Oh, I'm so proud

An alumna of one of the schools I taught at is June's Playboy centerfold

(No, the link doesn't take you to Playboy)

(And yes, it is a Catholic school)

(And strange, to me, I don't remember this girl. She's my son's age, but, from the article would have only been there her freshman and sophomore years, and I didn't teach any of those kids then. So I guess that's why.)

Comments

[Richard]

Well - at least her mom is supportive...

[Donald R. McClarey]

Getting naked to further one's career, now that is a smart move. She will get to appear in retrospective Playboy issues, at least until her looks fade. For a brief time she will be a hot item for the opening of sport's stores, bars, etc. She may even attempt a movie career which, in all probablitiy will consist of roles such as second naked girl in shower. She will have the added benefit of every man she ever works with looking at her as simply a Playboy centerfold rather than for any internal abilities and qualities she possesses. What a deal!

[Bob L.]

"It was something I never considered before," said Monaco. "I'm actually pretty conservative."

Really?

And here I thought conservative described the desire to turn the clock back to the Middle Ages. I musta missed those back issues of Edward II's Comely Wenches.

[PJL]

When I was in college a Playboy photographer came on campus for the annual " Girls on Campus" or whatever it was called. Being of good shape some people thought I should apply. But what stopped me was not so much outraged morals but the specter of THE PERMANENT RECORD. Yep I was convinced, still am that if you pose nude, go into an adult bookstore, or rent porn some sweet little old lady snaps a picture and takes notes. Into the record it goes. At some future date this is pulled out and exposed for the world to see. Most likely from the Pulpit or at a meeting of Moral Mothers Little Tykes Playgroup.
Yep the idea that what might seem like a lark now could become a major embarrasement(Sp) in the future used to give one pause.

[Rich Leonardi]

One of my seventh grade teachers experienced the misfortune of having her Playboy pictures, for which she had posed years earlier, pasted on the blackboard before class one morning. She left school in tears. But then again shame was still a social norm in the early '80s.

[Jay Anderson]

"And strange, to me, I don't remember this girl. She's my son's age ..."

Amy, I wonder if your son remembers her. :)

[John Heavrin]

This young woman is indeed beautiful. I pray that she's not ruining her life by starting down a path it's very hard to turn around on. What a shame that there's no shame anymore. Mom said "Go for it," probably afraid that she'd go for it whatever she said.

Amy, you might not remember her...but I'll bet your son does!:)

And will she be Santa Fe Catholic alumna of the year?

[John Heavrin]

Jinx, Jay.

[George]

Amy, Given that a lot of your readship are male I should avoid posts like that in the future. I think a lot of normal men (if they were honest) would describe it as a near occasion of sin, not so much the story but the hyperlink. I say this in all charity. We don't turn up at your website to be a mouse click away from a titilating story about a scantily clad college student.

[John Heavrin]

We're not that fragile, George.

[Lickona]

And to think she used to play Disney's Snow White and Cinderella...two of the patron saints of American childhood. Now our little girl is... well, we can't say all grown up, perhaps, but maybe all filled out? Sculpted 'round? Airbrushed down?

Re: the permanent record. Thanks to the internet, we have much more efficient record-keepers and picture-distributors than in the days of the little old lady with the notebook and camera.

Didn't notice any reaction from Dad. Mayhap he's not around to voice an opinion? Not that that would have anything to do with a girl's decision to seek attention this way...

[amy]

The Lakeland Ledger, occasion of sin.

that's a first. Or maybe not.

And actually, since she apparently didn't graduate from there, she's not an alumna. Sorry!

I should also mention that one of my former students from this school is a Jacksonville Jaguar cheerleader.

Catholic Education Rocks!

[Mike Petrik]

Rich,
And so, apparently, was cruelty.

[Nguoi Dang Chay]

So people think advertising a hot former Catholic school girl is a possible temptation???

Well, maybe if I was into blondes....

[Ed]

Jenny McCarthy attended Mother McCauley on Chicago's southwest side.
http://imdb.com/name/nm0000189/

[Mike Petrik]

Amy,
You're too hard on yourself. Most dictionaries include former students within the definition of alumni. And all school development offices do!

