Tuesday, November 26, 2002
Heather:
Another blog about feminism, Catholicism, and womanhood.
I was Catholic before I was a feminist, but I hold both of those identities closely. I have been plagued by apparent conflicts between the two and have had difficulty resolving them. One of many issue that seems to conflict is the two ideologies' respective stands on abortion. The litmus test for feminism has become one's stand on that particular issue--not capital punishment, the environment, female genital mutilation, shaved armpits or life partners. Abortion.
I felt like I was betraying part of myself with trying to be both a good Catholic and a good feminist. I "compromised" for a while, telling myself I was pro-choice but I knew it was the wrong choice for me. I felt like I was sitting on the fence. I've since realized that while it's my body that has the uterus, it is someone else's body growing in that uterus from the moment of conception. That individual and I do not share the same DNA, circulatory system, or even necessarily eye color. Madeleine taught me that. The fact that I am now carrying a son drives it home even more clearly.
I read somewhere a writer saying that the feminist movement has been hijacked, though I don't remember by whom to where. Whether it was Betty Freidan, Gloria Steinem, Camille Paglia or Andrea Dworkin, I agree with the sentiment. I know I wasn't there when the movement started back in the 1800's and the conference at Seneca Falls, but I don't think one of the planks in the platform was a "right to abortion." I believe the concerns were more toward the idea of recognizing the importance of women, that we are equally as important as men. A native American (I think) proverb is "Women hold up half the sky." We do.
Which brings me to another issue where the feminism and Catholicism seem to collide, the ordination of women. Let me say first that I realize that women cannot be priests for reasons akin to why men can't be wet nurses. The biology just isn't there.
Oh, yes, I know that sounds kind of weak to some; women can't be priests because Jesus was a man. How lame. The priest is acting in persona Christi and Jesus was a man. While God is both/neither (actually, beyond all of that gender stuff, right?), Jesus had to be one or the other to become God Incarnate. If He had been both somehow, He would have been some kind of freak of nature and ostracized. If He had come as a woman, He wouldn't have been crucified; He would have been ignored.
So I'm a Catholic. How quaint and patriarchal; women can't be ordained, etc. Okay. Do Muslims have religious sisters? Wrong choice; Santa's list is shorter than that of the violations Islamic extremists make with respect to women. Are there Buddhist nuns? I think so. Do they have as many jobs and as much recognition as Catholic religious? I know of nuns who are teachers, nurses, counselors, therapists, and administrators, to name a few. I know a multitude of Protestant churches have female ministers, such as the Anglicans, but with paragons of Christian discipleship as Bishop Spong, I question whether some of them have more than a nodding acquaintance with what Jesus did and said.
That was a cheap shot; I'm sorry in advance.
Back to my point. I think the feminist movement originated to fight for the rights of women and for them to receive equal respect in society for whatever choices they make, not to make women the same as men. Just equally important. One of my dearest prayers is that when my son is born, I can finally stay home and be a full-time mother. My worth as a person should not change; the value of my opinion, the importance of my contribution to family and society as a whole should not diminish.
That is what feminism should fight for. Maintaining the value of womanhood whether the woman is in the board room or the living room, administrating or nursing, writing legal briefs or changing poopy diapers.
Another blog about feminism, Catholicism, and womanhood.
I was Catholic before I was a feminist, but I hold both of those identities closely. I have been plagued by apparent conflicts between the two and have had difficulty resolving them. One of many issue that seems to conflict is the two ideologies' respective stands on abortion. The litmus test for feminism has become one's stand on that particular issue--not capital punishment, the environment, female genital mutilation, shaved armpits or life partners. Abortion.
I felt like I was betraying part of myself with trying to be both a good Catholic and a good feminist. I "compromised" for a while, telling myself I was pro-choice but I knew it was the wrong choice for me. I felt like I was sitting on the fence. I've since realized that while it's my body that has the uterus, it is someone else's body growing in that uterus from the moment of conception. That individual and I do not share the same DNA, circulatory system, or even necessarily eye color. Madeleine taught me that. The fact that I am now carrying a son drives it home even more clearly.
I read somewhere a writer saying that the feminist movement has been hijacked, though I don't remember by whom to where. Whether it was Betty Freidan, Gloria Steinem, Camille Paglia or Andrea Dworkin, I agree with the sentiment. I know I wasn't there when the movement started back in the 1800's and the conference at Seneca Falls, but I don't think one of the planks in the platform was a "right to abortion." I believe the concerns were more toward the idea of recognizing the importance of women, that we are equally as important as men. A native American (I think) proverb is "Women hold up half the sky." We do.
Which brings me to another issue where the feminism and Catholicism seem to collide, the ordination of women. Let me say first that I realize that women cannot be priests for reasons akin to why men can't be wet nurses. The biology just isn't there.
Oh, yes, I know that sounds kind of weak to some; women can't be priests because Jesus was a man. How lame. The priest is acting in persona Christi and Jesus was a man. While God is both/neither (actually, beyond all of that gender stuff, right?), Jesus had to be one or the other to become God Incarnate. If He had been both somehow, He would have been some kind of freak of nature and ostracized. If He had come as a woman, He wouldn't have been crucified; He would have been ignored.
So I'm a Catholic. How quaint and patriarchal; women can't be ordained, etc. Okay. Do Muslims have religious sisters? Wrong choice; Santa's list is shorter than that of the violations Islamic extremists make with respect to women. Are there Buddhist nuns? I think so. Do they have as many jobs and as much recognition as Catholic religious? I know of nuns who are teachers, nurses, counselors, therapists, and administrators, to name a few. I know a multitude of Protestant churches have female ministers, such as the Anglicans, but with paragons of Christian discipleship as Bishop Spong, I question whether some of them have more than a nodding acquaintance with what Jesus did and said.
That was a cheap shot; I'm sorry in advance.
Back to my point. I think the feminist movement originated to fight for the rights of women and for them to receive equal respect in society for whatever choices they make, not to make women the same as men. Just equally important. One of my dearest prayers is that when my son is born, I can finally stay home and be a full-time mother. My worth as a person should not change; the value of my opinion, the importance of my contribution to family and society as a whole should not diminish.
That is what feminism should fight for. Maintaining the value of womanhood whether the woman is in the board room or the living room, administrating or nursing, writing legal briefs or changing poopy diapers.
