Feminism and Religion

Black Madonna Transforms into Vodou’s Lesbian Defender by Kittredge Cherry

One of the most famous Catholic icons is the model for a Haitian Vodou goddess who protects lesbians.

Traditional images of Erzulie Dantor, the Vodou defender of lesbians, are based on the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. They even share the same two scars on the dark skin of the right cheek.

Every year more than 100,000 people view the original Black Madonna of Czestochowa icon in Poland at one of the most popular Catholic shrines on the planet. John Paul II, the Polish pope, was devoted to her. Few suspect that the revered icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary has a lesbian connection. Continue reading “Black Madonna Transforms into Vodou’s Lesbian Defender by Kittredge Cherry”

Ode to My Twenties by Anjeanette LeBoeuf

Anjeanette Society has created this vortex of fear surrounding women aging. Yet, as I turn 30, I am only feeling awe. Awe over everything I accomplished in my twenties and awe in all the things yet to be realized in my thirties. The interesting thing is how other people are experiencing me turning thirty. Some are reminiscent of their twenties or how their experienced their thirties. Others start to bring up certain things which are apparently still lacking in my life. The biggest ones are a husband and children. They look at my eve of thirty-hood as the clock ticking away on me finding love and most definitely on my biological clock.

Continue reading “Ode to My Twenties by Anjeanette LeBoeuf”

Sita Sings the Blues. Literally. by Vibha Shetiya

Viba One of the most exciting times of the semester occurs when we watch “Sita Sings the Blues” in class. This film by Nina Paley – one she has made available to the public by withholding copyright – is a wonderful addition to what has come to be known as the Ramayana tradition. Unlike a few decades ago when scholarship focused on only pan-Indian literary Ramayanas, scholars today are beginning to acknowledge that most people get to know of Rama and Sita through folk and oral tales, women’s songs and local and regional tellings.

But the thing about “Sita Sings the Blues” that struck me most was how, in 81 short minutes Paley masterfully reflects the complexity of the tradition; the Ramayana in its various forms has been questioned, adapted, revered and challenged by commentators and devotees alike in the two millennia it has traveled across space and time, from north India to Bali to New York. But what scholarship has elaborated over three decades and endless research, Paley has managed to show in less than two hours.

The Ramayana as my last post explained acts as a blue print for daily living for millions of Hindus worldwide. There are various problematic episodes in the epic, one of the most controversial being Rama’s unceremonious treatment of his own wife, the ever loyal and faithful Sita. Paley like so many others who have joined the debate over Sita’s treatment – one that began in antiquity – gives Sita a voice of her own when she ingeniously has the tragic heroine of the Ramayana singing to Annette Hanshaw’s songs; Hanshaw was an American jazz singer whose success soared in the 1920s and 30s. Throughout the film, her melancholic voice reminds us of the universality of the story, one of a woman scorned by the man she loved. Paley herself could feel Sita’s pain, for amid the various layers of the film, is woven her own experience of love and betrayal. But Paley is present throughout the story in another way – the animation, design and editing is entirely hers. Continue reading “Sita Sings the Blues. Literally. by Vibha Shetiya”

That Christmas Morning Feeling by Marie Cartier

What follows is an excerpt from my current project—a novel I have been working on for over ten years. It is finished—sort of— in various journals and I am currently trying to pull them all together. These are the opening pages. Thank you so much for your support of my work. The novel is called- That Christmas Morning Feeling.

Book Number Sixteen

This is how I feel about incest, I mean learning to talk about it…speak Incest, as in capital “I” – Incest, like French, German, – Incest…right? Because you don’t talk about it, you talk it…you, as in you alone, you talk it; you use it in a sentence. “This is what happened to me…” And no one talks back.