[Mike Petrik]

Sadly, McCauley is one of those "in the Catholic tradition" type "Catholic' Schools. Its boys school counterpart, Brother Rice, seems to have done a better job at maintaining a serious Catholicity.

[Rich Leonardi]

And so, apparently, was cruelty.

That hasn't changed.

[Bill H]

As we speak (write?), Playboy is scouring our campus for their upcoming "Girls of the Pac-10" issue. For reasons that I'm not going to speculate on, but make me relieved nonetheless, they're having trouble finding girls from Stanford to participate. The thought that any of the girls that I teach could end up in there creeps me out to no end. Plus, you just know that copies of any resulting photographs will get posted all over campus.

[Boniface McInnes]

Good for you, Mr. Heavrin! It is good to see there are some men who are stronger than those weak-willed wimps struggling with the habit of being impure with themselves.

I myself am so weak that I had to turn to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal to help me click on "comments" rather than the link. I may not know where, specifically, in cyberspace it might lead, but I have a very strong suspicion where it might wind up leading me.

Perhaps since you have whipped concupiscence in your own life, you could offer up a prayer for we, your lesser brothers, that we might be given the assistance you obviously do not need?

[Jason]

Just a tip for the weak:

A post with the word "Playboy" in it should probably be skipped, regardless of where the link leads.

[John Heavrin]

I will certainly pray for you, Boniface. And I'm certainly not without need of "assistance." I will humbly admit that I'm able to look at a picture of a woman such as the link provides (unless there's a much more salacious link I'm missing out on!) without fearing that I'll fall into impurity, even of thought, let alone deed.

Are you being sarcastic? I confess I can't tell from your post. If you're struggling with a real problem, then I do sympathize.

Trust me, the picture on the link is...well, 'innocent' isn't the word, but it ain't lewd either.

That picture gives glory to God, such is her beauty. The porn, certainly not.

[John Heavrin]

Well...she does look a bit trashy, even in the linked pic...so maybe "glory to God" is misplaced (though all beauty does)...still, pretty harmless.

Yes, I know the internet is a minefield in this regard.

[jay]

"Getting naked to further one's career, now that is a smart move."

Yeah, just think of how far Pamela Anderson would have gotten if she hadn't taken it all off.

"Monaco said all her friends and family have been supportive of her status as the latest Playboy bunny."

I doubt that her friends and family are that ignorant. She's a Playmate - the Playboy bunny became extinct when the clubs closed years ago.

[Ian]

Amy:

Money quote:

"So when Playboy came calling, she said, "I was pretty nervous. I asked my mom what I should do, and she said `go for it -you'll be fine.' ""

[Donegal Tom]

Amy could you ask your son if the music of the J Geils Band popped into his head when he found out?

[Donald R. McClarey]

"Yeah, just think of how far Pamela Anderson would have gotten if she hadn't taken it all off."

Yeah, and just think how far the hundreds of thousands of Pamela Anderson wanna-bes get by appearing naked.

[Richard]

Amy could you ask your son if the music of the J Geils Band popped into his head when he found out?

"My blood runs cold/
My memory has just been sold..."

Yes, I'm a child of the 80's as well.

[Donegal Tom]

"Yeah, just think of how far Pamela Anderson would have gotten if she hadn't taken it all off."

Maybe she'd get closer to heaven if she didn't.

[jay]

Mr. McClarey,
Are you really that clueless or just can't admit that you're wrong? Perhaps you have no interest in bookstores, and therefore haven't seen PA's new TV show, Stacked. Never fear. Jenny McCarthy, another Catholic alumna / Playmate, has a new series of her own. Oh, and yes, there are plenty of other women with chest measurements greater than their IQs who do quite well in show biz. It's a fact. You can lament it, but you can't deny it.

[Donald R. McClarey]

"Mr. McClarey,
Are you really that clueless or just can't admit that you're wrong? Perhaps you have no interest in bookstores, and therefore haven't seen PA's new TV show, Stacked. Never fear. Jenny McCarthy, another Catholic alumna / Playmate, has a new series of her own. Oh, and yes, there are plenty of other women with chest measurements greater than their IQs who do quite well in show biz. It's a fact. You can lament it, but you can't deny it."

