Fathers and mothers need to understand that their daughters' eternal souls are at stake.

Have any of you the experience of actually living on a college campus?  I do.  I wasn't a drinker/partyer type but EVERYONE else was.  And the...how can I put this delicately....the "swapping" that went on, smoking, very loud hip hop thug music, drugs, crime.............

This was at a small midwestern COMMUNITY COLLEGE for pete's sake.  Even if your daughter isn't doing these things herself, trust me, she is sharing a room with another young woman who comes in drunk at 3 am and is inviting guys in for some very noisy activities.  Or she's being propositioned by other females to engage in sodomy.  And the RM's don't do a thing about it.

Maybe you should consider an online university.

The problem with sending women to the university is that they lack critical thinking and tend to conform to the socially dominant mindset in a place.

I would not send a daughter away from home to attend a secular university but I disagree with your statement that women specifically lack critical thinking.

I'm a young trad Catholic woman attending college right now.

Colleges, as stated in a different thread, ARE cesspools of sin.  I think that it is risky to send ANYBODY there, male or female, particularly if they plan to stay in the dorms, or share an apartment with a secular roommate.

I live about half an hour away from the state university, which is the only university in the state that offers an animal science degree.  As far as I'm aware, only state universities do.  I commute- so I get there at about 7:15 and leave anywhere between 5 and 8 PM, depending on when classes end.  Mostly, I stay to myself.  I go to class and then find a quiet place to study.  

If anything, my faith has strengthened, not wavered, under this arrangement.  I see the sin that goes on around here for all its ugliness.  I tend to be a "loner" anyway- social activities, even wholesome ones, are extremely irritating to me, and I avoid being around any occasions of sin.  Are classes dangerous?  They can be, but I am the type of person who takes A LOT of convincing that something is a good idea- I am not swayed very easily at all.  I think I generally see things for how they are and tend to think in black and white.

It's a wonderful thing that you're able to resist the temptation to engage in the vice that is predicated by the arrangement of secular, co-educational university, but that's not really the entire point.  Being around it constantly can breed contempt in the heart, and despair that, with so many behaving in such a way, what is the likelihood that one will be able to find a traditional spouse that hasn't engaged in it to some degree, or that will carry the stain of exposure to it?

Please don't take this comment to be hostile- but what do you mean when you say that women aren't as intellectual as men?

This is a general stereotype, and such things exist because they are generally true.  Woman are, first and foremost, creatures of emotion.  Even in the exercise of a profession, they tend to be more emotional than pragmatic.  Am I wrong that your own attraction to veterinary medicine is the result of a desire to nurture animals that are sick or wounded?

Of course, many aren't, but the men I've seen are not usually any more so.

That's because men are being indoctrinated to be, in terms of emotion, cogitation and action, women.  They are encouraged to feel, not think, and to abandon their God-given place in dominion by abdication of knowledge and wisdom.

I'm not sure that I understand why women and men are treated as separate species.  We are biologically different, and yes, we do have different talents and aptitudes, in general.  But I don't think that women are as weak intellectually as is being presented here.

Because they, in terms of how they think and act, are different species.  In the lesser genera, action is predicated by instinct, and one's classification of a species can be founded as much upon behavior as morphology.  Men and women are so dissimilar in temperament and reasoning that they might as well be from different planets, which I suppose is the inspiration behind the title of a rather famous book on the subject of man/female dissimilarity.

It is not impossible that women can be the intellectual equal or even superior of a man.  As you say, God gives each person faculties according to His will.  However, if one accepts that faculty is granted by Divine Providence for man's perseverance in grace, then it must follow that those faculties must be such that it allows them to discharge their intended state, whether married or religious, with the greatest efficiency and harmony.  There exist among women so few intellectuals because such faculties are not needed for the discharge of her most natural duties, i.e. a wife and mother.  Indeed, where a woman is concerned, intelligence seldom, if ever, walks hand-in-hand with the modesty and humility that befits a Catholic woman, and which she wears as the dual crowns of her wife- and motherhood.  Can you honestly say that, among those intellectual women with whom you've associated, that the environment is not one of concerted and enthusiastic man-bashing, and the cultivation of near-obsession to prove that they are "better" than their male colleagues?  In my experience, this has been universal.

Knowledge in and of itself Is there something wrong with a woman who likes intellectual subjects?  I am fascinated by science and love genetics, theriogenology (science of animal reproduction), animal anatomy and physiology, endocrinology, biochemistry...and I perform very well in these subjects, usually much better than most men.  Is there something morally wrong with having a very deep interest in these areas, and consequently studying them?  Especially when she is unlikely to have a marriage vocation?  In fact, if I did marry, I would still wish to be involved in the livestock industry and would seek a husband who is at least as interested in these subjects as I am. It's that big of a deal to me.  God gave me these interests and I should be using them somehow.