And, why compare it to French or German? There are whole countries who will talk back to you if you speak French or German. Learning Incest is like learning Martian – you think to yourself, maybe there’s a planet somewhere where learning Martian would be useful…but it is certainly not here… no one can speak Martian here, correct your grammar, help you write a poem, check your iambic pentameter…whatever. My point is, learning Martian, well, if you learned it…how would you ever know if you were speaking it right? If someone on Mars could actually understand you? Of course, you wouldn’t know. You would just have to really love Martian enough to learn to speak it – even though…And then, of course, assume that you might meet and if you ever did meet a Martian and you had invested all this time in learning Martian just in case you would ever run into a Martian, you’d hope that he would understand you. Or she. Whatever. Continue reading “That Christmas Morning Feeling by Marie Cartier”

Settling into God during the Demise of Gender Neutral Language by Dirk von der Horst

Dirk As my life ambles along, some things change, some things are surprisingly persistent. As a young person, the last thing I would have predicted about my future would have been developing even a mild interest in sports, but now I have a mild interest in sports. Mild, but there. So, that’s a surprise element in my life story. But while developments arise, I’ve found that in the growth of my faith, the word “God” has settled into all the movements of my being, taken root in my bones, provides many well-worn neural pathways that make the day go on. It sometimes seems like it would be easier to let the word go for the sake of communicating with a culture that turns more and more to science for cultural coherence, but the word “God” is as there in my psyche the laptop is there beneath my fingers.

While the word God has settled and made itself at home, I’m less and less sure – and it becomes less and less important – what the word means. I look across history and the word becomes muddled. Is what the author of Judges meant by “God” what Aquinas meant by “God?” I’m hard-pressed to find a common referent behind the word when I encounter it in those very different perspectives. I’ve come on a minimal definition – “the appropriate object of worship” – that lets the theological critique of idolatry work its relativizing acid on various God images and God concepts. Continue reading “Settling into God during the Demise of Gender Neutral Language by Dirk von der Horst”

Canola, Celtic Goddess of Inspiration and Creativity by Judith Shaw

Canola, Celtic Goddess of Inspiration and Creativity, is another ancient Celtic Goddess whose story comes down to us in very limited form.

One day Canola had an argument with Her lover. Goddesses, being intermediaries between our physical world and the infinite Source of All, feel emotions in a similar fashion to mortal humans. So, like any mortal woman, Canola was upset by their argument.

Continue reading “Canola, Celtic Goddess of Inspiration and Creativity by Judith Shaw”

#LoveWins by John Erickson

On Saturday, September 19, 2015 I married two of my best friends Andrea and Cindy in holy matrimony in Appleton, WI.

Don’t urge me to leave you or turn back from you.
Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.
May the God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.
–Book of Ruth 1:16-17

On Saturday, September 19, 2015 I married two of my best friends Andrea and Cindy in holy matrimony in Appleton, WI. Having been ordained since 2009, I truly never thought I’d ever get the chance to use these credentials until they asked me a few months back. Although my answer was an automatic yes, I sought to make sure that my homily and the words of advice I gave them on their special day were something unique, not always heard at wedding ceremonies. Continue reading “#LoveWins by John Erickson”

Philogyny: Women Supporting Women by Ellen Boneparth

When I set out two years ago to create a nonprofit, based on a small, unexpected inheritance, I thought a lot about the role of giving — both to grantees and to myself as a prime donor. My overall goal was to empower women and girls in the developing world through new projects dealing with their health and education.

I was uncomfortable with the word “philanthropy.” I knew from speaking Modern Greek that “anthropos” means “person” or “man” but what I wanted to do was completely woman-centered. So, I created the word “philogyny” or “loving and caring for women” as a way to draw attention to the impact that support for women can have.

Why women, especially women in developing countries? First, we know from years of research that women are the main caretakers and caregivers in their families and communities. When a woman in a developing country has income, she is likely to spend 95 percent on her own family while a man will typically spend a third to a half of his income on family, the rest, on himself. Secondly, contributions to women’s and girls’ education and health have a significant impact on a community resulting in higher employment, lower fertility rates, and healthier populations.

