Feminism and Religion

From the Archives: Matthew Shepard Is a Friend of Mine – Part I…by Marie Cartier

This piece was originally posted on November 2, 2013.

Matthew Shepard died October 12, 1998 – fifteen years ago. This month I have already attended three events memorializing his death. The first was a screening of the Emmy-award winning teleplay The Matthew Shepard Story (starring the amazing Stockard Channing as Judy Shepard), where I served as the moderator for an impassioned question and answer session for the monthly meeting of Comunidad, the Ministry of Gay and Lesbian Catholics group where I serve on the board at St. Matthew’s in Long Beach, CA.

I also recently attended two productions of Beyond the Fence produced by the South Coast Chorale, in which my friend Robin Mattocks performs. This musical created by Steve Davison and others moved me to tears several times—and I know and teach the story of Matthew Shepard every year at this time—I have already done so four times this month. I attended with a friend the first night and because I am a professor the director let me come to the Gala the next night where I met Matthew’s real life best friend Romaine Patterson.

Of Cruelty and Compassion: Jane Goodall: Messenger of Hope by Beth Bartlett

During the last week of September I had the opportunity to spend a few days in solitude in a place that is my soul’s home. I spent part of my time reflecting on questions posed by ecotheologian Mary DeJong to mark the autumnal equinox. The first question was “What is a desire you carry into the autumn season? What are you seeking?” After much contemplation, the words that came were, “I wish for a change in government – to be rid of Trump and company – for freedom, equality, respect, for the dignity of all, for an end to the suffering in Gaza and the reign of terror of ICE in this country – the horrors of those being abducted and imprisoned – for an end to cruelty. Yes, for an end to cruelty everywhere. Why is this country so cruel? I do not understand cruelty. Where does it come from? Why would anyone want to be cruel? How could anyone even stomach the suffering of another? How does that happen? Yes, I desire an end to cruelty.”

A few days after writing those words, on October 1^st, scientist, environmentalist, and humanitarian Jane Goodall passed away in her sleep, prompting me to re-read her book, Reason for Hope. There I found her words echoing my own, “To me, cruelty is the worst of human sins. . . “[i] And while she had not set out to study human cruelty, how we become cruel and how we might move beyond our worst impulses, her work with chimpanzees eventually would lead her to this.

Renewal, Reflection, & Resonance by Paul Robear

The Power of Introspection in Personal Transformation by Paul Robear of the Cuyamungue Institute

Self-reflection helps us understand who we are, what we believe in, and why we think or act the way we do. It is a key element of self-improvement. I have found that by reflecting regularly, I greatly increase my chances of making healthy changes that support growth in my life.

Throughout my life, I’ve felt a yearning to better understand my own strengths and weaknesses. From an early age, I was drawn to moments of pause and deep reflection. These pauses became opportunities to notice what within me was ready to be renewed. I think of this as the space where we begin to hear the resonance of our own inner wisdom.

To give shape to this inner journey and to make it simple and memorable, I began framing it around three guiding words, each beginning with the letter “R.” Over time, these words became touchstones for clarity and meaning in my practice of introspection.

Renewal: A Quiet Beginning: Renewal is usually quiet, subtle, and deeply personal. Just as nature renews itself in cycles, our lives also hold rhythms of renewal. These moments invite us to release what no longer serves us and to open to fresh possibilities. Renewal is not about reinventing ourselves, but about remembering our capacity for growth and allowing space for it to emerge.

Saying Goodbye to May by Sara Wright

Friday night’s dream alarmed me. I had already lost two dogs, and the dream told me that I had lost three. Was my present beloved animal companion at risk?

The weekend passed with increasing heat and dryness and a strange escalating depression that dominated the atmosphere around me. This, with so much astonishing autumn beauty on my doorstep.

Maybe this mood was why I was having so much trouble completing an essay (The Doorway) that when done would finish a heartbreaking odyssey that began last December 24^th when my beloved Hope almost died from heart failure. Eight months later Hope was dead. With Lucy’s death five weeks later, I was left dogless and bereft – except for the help from a couple of friends and May, a 15 -year – old Springer Spaniel who had stolen my heart months before when I first met her.

