Sex-obsessed feminist feels out of place at Catholic university
These challenges have made me bitter. Bitter about the fact that I’m consistently denied my right to do or say anything about these issues. But bitter has made me want to speak louder, it has made me want to talk about it more, listen to people’s stories, strategize, obsess, and do something about it. And as I’ve come to obsess about this, I’ve gained a bit of a reputation.
I am that girl. The girl that drives around in the bright blue car covered in liberal bumper stickers that has been dubbed by some as the “dykemobile.” The girl that always talks about that “reproductive justice” stuff. That girl that knows everything about sex. The girl you go to, and you send your friends to, for any question you may have about sex.
~ Catholic University Students for Choice co-founder Callie Otto (pictured) bemoaning the difficulty of being a radical feminist at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., Choice USA, February 20
Photo via Callie Otto’s Twitter account
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
You can’t be pro choice and Catholic
Can’t some people get sex out of their systems ???? I’ve always cringed when women would say ..Men are pigs! My fast snippy response was always And so are some women ! Eewwe the women didn’t like that. who cares?
That girl that knows everything about sex.
And nothing about love.
Right prax…as post abortive mother tina turner sang. What’s Love Got to do with it??
Heather,
I deleted one of you comments.
It was a tad too graphic.
Kick her out. Sounds as though she has no business being there. I’m sure she’ll feel less alienated and “bitter” once she’s with her fellows at a state university or liberal arts college. And then the religious institution can focus on maintaining its integrity instead of trying to take her (or her parent’s) money.
First she says she’s bitter, then she says, “Becoming that girl has been awesome…”
Well, which is it? Bitter or awesome? Because those two are mutually exclusive. You can’t be one and the other at once. Or is she just not a very good writer? Considering I found two semi-colons in that drivel and one of them used wrongly, I’m suspecting that she isn’t.
Who is it that keeps forcing these types to attend Catholic universities? Whoever it is, they really need to cut it out.
Matthew 7:21
She’s merely speaking up about things that most people don’t want to talk about because they are too tough, or too icky, or whatever. More power to her, I say.
It’s not that the issues are “tough” or “icky”. It’s that she’s going to a religious school and espousing values that are exactly contrary to what the school’s values are supposed to be. She apparently thinks the institution should have to change for her, instead of her finding a different institution that better accommodates her needs. It’s ignorant.
Why doesn’t bitterness and unhappiness turn people to be more SELF-reflective, as opposed to pointing an angry finger outward? Has it occurred to this girl for one second to take a look in the mirror and ask herself what she has done to contribute to her own unhappiness?
I really wish that these idiots who claim that they’re being “prevented from speaking” could be magically transported back in time to, say, 1938 Germany. Or heck, modern-day North Korea. THEN they could find out what “being prevented from speaking” REALLY means.
You are not being “prevented from speaking” about anything, Ms. Otto. You can speak on your blog, in public venues, on YouTube. Your problem is that you think the organization of your choice owes you a platform — but they don’t. Free speech goes both ways.
A CATHOLIC University should NOT allow any group contrary to Church Teaching on campus. That includes anything promoting sexual promiscuity and abortion!
JoAnna says:
Your problem is that you think the organization of your choice owes you a platform — but they don’t. Free speech goes both ways.
Love it!!
I’ve been in and around academia most of my adult life at both state and Catholic universities. Young people like this are a dime a dozen on every campus. It is all part of what makes campus life interesting and yes, fun. The fact that she, as a student, is free to roam campus and say pretty much whatever she may want is a testament to the catholic freedom of thought that invent universities in the first place.
In my opinion, she would most likely feel bitter, alienated by peers, oppressed or whatever at any university. Her feelings or situation likely springs from her own life experience more than anything else. At the very least she deserves our compassion as a fellow human…struggling as we all are in one way or another.
(Would somebody please post a pic of that blue car…inquiring minds want to know.)
Alice says:
February 25, 2013 at 9:51 am
First she says she’s bitter, then she says, “Becoming that girl has been awesome…”
Well, which is it? Bitter or awesome? Because those two are mutually exclusive.
I don’t know, Alice. We’ve met quite a few angry feminists who make a pastime out of being bitter. It’s sort of a hobby for them.
