Feminism and Religion

Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Somebody Almost Walked Off With All of My Stuff: And He Didn’t Even Know He Had a Thing of Value on the Open Market*

This was originally posted May 14, 2012

Gina Messina-Dysert’s blog on sexual harassment by a Religious Studies professor brought up memories that have haunted me for years. It has taken me some months to find the courage to post this story.

When I was an undergraduate, I was very naive and barely dating. I was not as prepared for college work as most of the other students, and I devoted myself to my studies. I had a favorite professor, and I spent a lot of time in his office talking about books and about God. This professor encouraged me to go on for a Ph.D. in his field at a time when a woman with a Ph.D. was an oddity. His belief in my intelligence gave me the courage to overcome my parents’ opposition to the idea that I would pursue a doctorate. His recommendations helped me to win Danforth and Woodrow Wilson Fellowships. I naturally assumed that this professor respected me.

Herstory Profiles: Love, Devotion, and Ecstasy in the life of Indian Poet Mirabai by Anjeanette LeBoeuf

Mira was born in Northwest India in 1498 CE. She is considered a 16^th Century Hindu Mystic, Poet, and Wandering Devotee of Krishna. Her relevance and importance is cemented in the moniker given to her of Bai. Bai, is a honorific ending which can also mean elder sister. Mirabai is quite known throughout India and even across religious traditions. She is a celebrated Bhakti Saint whose devotion to the god Krishna is now lauded and praised.

Mira was born into a Rathore Rajput Royal Family (in modern day Rajasthan). It is said that from the very young age of 5, Mira expressed her devotion to Krishna. Her upper caste status did allow Mira to have access to education and religious practice. But her status also came with forced responsibilities. Mira was forced into a marriage to the crown prince of Mewar and would become a widow five years later. Her father and father-in-law would also later die during the ongoing struggles with Babur, the first Mughal Emperor. As she was still considered part of the Mewari royal family, her remaining in-laws tried to assassinate her on multiple occasions. Some of the attempts included sending her a vial of poison disguised as nectar and a basket of flowers which contained poisonous snakes.

Ariadne and Me – Stumbling Toward the Divine by Arianne MacBean

The Sacred Myrtle Tree with its protective fence at Paliani Monastery

I went to Crete because I longed for some kind of communion with Ariadne. Each time I gathered in ritual with the women on my trip, I hoped She would speak to me, or that I would feel something and know that She was in me, or I within Her. At Paliani, I had these same wishes as I walked toward the over-1000-year-old sacred myrtle tree. Set back in the corner of the quiet convent, I was struck by the contrast between the tree’s black bark and surrounding black fence set against the hopeful flickering of silver ex-votos that filled each branch. I walked around the back of the tree on a slight upper landing and searched for a branch within reach. Finding a spot where I could rest my forearm, albeit awkwardly, I leaned in and waited for Her.

Nancy Valverde: LA Lesbian Icon passes by Marie Cartier

Nancy Valverde was sent off to REST IN POWER April 20, 2024, having passed at her home in the LGBTQ+ senior living space, Triangle Square Triangle Square Senior Apartments – Los Angeles LGBT Center, March 25. An icon, a great friend, a mentor… we had a warrior on our side when she was here with us… and now we have an archangel wielding a sword. Heaven just got a lot more interesting.

The loss is so big. The lessons of a life well lived go on forever.

The day began with a Mass of Christian Burial, conducted by Catholic Dignity priest DIGNITY Los Angeles – Home Page Rev. Dylan Littlefield and five other presiding celebrants, conducted the Mass, followed by a Final Commendation and Burial.

This was uniquely in Catholic tradition, followed by a reception at the iconic East LA bar Redz Redz (Former) – LA Conservancy that had closed as a lesbian bar in 2015. Lost Womyn’s Space: Redz It is recognized as a “lost womyn’s space” but was re-opened as “Redz Angels.” Even though it is more a neighborhood bar now it still is very queer friendly. It was primarily a Mexican lesbian bar, estimated to have first opened in the late 50s and for Nancy’s memorial party transformed back to the original Redz, complete with its iconic logo. Nancy helped turn the bar from straight to gay in the 50s, when as she said, ” they made the mistake of hiring a lesbian bartender, so they gave an inch…we took a mile.”

