Guest Contributor

Feminism + Catholicism = ? By Dawn DiPrince

Oh, so many people cannot figure out why/how in the hell I can be a feminist AND a practicing Catholic. And, I must admit there are days when I, too, am perplexed.

For example, one recent Sunday after Mass I waited outside the Cathedral while my children ran and climbed and smelled flowers around a statue of St. Therese. After a few minutes, two modestly dressed women with clipboards walked up to me and asked: “Would you like to sign a pro-life petition?” I snappishly said no. (Still wishing I would have asked more questions. How do you define pro-life? What good will a petition do?)

I sensed a little surprise from them. I’m sure I was the picture of Catholic motherhood, if you didn’t notice the electric blue toe nails. Only about 30 minutes earlier, I was on the altar reading Scripture to the congregation — something I’ve done since I was 17, when I realized that was likely the closest I would get to priesthood. Also during Mass, my two older children were altar servers (the gender-neutral of “altar boys). And, we were waiting outside because my husband was washing chalices as part of his duties as Eucharistic minister. So, I certainly appeared to be someone who would gladly sign their petitions. Continue reading “Feminism + Catholicism = ? By Dawn DiPrince”

Death of a Priestess by Geraldine Charles

Dusk was falling and mist rising as I drove sadly across the Somerset Levels – a liminal place which once formed the huge marshy lake out of which the Isle of Avalon majestically rose. When I rounded a bend to see a large swan walking straight up the centre of the road in the same direction I was going, my first thought was for its safety. I expected it to take flight or veer off at any moment, but the swan continued on its path, seemingly determined to walk just where it was. The road was narrow and all I could do was respectfully follow until it widened a little, eventually managing to squeeze carefully past before starting to flash my headlamps at oncoming traffic to warn them of the swan’s unlikely presence.

Only later that evening did I remember the last time I saw such a stately walk in front of a moving vehicle – when a formally-dressed funeral director led off the hearse which carried my father from his home and on his last journey in this world. I was thunderstruck. Could the swan be marking this new loss, making me mindful and slowing me down? Continue reading “Death of a Priestess by Geraldine Charles”

Confessions of a Former Sex Worker by Anonymous

Empowered? I thought so. At least sometimes. I was barely an adult when I entered the sex industry at the young age of eighteen. I had little life experience, was high school drop out, and was forced out on my own a year earlier. I quickly found that the fast food industry offered me little chance of survival. After working seven days a week (with 3-4 of those days being double shifts), barely making my bills, and living off of a tub of expired granola I took from work (and the one meal a day I was provided on the job), I could not help but be enticed by the idea of making hundreds of dollars a day for simply taking off my clothes.

It was a woman I worked with who introduced me to the idea. Her sister was a “stripper” and dating the manager of a local club and she suggested I audition to be a dancer. The wages were more than I had ever imagined earning and I was tempted on many levels to take her advice. Being able to support myself comfortably seemed the answer to my problems, even if it meant violating my moral code. Continue reading “Confessions of a Former Sex Worker by Anonymous”

Fanpire by Tanya Erzen

A girl treats the Twilight series as a holy book, emulates the behavior of the vampire family at its center, and makes a pilgrimage to Forks, WA, the setting of the books. This could just be a run-of-the-mill Twilight fan. After all, Twilight, a young adult romance between the exceptionally clumsy 16-year old human Bella Swan, and a vampire named Edward Cullen who has been seventeen since 1918, is beloved by millions of women and girls. Thirteen million copies of the books have been sold in the United States; 116 million copies, worldwide, with translations into thirty-seven languages. The film adaptations are some of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Continue reading “Fanpire by Tanya Erzen”

The Mago Hedge School: Why Remember Mary Daly? By Helen Hye Sook Hwang

Prologue

By writing this, I do not intend to defend Mary Daly’s position in any dispute. A controversial figure, Mary Daly never let go of her fight with those whom she thought on the other side of her feminist war. Like anyone else in history, Mary Daly belonged to her time and culture, and I leave her unresolved issues up to her. What I write here is my fond memory of her, whose feminist thought left an indelible mark on my being as well as humanity as a whole. Daly’s contribution remains to be reassessed from the fresh eye of new generations. In the meantime, I begin to speak for my part. Without Mary Daly’s thought, I would not have been in this place where I stand right now. It has empowered me to actualize my dreams to the fullest as a wo/man who was born and raised in Korea but had come from the One Home in origin.

I first hear of the hedge school
“Have you heard of the hedge school, Hye Sook?” asked Mary. “No, I haven’t heard of it,” I answered. This conversation took place during the conference called the Feminist Hullaballoo held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2007. We met there and spent three days as chums. Mary was with another friend, Yvonne Johnson, so the three of us hung out together. It was a very special time for me – I felt as if I were wrapped up in the eye of the storm. (In fact, my life feels so.) At the conference, someone asked me how I came to be invited as a featured speaker. I was among such renowned feminist speakers as Sonia Johnson, Paula Gunn Allen, and Mary Daly herself. They felt like giants to me. I told her that Mary Daly invited me. Mary had asked me if I would like to go and speak at that conference. I did not have an inflated ego. I would not have been hurt if I were not chosen. But I said “Yes” without hesitation. At the time, it felt like another one of the many “outlandish” adventures that I had undertaken throughout my life. In retrospect, however, this was a very special “Yes” to the beginning of my life’s new phase. Continue reading “The Mago Hedge School: Why Remember Mary Daly? By Helen Hye Sook Hwang”

Translations of the Bible (and Translators) are Important to Women by Jennifer Sharp

One of the most interesting topics is the theory that YHWH’s roots may be found in information about the ancient Goddess IO, and that YHWH is an inclusive name for an inclusive deity.