In and of itself, I do not believe intellectual curiosity to be a morally bad thing and, indeed, it can be a wonderful thing, provided it does not hinder one in the execution of the state for which God has intended one to live, or the discharge of the same.  Does genetics or theriogenology or organic chemistry teach you how to be a faithful wife and loving mother?  I don't see how it could.  One concern I have is that you give undue precedence to your interests.  Your occupation is something that you do, not for your enjoyment, but for your chastisement as a daughter of Adam sharing in the effects of original sin.  That isn't to say that you can't take a measure of personal pride in executing your occupation with skill and sobriety, but it isn't meant to be entertainment.  If you are a called to the married state, then being a wife and mother must take perpetual and absolute precedence over all other roles which you may exercise.  In such an instance, you are a wife and mother and work as a veterinarian.  The first is in your nature, the second is the merely the specialized exercise of faculty.

Maybe I am in the minority on this, but just some thoughts.  My belief is that if an environment is dangerous for a woman's soul, than it's dangerous for a man's.  Men who have the fortitude to withstand it are in the minority as well.  I don't see this as being a feminine issue so much as a college in general issue.  

Oh, secular education is unfit for any soul bearing the name Catholic.  But education, properly conducted in an environment where men can study together without the distraction of temptation is something that will allow a man to execute that which is in his nature: that of provider and head of household.

I have personally interacted with hundreds of men more intelligent than me. Men from all walks of life, from tradesmen to academics. John Grey, who just responded, is an example ready to hand.

Thank you, sir, but I believe you overestimate me or underestimate yourself.  I've found our exchanges personally edifying, even when I have disagreed with your conclusions, because they've helped my cultivate my ability to think in that I've always believed that intelligence, true intelligence, is not in the rote of fact but in the ability to sift information efficiently, to make connections that are not immediately apparent, and to effectively apply to abstract knowledge to practical situations.  I admit, with all thanksgiving to God, that I possess a measure of this ability but I do not conceive myself being overly wealthy among those do.

Whatever the case, thanks again for the compliment.  :cheers:

but I disagree with your statement that women specifically lack critical thinking.

It's my experience that men, particularly intellectually inclined men, are more intelligent, generally speaking, than most women, and more thoughtful.

I'm pretty sure that's the general experience of humanity according to the things I've read.

You're a bright woman Tiffany, so I'm sure you're inclined to see things differently.

Please don't take this comment to be hostile- but what do you mean when you say that women aren't as intellectual as men?  Of course, many aren't, but the men I've seen are not usually any more so.  I'm not sure that I understand why women and men are treated as separate species.  We are biologically different, and yes, we do have different talents and aptitudes, in general.  But I don't think that women are as weak intellectually as is being presented here.  Is there something wrong with a woman who likes intellectual subjects?  I am fascinated by science and love genetics, theriogenology (science of animal reproduction), animal anatomy and physiology, endocrinology, biochemistry...and I perform very well in these subjects, usually much better than most men.  Is there something morally wrong with having a very deep interest in these areas, and consequently studying them?  Especially when she is unlikely to have a marriage vocation?  

Men and women have have similar averages but different distributions of IQ.  More women have IQs clustered around average, while more men have IQs at both extremes.  This means there are more male morons than female ones. It also means there are more male geniuses than female.  Here is an article that explains it in detail: IQ distribution  This is why most people experience that the smartest people they know tend to be men.  One is not likely to run into the stupid men from the other end of the spectrum because they tend to be institutionalized.

It is not simply a matter of IQ.  There are many intelligent women, but this intelligence tends to be directed towards practical matters.  The ideal of the Catholic university has theology as the "queen of sciences" with philosophy as "her handmaid".  We are talking about a lot of abstract and theoretical thinking.  Only a minority of men are suited for this and even fewer women.

Of course, you are going to real university not an ideal one, so this is of limited relevance to you.  You do not expect to marry and so you are pursuing training in a field of interest in order to support yourself.  You are succeeding academically.  You have taken steps to reduce to spiritual dangers involved by living at home and limiting your socializing.  There is no indication that you are doing anything morally wrong.  My impression is that your behaviour is commendable.

However, I recommend that you seek counsel from a priest who knows you and your situation.  There are many spiritual dangers involved (as you say, to both men and women) and you need to determine if, in your case, it is worth the risk.  Attending college is not a decision to make lightly.