Land’s End Postscript: Sexism in Business & Politics

Last updated on: February 25, 2016 at 10:44 am By Jennifer Fitz

I’ve been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land’s End catalog, and I’ve come to a second conclusion: It’s sexist. My thinking began by mentally reviewing the other catalogs I receive. None of them ever feature prominent political leaders in them. To wit: Duluth Trader (they’ll tell you about the model’s horse farm or blacksmith shop, but politics are right out) Vinyard Vine (they’ll tell you what department the pictured employees work in, but still no politics)... Read more

Bad Business: Land’s End Goes Over the Edge

Last updated on: February 25, 2016 at 12:32 am By Jennifer Fitz

I haven’t written up a business case study in ages, but the latest Land’s End fiasco was fodder for discussion among the family this evening. A few quick points that I think shed light on Steinem debacle. As my beloved finance professor always said, financial reports contain no answers, only questions. Still, you can take a look at Land’s End’s financials here, and the Q3 2015 earnings report is chilling. All is not well. The brand has been losing itself... Read more

On the Forming of Young Christians

Last updated on: February 24, 2016 at 8:11 pm By Jennifer Fitz

The plan, if all my paperworking comes to fruition, is for 4/4ths of my children to undertake radically different modes of education next year. Said plan involves one parochial school, one public school, and one homeschool (mine). This is by no means the first time my husband and I have changed tack in our children’s formation. One would hope that my 15-year-old is not receiving the same sort of formal education we started with when he was five (though there... Read more

So You Want to Be a (Better) Catholic Writer? Sign Up ASAP.

Last updated on: February 16, 2016 at 3:53 pm By Jennifer Fitz

Karina Fabian reminds you that now is the time to sign up for the Catholic Writers Conference Online: CWCO2016 is almost here! It’s set for March 4-6, and all the terrific details are at http://catholicwritersconference.com. It’s $40 for nonmembers, $25 for CWG members. Drop by the website and register soon. Registration ends Feb 27 or when we get 200 attendees. It’s been a long haul for Laura Lowder and I. We’ve been recruiting speakers for months, working on the new webinar... Read more

Suspected Abuse? Call the Police. You and Your Bishop Both.

Last updated on: February 11, 2016 at 10:42 am By Jennifer Fitz

There are a couple stories circulating to the effect that new Catholic bishops are being told they don’t necessarily need to contact the authorities when they are presented with evidence of child abuse. The Guardian reports it here, and John Allen from Crux discusses it here. Reporting on religion is notoriously unreliable, and I’m in no position to confirm or clarify these reports. But whenever such nonsense gets promulgated, I’m here to remind you: Tell the police. It is not your... Read more

What Place for Bare Minimum Catholicism?

Last updated on: February 10, 2016 at 7:37 pm By Jennifer Fitz

What is it a Catholic really must do? You don’t have to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday. You do have to fast, unless for some reason you don’t. You don’t have to go to confession for your venial sins, though you ought to, but you do need to confess your mortal sins. You need to go to Mass on Sundays, unless for some serious reason you can’t. You need to generally rest on Sundays, and allow... Read more

Is Catholic Lent Too Easy? + Lent-o-Rama – UPDATED

Last updated on: February 9, 2016 at 4:58 pm By Jennifer Fitz

UPDATED: Ted Seeber saves Lent by reminding me that no Lent-o-Rama is complete without This Time of Forty Days. I love you, so I post it here: Now resuming our previously written post . . . A friend posted this useful infographic on Lenten basics, but observed that the current norms seem like an awfully light penance. They are. At this time, the Church has, in her wisdom, chosen to throw out a little test: Are you in or aren’t you?... Read more

Does Eating Doritos Make You More Human?

Last updated on: February 9, 2016 at 12:17 pm By Jennifer Fitz

We watched most of the Superbowl (go cats!), the Downton hour excepted, and we thought the Doritos commercial was sorta funny. NARAL was mortified at the way the commercial “humanized” the baby on the ultrasound, and the counter-reaction seems to be missing something important in that protest: the Doritos. Let’s take NARAL at their word, for a moment, and examine what it was about this ultrasound that was different from every other: The baby expressed clear personal preferences and acted on... Read more

Lent in the School for Evangelization

Last updated on: February 8, 2016 at 4:43 pm By Jennifer Fitz

We Catholics like our programs. Love our programs. So here’s this program we have starting this month, and the whole Church is enrolled. It’s called “Lent” and it features prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. That’s the theory, anyhow. During Lent your parish is likely to take on some kind of other program as a sort of evangelization-thingie. Small groups (I approve), or a parish mission (ditto), or some other worthy pursuit. These things are good. But what if your parish isn’t... Read more

Why Mention 5,000 Men, and Slight Those Women and Children?

Last updated on: February 4, 2016 at 7:43 am By Jennifer Fitz

As I mentioned the other week, Sr. Simone Campbell has shown herself to be a dreadful sexist (and a bit of an atheist) in her reflection on the Gospel accounts of the feeding of the 5,000 men. The question she posed, however, is a good one. What she wanted to know is: Why do the Scriptures give a counting of the men present so specifically? We can’t even say the authors were using the term “men” in a generic way... Read more