Rating: Summary: Go easy on the book's defenders... Review: ...after all, most were raised in 1960s and post-1960s America, where morality, religion, and God were taken out of dating and marriage. It doesn't surprise me that they just don't "get it" and how offended the rest of us who believe in traditional Catholic morality regarding sex are. I'd wager that most of the book's defenders (and the authors themselves) who think sexual relations within dating is "how it really is" haven't bothered to give the Pope's LOVE AND RESPONSIBILITY or THEOLOGY OF THE BODY a read at all. How can you come down on one side of the sexual revolution if you haven't fully explored what you're revolting against?Great to see that the Catholic Church and its teachings are the last beneficiaries of the so-called tolerance these apostles of sexual liberation preach.
Rating: Summary: With "Catholics" Like This... Review: ...who needs Catholic-bashing secularists and anti-Catholic Fundamentalists??? The whole sensationalist enterprise of mocking and distorting both the Catholic faith in general and what the Catholic Church actually teaches about sexuality in particular to make a fast buck is both sick and pathetic. Just goes to show what happens when some greedy folks have waaaay too much time on their hands. Apparently these supposed "Catholics" never bothered to do their homework, such as reading Pope John Paul II's beautiful and elevating expositions on human sexuality and its dignity in his books "Theology of the Body" and "Love and Responsibility." If they had, they never could have written such insulting .... Except, of course, for the profit motive. Btw, the only reason I gave this book "1 star" was because there was no "0 stars" option.
Rating: Summary: I couldn't rate this 0 stars, so...... Review: A friend gave me this book as a Christmas gift because she thought I'd find it funny. The authors of this book trash the teachings of the Church about human sexuality and morality after the most cursory and superficial of glances at Catholic thought on the matter. I can't believe that anyone calling herself a Catholic would be willing to deride the Sacraments in the way the authors do. This book was childish, mean-spirited and ugly. I put mine in the garbage. I'm sorry my friend wasted her money.
Rating: Summary: A Hilarious Read! Review: As a girl who was taught to "wait until marriage", I can understand a lot of the guilt that the authors talk about. This book perfectly describes people like me, in such a funny way! I lauged a lot, but it also brought up issues that really made me think. It's a wonderful resource for those who are rethinking the vows and promises of their naive youth. Yes, the book is irreverent, and that's completely the point!
Rating: Summary: Provocative, Evocative--So funny it hurts! Review: But do you know what is the biggest surprise in this book? It is its substance. The irony and the side-splitting observations and stories work so well, ring so true, because there is a real understanding and scholarship at work here. These two young women have lived the life AND have done their homework. Only someone who really understands the penetrating guilt a girl can feel about sex could write the Catholic Girl's Guide to Sex--and do it with such grand style and great humor. A terrific book!
Rating: Summary: Thou Shalt Not... Take Life Too Seriously Review: Going to a Catholic school I can well relate to some frustrations Catholic girls have beneath their plaid skirts. This book is for those of you who can take a dose of humor about Catholisism and the way the religion views sex. Yes, it endorses sex. Yes, it jokes about going to confession. But why not get a kick out a fun book poking fun at the guilty Catholic conscience and quit being so offended by everything! Knowledge is power, young lady.
Rating: Summary: Makes you think and lets you laugh doing it Review: I found the book to be witty, charming and it hits very close to home. Being raised an Irish Catholic and attending Catholic school for 12 years doesn't always prepare you for the realities of life and the fact that other girls like you are going through the same things. I will definitely pass this on to my future daughter to break the cycle of not being able to talk about things like my parents before. Why not do it with laughter?! Thank you Melinda and Kathleen for having the courage to write things a lot of us only think about when the guilt isn't taking over.
Rating: Summary: Catholic girls take note!! Review: I initially picked up this book because of its title. My best friend and I (with 18 years of Catholic school between us) hunkered down right on the floor at Borders to read it. Once we started, we couldn't stop. I only wish that this book had been around when I was in (Catholic) high school. It would have been passed around the girls like lip gloss. Anyone who has been raised Catholic can relate, and anyone who hasn't may come to understand Catholic girls better. Guys should get a kick out of it too. Because Catholic girls often know so little about sex[uality], this book is absolutely essential to making good decisions. The humor is just an added bonus. My personal favorite was the "Penance Chart," in which dirty deeds with various boys were charted to explain which penance works best. ...The question and answer sessions with Catholics throughout the book were a riot. This book should be on every Catholic girl's bedside table with her Rosary and Trojans.
Rating: Summary: Nice to know I am not the only one... Review: I used to direct a program to educate teachers for Catholic schools. Two of my former students in the program, who are now married, sent this book as a gift, with a note: "Thanks for looking the other way while all this was going on." Well, whether I was looking the other way or not when I oversaw the program, I could not stop laughing as I read this little volume. It will be funnier for Catholic readers than non-Catholics, for background knowledge is essential to get many of the subtler points, although most of the humor is anything but subtle. At one point during my tenure as director of that Catholic teacher education program, some of the students reviewed a Catholic sex ed guide in a class I was teaching. After a fairly serious review, the barbs started to come, with many sounding like points made by Anderson and Murray, reflecting that there's a universalism in this book for Catholics, with it actually capturing well the humor many probably use as they deal with the tensions between church teaching on sex and the realities of their lives. I doubt very much that this book will inform many about sex, but it will help many appreciate the lighter side of young Catholics and sex. It is probably destined to become a sect classic for Catholic adolescents and young adults. I hope that Anderson and Murray will take on other serious topics and illuminate them as they have Catholic girls and sex. The world needs more laughter, and they are skilled at causing it.
Rating: Summary: Honestly Funny Review: I used to direct a program to educate teachers for Catholic schools. Two of my former students in the program, who are now married, sent this book as a gift, with a note: "Thanks for looking the other way while all this was going on." Well, whether I was looking the other way or not when I oversaw the program, I could not stop laughing as I read this little volume. It will be funnier for Catholic readers than non-Catholics, for background knowledge is essential to get many of the subtler points, although most of the humor is anything but subtle. At one point during my tenure as director of that Catholic teacher education program, some of the students reviewed a Catholic sex ed guide in a class I was teaching. After a fairly serious review, the barbs started to come, with many sounding like points made by Anderson and Murray, reflecting that there's a universalism in this book for Catholics, with it actually capturing well the humor many probably use as they deal with the tensions between church teaching on sex and the realities of their lives. I doubt very much that this book will inform many about sex, but it will help many appreciate the lighter side of young Catholics and sex. It is probably destined to become a sect classic for Catholic adolescents and young adults. I hope that Anderson and Murray will take on other serious topics and illuminate them as they have Catholic girls and sex. The world needs more laughter, and they are skilled at causing it.
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