Nancy was a key informant in my book Baby, You Are My Religion – Women, Gay Bars, and Theology Before Stonewall, a dear friend, and part of my chosen family. This is the work of ethnography, I think, to transform us from often interviewee and interviewer to chosen family—we learn so much about each other.

She lived from March 5, 1932 to March 25, 2024 and had a square named after her in Los Angeles, June 22, 2023, at the intersection of 2nd Street and Main in Downtown LA, Lesbian Activist and Trailblazer Nancy Valverde Honored in Downtown Los Angeles – Los Angeles LGBT Center. At this event Los Angeles Police Department Commander Ruby Flores, apologized to Nancy and the LGBTQ Community on behalf of the LAPD. LAPD issues apology to LGBTQ+ community during ceremony honoring Cooper Do-nuts and LGBTQIA+ activist Nancy Valverde – ABC7 Los Angeles And, as you can see from the photo—there was even a squad car from the LAPD in rainbow LGBTQ+ colors at her funeral in the parking lot.

A friend of mine, Marna Deitch, Lesbians and Allies Unite for Unofficial Dyke March in WeHo – WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events, herself a gay icon and recipient of the Melissa Etheridge Award, wrote on social media that Nancy provides a “history lesson” for all of, “Whether you’re straight or LGBTQ+, you owe a debt of gratitude to this woman…If you’re a woman who wears pants, Nancy is your heritage. If you’re a man with long hair or an earring, or a female with short hair, Nancy is one of your legal precedents.”

Nancy started working at the age of eleven picking apricots and cotton in California. At thirteen, she assisted women in the kitchen at a local restaurant. Even though she did not have a driver’s license, she worked driving pastry deliveries around Los Angeles; and then at age fourteen also driving prostitutes to their “appointments” for a fee. At seventeen, she worked as a manager for an apartment complex. She later became a barber. Since she had not completed her education beyond 6th grade, she could not enter barber school, but upon passing an IQ test, she received her barber’s license. Though she was paid less than her male colleagues, it was her work at a local barbershop in East Los Angeles that made her famous. Nancy Valverde – Los Angeles LGBT Center – Senior Services.

Valverde experienced discrimination as a Chicana, a lesbian, and as a masculine presenting woman, with short hair and masculine clothing. She was often harassed by the LAPD, who charged her with violating what were known as masquerading laws, How Dressing in Drag Was Labeled a Crime in the 20th Century | HISTORY which prohibited men and women from wearing gender nonconforming clothes. Nancy identified as a woman but chose to wear men’s clothing for comfort, so was often targeted. Lavender Los Angeles – Roots of Equality, Tom De Simone, Teresa Wang, Melissa Lopez, Diem Tran, Andy Sacher – Google Books. She was harassed and detained multiple times at Lincoln Heights jail, in a section of the Sybil Brand Institute (SBI) for women known as the Daddy Tank. Situational Lesbians & the Daddy Tank: Women Prisoners Negotiating Queer Identity and Space, 1970-1980 | Genders 1998-2013 | University of Colorado Boulder. The Daddy Tank was a private wing of SBI where butch women (masculine presenting women) were held. After doing research at the Los Angeles County Law Library in 1951, Nancy found legal proof that it was not in fact a crime for a woman to wear men’s clothing—if deemed necessary for her job. Her lawyer used this to end the ongoing arrests. Nancy From Eastside Clover, Lincoln Heights (Queer History) | Barrio Boychik.

She is survived by her love of 18 years, Andi Less Seagal, her son, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her siblings – and a large circle of chosen family and friends.

In offering her eulogy, the presiding reverend recounted a retort Nancy gave to an LAPD officer in the 50s. She had been released from one of many masquerading convictions and the officer said, “Next time I see you, I expect to see you wearing a dress!”

Nancy spoke right back, “Next time I see you–I expect the same.”