It’s a hobby for this gal. She could easily find a feminist school where she could relax among her own kind (Wellesley?). There’s probably a faithful Catholic or two on the Wellesley campus, ostracized for working to bring change to the culture there.
Ms. Otto would be much happier at Berkley. She chose this Catholic institution, why?? She doesn’t want to BE Catholic. She wants Catholic to become like her in all things. She doesn’t want to be part of Christ’s body on earth. She wants Christ’s body on earth to bend to her will, her ideas, her wants, her theories, her expertise.
Grow up, Ms. Otto. And leave my Church alone.
She is so “denied” her right “to say anything about” it that she drives a car with stickers saying things about it, blogs online saying things about it, and is known as that girl who is always saying things about it.
So unfair.
And faithful Catholic students feel comfortable at sex-obsessed liberal colleges every where else? You knew what you were getting into.
I just want to know how she has a car in DC….
Silly woman. She needs to stop moaning and get a life – and a new university.
Interesting, I just was reading today that a person with humility simply speaks his or her thoughts–ONCE–and leaves it at that. A proud person argues, gets loud, angry, bitter, and wonders what people think of him or her. I was thinking there are a lot of proud people in the United States, myself included. Christ was right – let your yes mean yes and your no mean no, and leave it at that. Be at peace and only strive to please God, then all other things will be taken care of. So I would say this woman is proud and not really caring about women seeking truth, just caring that they agree with HER opinion.
ha! had to laugh at her last statement about people coming to her to ask questions!
The girl you go to, and you send your friends to, for any question you may have about sex.
what a hoot~! I sincerely doubt any one is going to ask her what the weather is let alone a “sex” question
This is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time! Holy cow.
I’m agnostic, but the kids I help care for are being raised Catholic, so I sometimes end up taking them to Mass. I have never felt alienated or bitter despite being agnostic, because I recognize that other people’s beliefs are not an offense against my own and that if I find them offensive anyway I am the one with the responsibility to change – not necessarily my beliefs, but my behavior, ie, not to seek out people whose beliefs offend me. If I went to Mass and stood up and shouted about how there is no god and homosexuals deserve the right to marry and birth control is fine, and whatever else, I would not consider myself to be alienated – I woud consider myself to have alienated everybody else, by seeking out people who believe an explicitly defined set of things and then publicly opposing those things.
(Funnily enough, the only problem I’ve ever had regarding beliefs while at Mass occurred because the 6-year old wanted to go up for communion. I told him he can’t, because he isn’t ready for that yet. Of course the why’s began and I briefly oversimplified and said that you can’t take communion if you haven’t gone to confession, and prepared to say as much as I know about CCD and first communion etc, in case the why’s continued. Some woman sitting in the pew in front of us turned around and said, ‘If he wants to take communion let him take communion! What could he possibly have to confess!!” like I was the cruelest person in the world. Like I am just sitting there all day denying communion and cookies and cake to kids everywhere. Naturally, the 6-year old picked THAT moment to ask why “we” never take communion, ie because his father and I are not Catholic and he is not yet at the age of reason, and his younger brother is light years away from the age of reason. The woman gave me a look and said, “God’s grace is for everyone” and filed up for communion and I was pretty dumbfounded. I had, like, twelve billion rebuttals in mind and then I realized I don’t really care. But I still did not feel alienated.)
“Interesting, I just was reading today that a person with humility simply speaks his or her thoughts–ONCE–and leaves it at that. A proud person argues, gets loud, angry, bitter, and wonders what people think of him or her. I was thinking there are a lot of proud people in the United States, myself included. Christ was right – let your yes mean yes and your no mean no, and leave it at that. Be at peace and only strive to please God, then all other things will be taken care of. So I would say this woman is proud and not really caring about women seeking truth, just caring that they agree with HER opinion.”
Yessss, Jen! What a great reminder – Thank you! (Got a reference for what you were reading?)
There is no organization called Catholic University Students for Choice at Catholic University of America. If this young person wants to meet with people and call the meetings whatever name she wants, it is her perogative but she should not act as if this is in any way a sanctioned organization or club at CUA.
