Mary Valle: Nick Kristof continues his “nuns rock!” crusade to convince everyone that it’s not all Catholics that are like that. Just some. Point taken, Mr. Krisof, but this good Catholics/bad Catholics line of thinking is a little worrisome. It’s like “No, you’re not a slut, you’re a real woman,” or “There are black people, and there are niggers,” or “You can be gay as long as you’re not, like, flamboyant.” I agree with him: there are a lot of great people truly doing the Lord’s work under the huge tent that is the Roman Catholic Church. And not everyone’s molesting kids and lying about it. But I think he might be glossing over some stuff in his zeal to prop up the “little ladies” as examples of the “right” kinds of Catholics, an effort which, in itself, is a bit patronizing. It seems like nuns, who, as Mary E. Hunt astutely noted in Religion Dispatches, are actually lay people (that is: not clergy, not ordained, no special powers) are getting the Betty White treatment, which is dehumanizing in its own way. In other “nuns rock!” news, the NY Times reports today that “urban” long skirts (which usually seem to be black) are taking off amongst the “cutting edge.” Nevena Borissova, a “progressive retailer,” is quoted as saying “Five years from now, we’ll all be wearing maxis.” Voluntarily? Then, no.

Related:  Women in the Aceh province of Indonesia who are caught wearing clothing that is not deemed appropriate will be issued skirts.