On September 28, 2013, Ursuline College hosted a symposium entitled The Impact of Vatican II on Women Religious in the United States. The symposium featured five speakers. Sister Karen Kennelly, CJS. gave the keynote address entitled “Women Religious in the… Read More ›
power
Feminism vs. Humanism: A response to an idealized feminist identity by Mariam Williams
My first thought after reading Gina Messina-Dysert’s post, “Feminism vs. Humanism: Continuing to claim a feminist identity” was, “Guess she missed that whole #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen trend on Twitter last week.” Until I saw Gina’s bio signaling the end of the post, I thought… Read More ›
The Institutional Silencing of Women by Natalie Weaver
On July 26, 2013, I had the opportunity to hear Rev. Helmut Schüller speak at the City Club of Cleveland’s Friday Forum. He spoke to a convened audience of around 150 people, in addition to the much greater broadcast audience,… Read More ›
What I’m Wearing to the Pool and What it Means, by Sara Frykenberg
Recently a FAR colleague sent us writers an article entitled, “Toward a New Understanding of Modesty,” and asked if any of us would like to comment on it. I dove at the chance, pun intended. Not only did the article… Read More ›
The Hot Seat by John Erickson
Being a man in feminism isn’t easy and that’s how it is supposed to be.
To Have and to Hold: Gay Marriage and the Religion Question
If a conservative religious traditions can’t give their mothers or sisters full equality, how can we expect them to give a GLBT individual the time of day?
What’s Your Super Power? (And Who’s Allowed to Have It?) by Sara Frykenberg
I recently went to see Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. I saw it two times actually. Readers familiar with my posts about cosplay and video gaming will not be surprised to learn that I am also a fan of comic… Read More ›
God Doesn’t Live Here Anymore: Gay Bars and the Growing Divide Between Sexuality and Spirituality by John Erickson
oes God exist within the LGBTQ community anymore or has the community itself abandoned God for all-night raves, dance clubs, alcohol, and hypersexualized and over commoditized fetishized forms of femininity and masculinity? Oftentimes, I find myself answering yes to the above questions. After surviving hate crime after hate crime and endless batches of newly elected conservative politicians hell bent on ignoring medical and social epidemic plaguing the very country they were elected to serve and protect, why would a community, oftentimes linked to sin itself, believe in a holy entity?
Betraying Bodies by Kelly Brown Douglas
Her name was Tricia Meili. Their names were Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Korey Wise and Kevin Richardson. On April 19, 1989 all of their lives were irrevocably changed. They would never meet, but their lives would become forever… Read More ›
Are Buddhist Women Happy? Part II by Oxana Poberejnaia
In Part I of this post I started asking questions about whether Buddhism in the West is part of patriarchy. Today I offer a possible link between practices of men’s Initiation Rites and some of the elements of Buddhism. Men’s… Read More ›
Appreciating the Sacrament of the Present Moment by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
In order to be at peace, it is necessary to find a sense of history – that you are both part of what has come before and part of what is yet to come. Being thus surrounded, you are not… Read More ›
Thanks for Coming (Out): Sexuality, Sports, and Spirituality by John Erickson
I have to be honest, Jason Collins’ admission that he was a homosexual, albeit brave, upset me. While coming out is an completely unique experience to every individual that does it, Jason Collins’ story was just another example of the rampant sexist and heteropatriarachal world that privileges male bodies and sexualities over women’s similar experiences. While I applaud Jason’s story and it’s timing, the first thing I asked to my colleagues was: Where was the hubbub over Sheryl Swoopes or Martina Navratilova?