Alexandra, that woman you describe at mass was way out of line, and not properly informed about Catholic teaching. A child must go through the process of first communion which educates them at their level as to what it means. A 6 year old can certainly sin, and while their sins are usually quite cute and harmless, they still need their faith to be informed. That’s why Catholics separate the sacraments; you can’t expect a 6 year old to understand the same as a 16 year old. so confirmation happens in the teens or during adulthood.
You sound very open minded and kind, Alexandra, and thanks for trying to help a child understand. I was once babysitting and the 7 year old boy asked me where babies come from. I told him to ask his mother. He said, “That’s what dad said, too, but mom won’t tell me!” He wasn’t buying the stork version anymore and it seemed she wasn’t ready to describe, ahem, the mechanics. LOL!
Sounds like another person who really wants to be oppressed, really wants to be a victim, so goes out of her way to accomplish that for herself (in her mind only). A rebel without a clue.
How very sad. This woman’s remarks (and photograph, which speaks 1000 words) shows plainly how radical feminism has been a total and utter failure in regard to promoting the authentic dignity and nobility and greatness and uniqueness/specialness to society of being a woman.
I look at this sad photo and think to myself, as a man, how it reveals the total victory of the most perverse and self-centered male mindset in the ethos of radical feminism. It’s as if the most self-absorbed, narcissistic, woman-abusing, superficially pleasure-seeking (only) men got together and said to themselves, how can we get a whole segment of women to lay themselves at our feet as total pawns for our own use and pleasure? Well, this photo reveals how much they have succeeded. The mindset of radical feminism displayed in this photo is straight out of hell. It shows a woman proudly advertising the fact that she has come to identify her whole self-perception (and the image of herself she wants to present to the world) as a mere object of pleasure available to be used by men at any time. And she thinks this is empowering. A total, complete, utter twisting of true femininity and authentic love.
As a man my heart is very heavy seeing this sort of thing. This sister of mine seems to have no idea of her true dignity as a woman. I hope and pray some day she will have a self-identity that is not fundamentally grounded in seeing herself as a perpetually available plaything for the mere amusement of men.
Indeed, in this photo, she has obscured her face with condoms. This says it all. Rather than the unique and irreplaceable person that she is, she overlays her unique identity with items that say to the viewer, “I am a mere plaything for the pleasure of men. My personal identity does not matter to me. Come talk to me about how you, too, can see yourself as a mere tool for use by men.” This is empowerment? This is lifting women up? Absolutely not.
What she does not know, is that every man out there in the world who wants to objectify women and precisely does not care about them as special and unique as women in their own right, with their own personal worth and dignity, is celebrating inside, saying to himself, “that’s right, baby, come running to me and make yourself my servant. I will pretend on the outside that you are being uplifted and empowered. But inside, I know that you are truly my pawn, and that my total dominance over you is complete.”
This makes me sick. The perfect corollary to this image, is that pathetic and perverse promotional video that Planned Parenthood made (and eventually pulled) recently with the male African-American actor talking like a total self-absorbed cad about some anniversary or other of Planned Parenthood, speaking in smooth, mellifluous tones and saying, “baby” every other word as he sipped his liquor of choice. The undeniable theme there (as here) was the woman’s role in the world being seen as nothing more than a plaything for the pleasure of men. They actually celebrate it can call it freedom!
OK. I checked, the infamous video was not by PP, it was another pro-abortion group in celebration of 40 years of Roe v. Wade. Here is a YouTube link.
Seriously, read the comments above by Callie Otto and look at the photo of her, and then watch this twisted celebration video. Do you see how it comes out of the very same mindset? The shared theme is the pleasure of men as being the very center of life for a modern woman (yet wile being duped to think of this as being freedom for her)–and the celebration thereof as empowering.
http://youtu.be/TIG0G-n2PiY
I think if she wants to advocate for condoms and birth control, and whatever, she can do that. It’s really her business what causes she supports.
The whining is annoying though. I think some of these people actively seek out places where the majority will be against their view just so they can talk about how “oppressed” they are.
And Scott condoms don’t say “use me!” necessarily.
In theory that may be true. But, I believe, in actual practice in our culture, for most men, this is exactly what it says. The woman is not thinking this. But it doesn’t matter. It’s what the men are thinking. And it will almost always work out to put men in the place of using the woman, regardless of whether she thinks of it this way.
