don’t feel angry towards them or anything. I actually admire them and only wish I could look that good. I saw a gorgeous girl at the gym 2 days ago. I swear she was like a clone of Megan Fox. I obviously didn’t stare, because that’s rude… but I did see her and admired her beauty and wished that I could have some of the features she had. But there was no resentment involved or anything like that.
Are you just as happy with the achievements of others as with your own?
I don’t really understand this question… :confused:
You mean like do I feel happy for a loved one when they achieve something great? Yeah, if that’s what you mean, then yes I absolutely feel very happy for them. Naturally I would probably feel more happy with my own achievements since it’s my life, but of course I feel happy for others too.
Do you think all great achievements ought to be celebrated no less than if they were your own?
Yes
Do you want to be recognized for what you do?
I think so…
Probably because it’s natural to want to feel appreciated.
Is there a good reason, such as wanting guidance about what efforts please others and whether you are meeting the expectations for your place on a “team”, or do you want “payment” beyond the payment of having done well at something worthwhile?
Lol I’m not sure. This question seems very much in the realm of business or career or something. And I am not a career women and don’t even have a job right now since my husband joined the AF. I don’t really think about the above too much, so I don’t know.
If someone else is praised and you are not, do you feel hurt or insulted or left out?
If I felt that I worked really hard and did a good job, then yeah… I’d probably feel a little hurt for being overlooked. But it wouldn’t shatter me or anything. I think some of these questions would be better suited for ambitious career people.
Would you ever avoid giving yourself something nice because you know those around you can’t afford it, and you don’t want them to feel left out or lacking in comparison to what you have,
Hm… I don’t know, that’s never happened before. Would I keep from buying a nice car or a nice outfit if I lived in a poor neighborhood? Probably not. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to show it off or talk about it or anything either. I’d keep it on the down low.
or do you secretly want others to look up to the things you have accumulated and the things you can have done for you?
Lol, these questions are hard for me to answer because I’ve never had a ton of money and I’ve never been able to afford fancier things than those around me. I would like to think I wouldn’t.
I think taking care of yourself can be vanity–it is more the attitude than the action itself–but that not taking care of ourselves can also be a vanity. The vanity of that attitude is “why should I care what other people think? Why should I put myself out to dress to please anyone but myself? If I don’t want to groom myself, why is that anyone’s business but mine?” Instead of having an undue thirst for the approval of others, the slovenly proud have a contempt for the approval of others. That is a form of pride, too. The idea is to care about making life pleasant for everyone and, in the case of liturgy, to make the event to especially turn all eyes to God in how we prepare and how we conduct ourselves. We put others first because we tend to give too much weight to our own perspective otherwise. If we really do “love our neighbors as ourselves”, though, then yes, we’ll care the same about our own looks as for anyone else’s.
I agree with the above… though perhaps you and I wouldn’t necessarily always agree on specifically WHAT would be considered vanity/pride. I think it’s a hard thing to gauge. I probably wouldn’t say it’s always vanity not to care what others think about your appearance. Generally, that my be true… but then I think of St Francis of Assisi… who walked down the street nude and then dressed in rags and was shunned for it by his society (at least for a while). And I think he didn’t seem to care about how others think he looks.

Anyway, the point I was trying to get across was this:

There certainly are fundamentalist type Christians out there who take vanity/pride very literally. They are not allowed to wear colors and they are not allowed to participate in competitive sports… because to them, that’s vanity and pride. Luckily we are Catholic and we don’t think this way. At least not the most of us. 😉
 
My daughter is doing her FHC this weekend. Her dress had spaghetti straps but the dress was perfect in length and every other way. I asked them to remove the spaghetti straps and sew on capped sleeves that cover her shoulders. I was very glad they were able to accommodate me. 👍
:thumbsup:Way to go.

I guess I don’t seem why having females cover their shoulders is such a big deal.

Why do women want to bare their shoulders? I’m not talking about First Communicants, but older women. If men wear sleeveless shirts, they are either working out or dressed like a slob. Why Is it different with women?
 
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