Gee, a pro-Playboy troll comes to Open Book. As for that fine new show Stacked, I prefer going to actual bookstores rather than seeing Ms. Anderson demonstrating her fine thespian skills in a fake one. I would not make a bet on that shows longevity. Jenny McCarthy has had several series, each cancelled quite quickly. Do you deny that for every actress who attains fleeting fame by parading around nude, that there are hundreds of thousands of young ladies who get nowhere very fast by doing the same?

[jay]

April Fool's Day has passed, Mr. McClarey. If you want to continue to make a fool of yourself, go ahead. You must realize that this phenomenon predates Playboy. Do you think that Mae West would have achieved such fame if she had an ironing-board figure?

Show a little backbone and answer the question. Do you honestly believe that P.A. would have a more successful career in show biz if she had never been a Playmate?

Bonus question: Who is Tara Patrick?

[Donald R. McClarey]

"Show a little backbone and answer the question. Do you honestly believe that P.A. would have a more successful career in show biz if she had never been a Playmate?

Bonus question: Who is Tara Patrick?"

Someone with a fake e-mail address shouldn't be discussing backbones. You answer my question and I will be happy to answer yours.

[Jimmy Huck]

As someone who works on a college campus and gets to see female college fashion daily, let me tell you that one does not need to go to Playboy to see scantily clad (and, for intents and purposes, nude) female bodies. And believe me, neither religious ideology nor religious formation really matters. When it comes to fashion and public representation of the body, the amount of surface area of body flesh that is uncovered is not really a moral concern.

[Bob L.]

Oh, it's a little bit of centerfold gamesmanship, is it?

Well, I'll call your Pamela Anderson, and raise you a Colleen Applegate.

What? You've never heard of her? Oh, that's probably because she's dead. Although she gathered more fame as a dead porn star, she's largely forgotten now. The young 20-year-old girl came from Nowhere, Minnesota and struck out for Hollywood, California for her 15 minutes of fame. People Weekly describes her first steps to stardom:

A few weeks after leaving, Colleen called with an odd piece of good news: She was working as a model and earning $100 a day, more than her father was making. She didn't mention that she'd answered a newspaper ad for the World Modeling Agency in Van Nuys and had begun posing nude for magazine photographers.

PBS is more antiseptic, they can't be bothered to reveal her name:

She was from Minnesota. Young, pretty, and fresh. She went to Hollywood in search of a dream and found herself in X-rated movies, on drugs, and estranged from her family and friends.

Yeah, she made it to the "top." One week she's clinking champagne glasses with Francis Ford Coppola at the Erotic Film Awards, and the next week, well... "Two years to the month after she left Farmington, Colleen Applegate came home to be buried."

Such are the wages of the culture of death.

[Rich Leonardi]

Jay,

Of course Ms. Anderson and a handful of other comely ladies have made money taking their clothes off.

Mr. McClarey's point is that far, far more aim for that fame and fail. It's similar, though a bit more depraved, than the thousands of black kids who think having a decent jumpshot means they can skip school and become the next LeBron James.

[Ambrose]

But now it's going through my head--such an earworm of a song

Amy could you ask your son if the music of the J Geils Band popped into his head when he found out?

"My blood runs cold/
My memory has just been sold..."

Yes, I'm a child of the 80's as well.

[George the Liberal]

"Her first job was at Disney World at 16, where for four years she danced in parades and played the roles of Cinderella and Snow White."

Child actors (I consider a 16 year to be child) have it tough. I would tend to blame it on that experience rather than society. Show business teaches people that appeareance and especially sex matter. But it's all very "professional".

[Daniel Muller]

Been there, done that. One of the daughters of one the most prominent families in my territorial parish made it into Playboy several months ago. They own a famous local restaurant chain as well with the distinctive family name on it, so it was hard to miss even if you did not get past the captions in the news stories.

No shame. I wonder if I was more embarassed than anyone in the family?

[George]

Why do we need to discuss this impure trash on a Catholic blog. Can't we just ignore the subject of silly prom queens becoming porn queens. Why the fascination?

[Mark R]

How naked is one when airbrushed to perfection?