Florida Panthers Draftee Rocco Grimaldi Thinks Women Should Be Guardians Of Virtue......And He's Not Even A Mormon

Some readers may recall that during the General Young Women Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held on March 26th, 2011, Young Women President Elaine Dalton called upon women to be "guardians of virtue". Her premise was that while men are always responsible for their own behavior, women could better comport themselves in dress and conduct to serve as an incentive for better behavior by men. Specifically, she counseled the young ladies in attendance to even avoid sending flirtatious, sexually explicit text messages, claiming that such messages could lead a young man to lose the Spirit, his Priesthood power and his virtue. The talk drew a mixed reaction from the LDS blogosphere, with Feminist Mormon Housewives criticizing it while Sister Dalton's own daughter, Emi Edgley, mounted a vigorous defense.

Now a college hockey player who's been drafted by the Florida Panthers of the NHL has picked up on this theme. In a series of posts on Twitter, Rocco Grimaldi, who'll be playing for the University of North Dakota this season, basically calls upon women to be guardians of virtue......and he's not even a Mormon. Grimaldi calls upon women to dress less suggestively in public, concerned that they might tempt men beyond their ability to bear it. Grimaldi's Twitter counsel to women is replicated below (click the images for a larger version):

But unlike Sister Dalton, Grimaldi doesn't cut the men any slack. He calls upon men not to blame women for the way they dress, and said that women are not just an object to be playing with. Grimaldi also admonished men that since God put men in charge of this earth, we have the primary responsibility to man up and lay down our lust. The latter is a reflection of Priesthood thinking -- since only men get the Priesthood, men incur a greater responsibility and accountability. Grimaldi's Twitter counsel to men is replicated below:

Formalize Grimaldi's syntax a bit, and he'd be a natural fit up on the podium at General Conference. His counsel is no different than that dispensed by countless General Authorities and auxiliary leaders at countless conferences and firesides.

Reaction: Greg Wyshynski basically scoffs at Grimaldi's notions on Yahoo Sports, characterizing it as "Twitter rants that espouse Puritanical nonsense" and "uncomfortably close to the asinine...". Wyshinski also notes that although Grimaldi's heart is in the right place with the comments about men, his comments about women drown them out. This, of course, is a sexist analysis, implying that women have to be held beyond reproach simply because they're women.

But on the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, a couple of commenters express support for Grimaldi. Vickymomof6 wrote, "Rocco Grimaldi, Thank you! About time a man stood up for his beliefs. You tell it just like it is and I honour you for it!"

I agree wholeheartedly.