The Danger of the Patriarchal Domination Mindset: Can We Do Anything About It? by Thea Iberall
At the confluence of misogyny, prejudice, homophobia, religious intolerance, environmental destruction, and violence is the patriarchy. We all know this and talk about it here from our own perspectives. I come as a scientist and writer. I have a love… Read More ›
The Roman Catholic Theology of Womanhood by Ivy Helman
The Vatican has created an entire theology of womanhood without the input of a single woman! Searching the Vatican archives reveals a wide range of documents pertaining to women, some of which mention women tersely only in their capacity as… Read More ›
Orientations: Body, Space, Authority by Linn Marie Tonstad
In her book Queer Phenomenology, Sara Ahmed investigates how we orient ourselves in space with respect to tables – the tables around which we sit, at which we eat with friends and families of choice and birth, and at which… Read More ›
The Feminist Influence by Elise M. Edwards
In these past few months, as I’ve been finishing my dissertation about a theological and ethical perspective on architecture, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking often about my work. In March, I was invited to give a talk at a… Read More ›
Dialogues With Our Children by Kelly Brown Douglas
Son: My friends and I were stopped for going 61 mph in a 55 mph zone, frisked and had our car searched. We thought the police were going after the car of white boys in front of us going at… Read More ›
Hate Mail and the Privilege of Having a Voice by Gina Messina-Dysert
This past week I was honored to have the opportunity to talk with Tavis Smiley on PBS about the resignation of the Pope and the future of the Catholic Church. Although some have argued that the pope stepping down means… Read More ›
Gods of War by Barbara Ardinger
Let’s talk about Mars and Ares. It’s common to think the Greek and Roman pantheons were identical and the gods and goddesses just had alternate names. This is not true. The Roman gods and goddesses personified civic virtues, whereas Greek… Read More ›
Knowledge is Power by Kelly Brown Douglas
If knowledge is power, not knowing is privilege. It has long since been understood that knowledge is power. Women and other subjugated voices have recognized that those who control the world are those who define the world— and define not simply what… Read More ›
Living by an Ethic of Love by Elise M. Edwards
If we base our love ethic in the love of God, we will be committed to the presuppositions that everyone has the right to be free and to live fully and well. We will not try to deny others access… Read More ›
Second Class Rape Victims: Rape Hierarchy and Gender Conflict
Deconstructing masculinity isn’t the key to solving social, sexual, and domestic violence across the world but it is a step worth taking when attempting to engage men in affecting change to stop these violent actions since men, statistically are the perpetrators of such crimes that both cause such outcry as well as perpetual silence.
On Pronouns and Liberation in the Classroom by Ivy Helman
In my introduction to Christianity class, almost every one of my students (who come from diverse religious backgrounds – primarily Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim), continues to believe that the best image if not the only appropriate image for G-d… Read More ›
What It’s Like To Be A Woman In The Academy: Mentoring Edition by Linn Marie Tonstad
In my first post, I promised to return to the topic of mentoring. Mentoring is a survival strategy for feminists inside hostile or difficult-to-navigate environments; in its best possibilities, mentoring is a strategy for flourishing, not just surviving. But when… Read More ›
Imagine a Catholic Church that Loved as only a “Woman” Loves by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
I came across an abhorrent display of ignorance Saturday when reading an article quoting the Pope’s theologian, Dominican priest Wojciech Giertych, on why women cannot be ordained. This man is in charge of reviewing speeches and texts submitted to the Pope… Read More ›
Body Talk by Kelly Brown Douglas
The more I reflect upon the complex and multiple ways in which various bodies are put upon and disregarded, the more I am persuaded that we have a body problem. Our bodies communicate to us in many ways. They are… Read More ›
Winds of Change in the Roman Catholic Church by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
In 2007, I had a conversation with a professor who felt that change was in the air for the Roman Catholic Church. The basis of this opinion was based on language. The words and the context used in writings that… Read More ›
SPECIAL AAR SERIES Part 2: Gamer-Player/ Gamer-Avatar: The Potential of a Video-Gaming Body by Sara Frykenberg with introduction and response by Mary Hunt
Introduction: This is one of four papers presented in Chicago at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, November 17, 2012, in a session entitled “Feminism, Religion and Social Media: Expanding Borders in the Twenty-First Century,” organized by… Read More ›
Don’t Worry, I Won’t Marry Your Girlfriend: Sexuality, Identity, and the Easy Laugh
No longer having to deconstruct the larger cultural and sexual narratives, heterosexuals who do not support marriage equality or feel threatened by homosexuals return to their one source of power that reinforces the ideology that they are on the right path: the Bible. “Marriage is between a man a woman,” or “A man shall not lie with another man as he would a woman,” becomes the newly reinforced heterosexual rallying cry and the progressive progress that occurred in the past becomes nothing more than a joke.
The Impact of Excommunication in the 21st Century (Part I) – Spiritual Redemption or Hegemonic Power by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
“The Lord loves everyone and died for everyone, and He wants all to be saved…the best lesson that can be learned from everything that has happened is that one finds happiness, joy and satisfaction in obedience to the Church.” –… Read More ›