(Well, actually, in theory I don’t really think this is true, either. But that’s a whole other long discussion. Intentionally separating the pleasure aspect of sex from the potential fecundity of sex is inherently usurious, and makes the woman especially vulnerable to being used. But I don’t claim that this is obvious to everyone. Years ago, perhaps, but not today, sadly.)
I always think it’s funny that the sex-negative radfems have the same views on men that the more conservative set does. That the straight male sex drive is necessarily overpowering and exploitative, and that women don’t seek out sexual relationships with men unless convinced to do so by men. It’s just amusing to me that groups with such radically different ideologies agree on that matter.
But anyway, I don’t think that the hook up culture is a particularly good thing, and it’s pretty obvious that women bear the biological brunt of casual sexual activity. It doesn’t mean that a woman choosing to have casual or otherwise non-marital sex is being used, or that men only see women who are more sexual as ripe for exploiting.
Young women should know that they can enjoy good lives while abstaining from the type of sex that can lead to pregnancy. Indeed, if you are a fertile female unwilling to carry a pregnancy to term, you should not engage in that sex act.
If you insist on engaging in that sex act, change your fertility to sterile or be willing to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth.
If hypersexual radical feminist Callie Otto wants to be welcome somewhere, all she needs to do is join Girl Scouts of the USA. Girl Scouts are now advocating to LEGALIZE PROSTITUTION around the world. No kidding. Just search for Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration PDF and know that every American Girl Scout financially supports the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), which was on the Steering Committe with Planned Parenthood for this event. Their declaration demands governments “decriminalize sex work” as “decent employment” for “young people” as little as 10 years old. It’s disgusting. Still not sexual enough for Callie? Girl Scouts also lobby for explicit sex ed for little children, abortion and contraception without parental knowledge and “gender equity” (the “right” for homosexuals to choose their gender and sexual orientation at-will). Girl Scouts welcomes transgenders to hide within their ranks up through the 12th Grade (read: adult male) without notifying other members and their parents in the name of “inclusion.” Surely, that is radical enough for Ms. Otto. Boycott Girl Scout Cookies.
Scott Johnston says:
February 25, 2013 at 4:20 pm
How very sad. This woman’s remarks (and photograph, which speaks 1000 words) shows plainly how radical feminism has been a total and utter failure in regard to promoting the authentic dignity and nobility and greatness and uniqueness/specialness to society of being a woman.
I look at this sad photo and think to myself, as a man, how it reveals the total victory of the most perverse and self-centered male mindset in the ethos of radical feminism. It’s as if the most self-absorbed, narcissistic, woman-abusing, superficially pleasure-seeking (only) men got together and said to themselves, how can we get a whole segment of women to lay themselves at our feet as total pawns for our own use and pleasure? Well, this photo reveals how much they have succeeded.
(Denise) “The Lady Says No” is a movie made in 1951 — and showed a completely different focus for feminism. The feminism espoused by the central character is a feminism of celibacy and modesty.
I don’t get why she would choose to attend a Catholic university. That is like attending BYU and expecting to have keg parties in the dorms.
“That the straight male sex drive is necessarily overpowering and exploitative, and that women don’t seek out sexual relationships with men unless convinced to do so by men.”
Jack – Women being used by men does not necessarily exclude women using men. You and others here continually interpret those statements that way. I am not speaking about the intent of the authors of those statements, but for me, saying a man uses a woman does not mean she is a victim or is not also using the man. I mean, does one have to feel used to be used? I didn’t think so, but maybe I’m wrong.
First of all no one makes you bitter, it’s a choice. Secondly if you don’t hold the same views as the ones promoted by a Catholic University, it’s obvious you would feel out of place at the very least.
So many of us who went through the ugly 60’s and radical feminiism are tired of being treated like victims and don’t believe it’s alright to victimize others because they don’t agree with us!
Drop the whine and victimhood!
Carla..no problem . Are you kidding me about the friggin girl scouts??? Oh man i can’t buy their cookies anymore. i used to be a g scout selling cookies …happy every time I made a sale. now im gonna have to tell some sad faced little girl no….omg what’s this world coming to?
