I wanted to publicly comment on "The Man's Weekend," the male-only retreat held this weekend. While I admire many people involved in the planning and organization, and respect and support the choice to have a male-only retreat, I am greatly disturbed by the publicity for this event.
I was unaware that being a true male required having pig roasts and liking football. Dovetailing off of some of your publicity stunts, Jesus definitely would not participate in a pig roast, for obvious reasons, and I cannot say that the violent nature of football, a sport that I, myself, often enjoy, is something that Christ would have necessarily supported.
But all kidding aside, I am surprised that characters like James Bond, the Godfather and Homer Simpson were displayed on the Web site for this event, presumably representing "true men."
I know that there are many things men need to discuss in terms of their spirituality, especially with relation to their sex. But I don't think that those issues are best modeled by people who are proud womanizers or violently murder others. Moreover, I was not aware that being deeply spiritual or attending retreats traditionally implied a questionable masculine identity.
I hope that this event is successful, but not simply in terms of numbers of attendees. I pray that the true meaning and importance of being a Catholic male is addressed, which means following Christ's example of humility, service and respect for all people - not just porkeaters.
Lindsey Horvathsenioroff-campusOct. 10
