Boy Was I Lucky
Posted by Cassia on October 02, 1997 at 16:47:04:
In response to Catholic school days, written by nancymc on September 27, 1997 at 18:57:12
] Is there anyone else here who feels that Lowood has a few teachers not unlike the nuns in Catholic schools in at least the 1960's? I can distinctly remember Sister Gertrude in sixth grade deriding a girl for wearing a ponytail, calling her a "horse." The girl's mom came storming into the school to confront her for insulting her daughter. The rest of the class silently cheered when the teacher got called to the principal's office. The whole focus of a Catholic upbringing in those days, especially for girls, was to make you feel that you should subjugate yourself to the Church, parents and men in general. Except for the food and tb, Catholic schools shared many things with Lowood.
I went to Catholic boarding school in England in 1979 and 80 and my experience was quite different. We were taught mostly by lay teachers although the nuns still ran the dormitories. I think part of the reason was that the order had gotten a lot of the hippie nuns from the sixties so they never tried to embarrass us. We weren't hit either. Still, I think the order was in a bit of a quagmire at the time: they ahad to decide whether to do away with habits altogether and I can remember many discussions about the role of women in the Church with the older girls. I liked boarding school and the nuns. I guess the result of seeing The Trouble with Angels too many times. Just as well, I always feel most Catholic after watching Brideshead Revisted.
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