Alexandra, that woman you describe at mass was way out of line, and not properly informed about Catholic teaching. A child must go through the process of first communion which educates them at their level as to what it means. A 6 year old can certainly sin, and while their sins are usually quite cute and harmless, they still need their faith to be informed. That’s why Catholics separate the sacraments; you can’t expect a 6 year old to understand the same as a 16 year old. so confirmation happens in the teens or during adulthood. You sound very open minded and kind, Alexandra, and thanks for trying to help a child understand. I was once babysitting and the 7 year old boy asked me where babies come from. I told him to ask his mother. He said, “That’s what dad said, too, but mom won’t tell me!” He wasn’t buying the stork version anymore and it seemed she wasn’t ready to describe, ahem, the mechanics. LOL!
LOL ninek! Yeah I wasn’t really sure where to even begin, with that lady. And then I realized it’s not my job or my obligation to correct her or defend myself or whatever. I did have a flash memory of that line from Clerks where the guy is like “I’m not even supposed to BE here!” just, like, this is NOT my problem! lol.
A “Clerks” reference on Jill’s site, awesome!
“Dykemobile” and holding condoms?
Huh?
If women put themselves first, there would be many fewer unplanned pregnancies and many fewer abortions.
Ms. Otto gives a speech regarding her friends, “Most of my friends are not on birth control. Most of them have never been tested for STD’s (in Washington, D.C., HIV is an epidemic). Most of them use condoms most of the time, but not all the time (like those drunken 3AM nights when spending your last $5 on pizza seems like a much better decision than spending it on a few condoms); and never during oral sex. Most of my friends had abstinence-only education. Most of my friends can’t ask their family members about sex and their bodies because they fear their parents’ wrath. Most of my friends can’t go to our campus health center because they refuse to offer any services that might encourage more sex.”
I want to hear from “most of her friends.” Are her friends not allowed to speak for themselves? BS and poser alert.
Otto says, “We have learned from Catholic teachings the importance of caring for others and carrying out God’s Will,” in an article here: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/pro-abortion-activists-help-students-hand-out-condoms-catholic-u-god-s-will
If Otto really cared for her friends she would start by discouraging them from hooking up while drunk at 3 a.m.
Or are these drunken hook-ups a part of God’s Will as well?
Otto says,
“We have learned from Catholic teachings the importance of caring for others and carrying out God’s Will and in that mindset, we will continue our mission to promote sexual health and responsibility in our university community in the hopes that our university will end their war on women.”
but here she claims to be an athiest:
http://www.myspace.com/citricacid21co
Is there a War on Women? You bet. And Otto is a part of it.
Her whole point seems to be an immature rebelliousness of “Watch me stick it to a Catholic institution.”
Yes, Joanne. She probably went there because she figured she’d be the IUD-wearin’ Joan of Arc, liberating all the Christian minions from their repressive Catholic ideology.
And now that it’s proved to be harder than she anticipated, she now sits in her dorm room, listens to Katy Perry, and pouts like somebody stole her gelato.
Otto claims to be a Catholic in the below NARAL video. A Catholic atheist?
It is clear Ms. Otto has a problem with telling the truth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ftt4OO2uipM
In the comments after this article, Otto states she is a practicing Unitarian Universalist:
http://touchstonemag.com/merecomments/2012/02/catholics-split-if-true-so-what/
You can be pro choice and Catholic, look at the statistics–2 children per family or less, usually. They are not going to be excommunicated, publicly, privately, silently, or otherwise, as was suggested at Catholic et al web sites. It is not an incentive or motive not to be pro choice. The Catholic Church is not going to excommunicate the majority of her followers.
I have heard Muslims, a minority, have the highest or one of the highest birth rates.
Catholics have a low birth rate. How do you think it got that way? Do you think the storks lost their way and went home?
Having 3/4 of Catholics excommunicated because of pro choice is an anti-choicer/ Baptist/other religious Protestants’ dream.
Dream on.