Life-Giving Blood by Michelle Bodle

“What did you think?” This question was posed to me by a young woman I am mentoring in ministry. After receiving The Book of Womanhood by Amy Davis Abdallah as a gift, she asked me to walk through the book and discuss it with her, as suggested in the introduction.

I inhaled deeply before replying that I thought Davis Abdallah was writing from a posture of privilege that she was completely unaware of – and that deeply troubled me.

Davis Abdallah’s premise is that Christian women need a rite of passage accompanying the journey of getting to know themselves. Piloted at the former Nyack College where Davis Abdallah taught, Woman was a program that sought to develop a Christian right of passage for women focused on relationships with God, self, others, and creation.

Mother’s Day: From Pagan Origins to Modern Celebrations by Judith Shaw

On May 12th families will gather together in the United States to celebrate another Mother’s Day. This is a good time to reflect on mothers, motherhood and why we take a day to celebrate our mothers.

“Yemayá, Mother Goddess,” oil on canvas by Judith Shaw

‘Forget Me Not’ by Sara Wright

As if I could.

Almost three days of spring flooding seems so normal now that I expect it. Hard to believe it’s only been raining like this for less than a year. A warming climate creates torrential rain, three to five feet of snow at once, wildly fluctuating temperature shifts and who knows what else. After all, this is just the beginning. The end is out of sight.

One robin awakened me this morning with a symphony and kept up his chorale for an hour. It was still raining then but robin warbled on, harbinger of spring.

Today was the day I promised myself I’d tackle the cellar, now flooded even with a sump pump that runs around the clock. Our poor patch of northern earth is just too saturated.

Legacy of Carol P. Christ: THE CARELESS SPIRIT OF ANNIE CORLISS: TRUMPING DESPAIR IN THE NEW WORLD

This was originally posted on April 2, 2012 and updated on December 30, 2016

Annie Corliss was my great-great-grandmother. The Corliss name, also spelled Corlis, Corless, Corlies, Corlers, and Carlis, is derived from “careless” meaning someone who is “carefree” or “happy-go-lucky.”

Annie Corliss was the daughter of James and Mary Corliss, both born in Ireland. Her parents may have been tenant farmers, but given that their surname could refer to someone who doesn’t settle or own property, they may have been Irish Travellers– itinerant craft persons and traders, sometimes called tinkers because they mended cooking pots and farm implements. “Irish Travellers are a traditionally nomadic people of ethnic Irish origin, who maintain a separate language and set of traditions. … Irish Travellers have their roots in a Celtic (and possibly pre Celtic) nomadic population in Ireland.”

The Courage to Go Your Own Way by Caryn MacGrandle

My eleven-year-old daughter is regularly called a lesbian in the conservative Southern town that we live. Not because she has identified her gender, but because she does not dress the same as all of the other girls or wear any makeup. She wears linen baggy pants with casual t-shirts. And it is not as if the other girls are dressed more formally than her, but there is a ‘prescribed’ casual look that involves Lululemon and expensive sports casual clothing bought at stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods.

My daughter doodles a skeleton on her hand, and the girl next to her calls her ‘emo’ akin to pariah in the culture. The boy on the other side says, ‘why don’t you just go kiss a girl already. Faggot.’

My heart breaks when I hear her tell me these things.

‘Keep carving your own way. Fly,’ I silently entreat her.

RACHEL KADISH: TRANSCENDENCE AND TEXT, part 2 by Theresa C. Dintino

THE SYMBOL OF THE GENIZAH

Being a non-Jew, the first word I had to look up while reading The Weight of Ink was genizah—a hiding place or the act of hiding sacred texts until they can receive proper burial in the earth. In Jewish tradition this is a required honoring of the written word, especially if it is writing about God. It can also mean depository or treasure; something hidden away in time with hope for more welcome in the future that finds it.

Genizah was the perfect word for me to have etched into my mind with regard to The Weight of Ink as it set the stage and opened a space in my heart for a novel which concerns itself with the power of writing and words through time. The story is centered around human lives engaged in passionate intellectual pursuits, the love of books and learning, and imaginations set afire by the academic.