The Mom Weekly Volume 42: May 21, 2024
Note:
I’m actually setting aside my previously scheduled weekly because of some current news. I had started to write about this topic, and I’ll share some of this below, but because of my injury the other day (the UK hiking advance team will sadly be returning to the US early), I’m not able to give this as much bandwidth as I otherwise might. That’s why I’m so grateful a number of younger Catholic women have stepped up to address this topic, and I encourage you to read these.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
About the Manosphere
The thing going viral recently, at least in Catholic circles? The commencement speech of Harrison Butker at Benedictine College. It’s gotten a lot of press and criticism for so many things. I am almost speechless about how to address this.
I really dislike giving oxygen to noxious ideas, and especially when those ideas/takes/etc go viral, but so much of this embarrassed for him and for Benedictine. Oy vey.
Here is the entire text of it, and you can see how all over the map he is.
I’m so grateful that quite a few young Catholic women and families have addressed this, and so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Claire of Letters from a Catholic Feminist had one of the most sensitive and nuanced treatments of it: Am I Being Harrison Butker? This is behind the paywall, but honestly, for anyone who wants to read this, please send me a note (you can just reply to this email and I will get the messages) and I will gift you a month-long subscription so you can read it and her other work. And you might decide to subscribe yourself. She’s just that good.
Emily Stimpson Chapman removed the paywall from her series on the Catholic Manosphere, with a treatment of the Butler speech.
Emily Stimpson Chapman—The Heresies of the Manosphere: Part 2.5
“In small doses, this kind of stuff can seem so silly and fringe. But in online Catholic circles, it is not coming in small doses anymore. There is a deep, unhealthy, and unCatholic reactionary spirit in many corners of the Internet today. And that deep, unhealthy, and unCatholic reactionary spirit is not staying online. It’s bleeding out into the real world, affecting men, women, relationships, and families. This is why I have spent the past month talking about the Manosphere—about what it is and why it’s problematic.”
What is Red Pill and the Manosphere and Why Catholics Should Care—Two Become Family podcast.
This is a very engaging conversation from a young married couple about these concepts and why you should pay attention to them—it’s a eally worthwhile listen.
I think these younger (at least younger than me) Catholics are raising concerns with the manosphere because it’s become much more common in Catholic circles, especially among very young men. And I think that the adults in the room, especially more mature ones—both in years and in emotional maturity—have a responsibility to the boys and young men (and also young women) in our lives to help them understand why this worldview is essentially incompatible with a robust Catholic life, and why it is so bad for them, their loved ones, and any relationships they have.
What’s so sinister about this is, as Claire Swinarski puts it, the truth is braided in with the lies. And because of that, it becomes very easy for people who have antipathy towards Catholicism have further ammunition to ignore or dislike anything Catholic. And that further divides our culture.
Anyway, there’s a lot of food for thought here.
Finally, I noticed that Harrison Butker is 28 years old. He’s a baby!
I wouldn’t want the dumbest things I said at 28 years old to be repeated. I am sure I had a lot of goofy ideas about things, but fortunately I did not have a platform to “go viral” not that existed back when I was young. But seeing his tender age, I think, where are the adults in the room? Was the speech vetted or fact-checked in any way?
Interesting/notable
The Godfather of American Comedy—interesting profile of Albert Brooks
An action item: Make a “Summer List”
We used to do this when you kids were younger—make a list of all the things that we wanted to do during the summer—what books do you want to read; movies/shows you might want to watch; recipes you want to make; places that you’d like to go.
I have not yet started one, but I’m setting a timer for two minutes and writing down a few:
*try out Ardor for lunch (I’ve never been!)
*half- day hike
*re-watch Elizabeth Gaskell adaptations (Wives & Daughters, North & South; not Cranford as I did so recently)
*complete Anthony Trollope’s Palliser novels (I am currently on “The Prime Minister”
*make something other than pizza in the pizza oven
*try out sourdough for making pizza dough, naan, and other recipes
*host a “game afternoon” (or evening) for women friends
That’s pretty good for two minutes! I encourage you to give it a try.
What are you doing this weekend?
So, now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).