@thusell, who thinks people can’t master their minds over their hormones and must rut like dogs every time they feel stimulated. I feel sorry for people who are so into the “do whatever makes you feel good” mentality they cannot fathom what it is to have self-control. Denying oneself “at the moment” and saving oneself for times of intimacy when the fertilization cycle is optimal for desired results is the difference between those with discipline and those without. To paint every Catholic with the broad brush of using contraception as the only way of family planning is pretty arrogant.
thusell, excommunication is not something the church does TO people but rather something people do to themselves. For one thing, by and large, you cannot be excommunicated for something that you do not actually know is an excommunicable offense. It’s not a sting op. I would say that most American Catholics probably don’t know that abortion is an excommunicable offense. (I don’t think that using birth control is an excommunicable offense – I think it is just a mortal sin – but I really don’t know on that front.) When it comes to what the church can do, it can recognize the situation formally when a person’s actions, beliefs, and education about the church’s teaching are clear and explicit – that is, when the person has clearly been informed of church doctrine and openly and unrepentantly defies it, on certain grave issues. That is why you see politicians being denied communion – because their actions are quite public, and undeniable; there is plausible deniability. But if someone knows church doctrine on certain issues, knows that something is an excommunicable offense (doubtful these days) and does it anyway, they are basically excommunicated even if no one but them ever knows. It’s not a punishment; it’s more a state of being – as in, not in communion with church teaching. The church just recognizes this state of being. The church does not go around excommunicating followers; followers act out of step with the church in certain really important ways and thus are no longer in communion: excommunicated. It is not a prison sentence. It is not a scarlet letter. It means that you cannot receive the sacraments until you are back in communion with the church.
I am not Catholic but I don’t really think that the church cares too much about whether its standards are a Protestant’s dream or not.
I don’t think that you actually care about this, because you don’t believe it. I don’t believe it either but I still find that being informed never hurts.
I just tried to leave the following comment on the prochoiceamerica video on YouTube:
So the homosexual kid is cool with is mom having killed one of his siblings? I wonder how he would feel if he knew his mom would’ve chosen differently if she would’ve known he’d be homosexual…
unfortunately, I just found out:
You have been blocked by the owner of this video.
(@xalisae Why would a pro choice person be in favor or homosexuality? Most are not and the kid probably knows it. In the mind of a normal person keeping an egg from being fertilized, if you know the offspring will be homosexual, has nothing to do with murder. SO LITTLE of this deviance is GENETIC. It due to mainly environmental influences from complex factors such as family nutrition and upbringing, stresses. Your question isn’t going to change anyone’s mind, even though you tried to apply the video owner’s response generally.)
With the Catholic birthrate declining over the years is this due to:
1. declining fertility (similar to that in the general population)
2. using contraceptive methods
3. both 1. and 2.
4. increased use of rhythm thermal method alone
5. both 1 and 4
(..following is all over the internet..)
It would interest some to know that among Catholic married women about 32% used sterilization, 31% used the pill, and 5% used the IUD, and 11% used no method of control. 98% tried contraception at least once.
2% used only the rhythm thermal method.
Those with a brain + some science, can draw all the correct implications.
Dreamers can keep on dreaming.
@thusell: Ah, but the fact of the matter is, from Girl Scouts to World YWCA to Planned Parenthood, MANY pro-abortion groups DO partner with pro-homosexual groups like Advocates for Youth. If you ever heard of Abby Johnson — the former Planned Parenthood director who became pro-life after aiding in an abortion — she shared a PP document called the Jaffe Memo showing there is a very strong link between those who want to kill babies and those who advocate for homosexuality: ENVIRONMENTALISM. Their “logic” is this: if you love the Earth, then you must agree there are too many people, so to have less people, promote homosexuality and increase abortions. This is why Global Warming alarmists, Carbon-Credit pushers (like President O.) and the United Nations are so dangerous; their ultimate goal is to reduce world population while enriching themselves.
It would interest some to know that among Catholic married women about 32% used sterilization, 31% used the pill, and 5% used the IUD, and 11% used no method of control. 98% tried contraception at least once.
It might interest you to know that 100 % of the women your refer to are sinners. What’s your point?
I just noticed that Otto brags on Twitter that she puts the sin in Wisconsin.
‘Catholics’ like her put the con in Wisconsin, too.
This is why Global Warming alarmists, Carbon-Credit pushers (like President O.) and the United Nations are so dangerous; their ultimate goal is to reduce world population while enriching themselves.
A few people are much easier to wrangle and control than many people. It’s not about “saving the Earth!!!”. It’s about POWER.