As a new philogynist, I also needed a name for my nonprofit. I wanted to avoid the words most often used in such endeavors — gender, sex, development, empowerment, etc. — and to come up with something memorable that captured the lives of women in the developing world. Thus, LIGHT MY FIRE was born, an image that captures the lives of the two billion women globally who light a fire every day or evening to cook for their families.

What has Light My Fire accomplished in two years? We have given small grants, usually around $5000, to women’s and community organizations in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Middle East. We believe a small grant goes a long way in a resource-poor country. Our total over two years is about $100,000 to 28 programs with some grants made to the same program in both years.

Rather than list all our projects, let me provide an idea of the range of our activities. We have supported programs dealing with: sexual abuse of children in Bolivia; production by women of soya oil in Malawi; girls’ education in Nepal, India and Kenya; health training of Bedouin and Palestinian women and Guatemalan girls; agricultural training of Kenyan women; financial literacy of Ugandan women; employment training for Haitian single mothers. And there is a lot more.

Clearly, Light My Fire seeks practical outcomes. At the same time, however, philogyny has a strongly spiritual element. Giving to women all over the world offers a sense of connection to our planet. We don’t just talk about global sisterhood, we do it. Philogyny also connects the donor to live-giving and life-saving efforts. It is a practice that touches the soul more deeply than the checkbook. To put it simply, giving to women has made me feel good, in fact, better than in any other life work I have done. The gift of philogyny is giving to women and also giving oneself a spiritual boost.

Anyone interested in joining our community of philogynists is welcome to join us: making a donation will make you feel good! Even the smallest amounts can make a big difference in the developing world– our global sisters and our circle at Light My Fire will be deeply grateful.

Ellen Boneparth has enjoyed a range of careers from academia to diplomacy to work in nonprofits dealings with women’s issues. Currently, she is the Director of Light My Fire, a nonprofit promoting women’s and girls’ health and education in developing countries. Her passion for writing has generated 7 novels and 2 memoirs. Her most recent novels, available on Amazon or at Author House, include DO NOT HURRY THE JOURNEY, a love story revolving around Alzheimer’s, and POSITIVE WOMEN, a tale about HIV-positive women in Africa and the obstacles raised by Pharma.

“We Knocked” :: A Review of Mormon Feminism by Caryn D. Riswold

caryn2 Mormon feminists experience what most feminists of faith have heard at some point. Utter dismissal of the possibility of their existence.

We know several variations:

You can’t be Christian and feminist.

There’s no such thing as a Catholic feminist.

You can’t seriously be Jewish and feminist.

You can’t possibly be Muslim and feminist.

To be Mormon and feminist? Preposterous.

In response, scholars, activists, and writers within each tradition have had to document their history, make their theological case, and engage their scriptures as robustly as any conservative traditionalist would. In order to achieve meaningful institutional change, unimpeachable work and confident testimony is required. Continue reading ““We Knocked” :: A Review of Mormon Feminism by Caryn D. Riswold”

The Acid Attack on WomanPriest Alexandra Dyer: The Cancelation of Evil with the Face of God/ess by Cynthia Garrity-Bond

cynthia garrity bond On August 20, Alexandra Dyer, a Roman Catholic WomanPriest was the victim of a targeted acid attack to her face. Dyer had just left a meeting at The Healing Arts Initiative in Queens, NY. As she was walking to her car, a man in his 30’s came up from behind and said, “Can I ask you something?” As she turned to face her assailant, he threw a full cup of thick acid into her face. In her pain and hysteria, Dyer somehow managed to get into her car, driving approximately 200 feet before losing complete control. Her screams from the pain drew the attention of others, who called for help. Dyer suffered third degree burns to her face and hands. Here’s the thing about acid—it continues to inflect damage to the skin and bone after the fact. While Dyer will survive the physical attack, she will never be the same woman. Her outer scars will forever remind her of what she suffered—those physical features that made her Alexandra are gone, replaced by years of reconstructive surgery and further pain.