Some years ago I read the Bible and objected to passages about women. That was when works by Ruether, Stone, Daly, Schüssler Fiorenza, Eisler, etc. became available. I read all of the feminist writers I could find. Because of this reading, I looked up biblical passages in different Bibles. I began to notice something rather curious. A passage in one Bible would say “she did it” – the same passage in another Bible would say, “he did it.” “This,” my current minister would say, “This is the word of God. You can believe in it.” “Believe in it”? Which biblical passage was I supposed to believe – the “she” or the “he”?

Being a questioning person, I got serious. I searched the University of Wisconsin bookstore shelves for required reading in Hebrew and Semitic studies, acquired references listed in bibliographies of those books, read about the development of the biblical text, purchased interlinear Bibles, Hebrew and Greek grammars, analytical lexicons, concordances, commentaries, and more English versions of the Bible and eventually took a class in Hebrew. Continue reading “Translations of the Bible (and Translators) are Important to Women by Jennifer Sharp”

LGBT Activism and the Holy Spirit By Dawn DiPrince

Last Sunday before Mass, I was in the sacristy preparing for the First Reading that I would later be sharing with the congregation. The music director and Monsignor were there too, discussing Church-related matters. When they saw that I was there, the music director (who is really informally in charge of all operations) says: “Oh, Dawn, I saw you on TV the other night.” I responded with a smile and a subtle nod of my head. Monsignor asked: “Oh really, what for?” And, she answered for me: “She was at the City Council meeting talking about same sex partners.” Monsignor quickly walked away without further comment. And, I just sheepishly shrugged my shoulders. Continue reading “LGBT Activism and the Holy Spirit By Dawn DiPrince”

The Changing Face of Christ in the Catholic Church by Janice Poss

Yesterday, as I have done for the last six years, I attended another ordination, an ordination that as the others has been two thousand years in the making. It was historic, it was Catholic; it was the new face of in persona Christi, the true ideal of Imago Dei. It was also a retrieval of our roots, of the other side of God. These ordinations make and bring God and Christ into integrated authentic wholeness and, therefore true holiness.

Yes, it was the ordination of two more women to the Catholic priesthood. This movement is real and has been going on now since 2003. The changing face of God and Christ is in women, their determination in their discernment as a ‘priestly’ people in living out the Gospel messages with which we are all too familiar and need to be ‘lived’ to make them real and felt in our Church. Continue reading “The Changing Face of Christ in the Catholic Church by Janice Poss”

Social Engagement as Feminist Praxis in the lives of Patricia A. Reif & Rita Nakashima Brock By Teresa A. Yugar

Today our country and global community need religious leaders to utilize their theological education and feminist principles to model the formation of ally ships across ecumenical and interfaith perspectives, laying the foundation for a more just and peaceful society. While Reif and Nakashima Brock did not know each other, their feminist stance of commitment to social justice and praxis should give us pause.

In 2002, Claremont Graduate University and the Immaculate Heart Community collaborated and created an endowment to sponsor a Lectureship in honor of the memory of feminist teacher, scholar and activist, Dr. Patricia A. Reif. Each year the Dr. Patricia A. Reif committee invites cutting edge feminist scholars in religion to discuss the intersection of their research interests and its influence on their scholarship, activist work and teaching in the broader sense of the term, both inside and outside of the classroom. This year the Reverend Dr. Nakashima Brock is the select guest Lecturer to honor Reif’s life, memory, and legacy. Tammi Schneider, committee member and Dean of the School of Religion stated Nakashima Brock’s visit is timely because in three weeks the national U.S. presidential elections will define the trajectory of our country for, minimally, the next four years. Nakashima Brock’s involvement in the Occupy Movement on a local and national level extends from her feminist commitment and advocacy for the rights of the 99% of our country who are being squelched by U.S. policies that favor the elite 1% of our nation. For Nakashima Brock it is a moral imperative for persons of faith and goodwill to educate individuals and take a stand on policies, on a state and nation-wide level that safeguard the livelihoods of the majority poor of our country. For Nakashima Brock this means quality health care for all, living wages and decent jobs, free high quality public education through college, and an end to the prison-military-industrial complex. Continue reading “Social Engagement as Feminist Praxis in the lives of Patricia A. Reif & Rita Nakashima Brock By Teresa A. Yugar”

Half the Church by Lorie Winder

Last week’s nationwide airing of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide reminded those of us who read the Kristof/WuDunn book of the same title how profoundly we were affected by its revelations. For those unfamiliar with either, the book and two-part film document one of the most shameful realities of the twenty-first century, namely, the continued, widespread oppression and degradation of millions of women linked to gender discrimination. Lest we feel impotent when confronted with such a grim reality, the film presents the inspiring stories of courageous women who are making a difference—a Cambodian woman, for example, sold into prostitution as a child, who escapes and later builds a school and refuge for girls with a similar history. Such stories challenge us with what Half the Sky calls “the single most vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity to make a change.” Continue reading “Half the Church by Lorie Winder”