Instant recognition characterized our first meeting – woman and dog – linked through that mysterious animal thread that was grounded in deep compassion.

Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Who Is Jephthah’s Daughter? The Cost of War

This post was originally published on Jan 13th, 2014.

In a provocative essay and heart-breaking painting, Angela Yarber asked us to consider who Jephthah’s daughter is in our time. Angela reminded us that Jephthah was a heroic warrior in the Hebrew Bible who swore in the heat of battle that if his people won, he would sacrifice the first person he would see on returning home. That person turned out to be his unnamed daughter.

Reading Angela’s post and looking at her holy woman icon of Jephthah’s daughter, my mind turned to the story of Agamemnon’s daughter. In this case, the daughter is named: Iphigenia. Agamemnon had gathered his troops to sail to Troy, but lack of wind prevented them from setting off. According to the myth, Agamemnon was told by the Goddess Artemis that he must sacrifice his daughter if the ships were to sail. He did.

In his powerful rewriting of the myth of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, Daniel Cohen questions whether the Goddess requires human sacrifice Continue reading “Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Who Is Jephthah’s Daughter? The Cost of War”

The Second Skin: Lipstick, Lies and Lead part 2 by Sabahat Fida

part 1 appeared yesterday

It is mind-boggling to consider how standards for women’s bodies have been normalized over time. Centuries ago, practices like binding women’s feet in ancient China or forcing the use of corsets to narrow the waist which are now universally condemned as cruel and uncivilized. Throughout history, women have been subjected to extreme and often harmful beauty standards. Foot binding created tiny “lotus feet,” causing lifelong pain and disability, while in Europe, tightly laced corsets compressed ribs and displaced organs to produce an exaggerated hourglass figure. In parts of Southeast Asia, neck rings elongated the neck but weakened muscles over time, and in Africa, South America, and Asia, lip and ear stretching permanently altered tissue as a marker of beauty or status. Pale skin was prized in ancient Egypt, Asia, and Europe, often achieved through toxic powders containing lead or arsenic, while teeth were filed, blackened, or inlaid to meet local ideals. Women were also expected to meticulously shape or remove hair and conform to strict weight norms, whether forced thinness or fattening, depending on the era. Across centuries, these practices reveal a clear pattern: women’s bodies were controlled, altered, and harmed in the name of beauty , a coercion that, in many ways, continues today through cosmetic interventions and socially enforced aesthetic standards.

The Second Skin: Lipstick, Lies and Lead part 1 by Sabahat Fida

A woman’s body has become a site of commodification to such extreme that even her most basic necessities are not spared. Products meant for hygiene or comfort ; razors, deodorants, tampons, shampoos are packaged, scented, and coloured in ways that signal femininity, pushing them into a hyper-aesthetic zone of the departmental store. This creates a glaring economic contradiction: men’s products, often identical in function, are sold cheaper, while women pay a premium simply for their gender. But the exploitation is not merely financial. By demanding that her essentials adhere to socially approved standards of beauty, the market sends an unambiguous message: a woman’s needs, her very body, are only legitimate when they are commodified, beautified, and consumed in accordance with society’s expectations. The Pink Tax is thus not just a matter of inflated prices, it is a subtle enforcement of control, conditioning women to invest continuously in an ideal that is neither natural nor negotiable.

But this exploitation extends far beyond commercialized markets and seeps into the routines of everyday life. A tailor may charge different rates for the same shirt depending on the gender it is intended for, while a simple haircut at a salon can cost women far more than men, despite the identical service. Men’s consumption remains largely practical, functional, and unembellished, whereas women are expected to pay for aesthetic compliance at every turn. This raises the question: is the female market driven merely by trends or gullibility, or is it a reflection of deeper societal pressures — an unspoken demand that a woman’s body and appearance must conform to rigid standards of femininity in order to be socially acceptable? Is the answer in the very language and design of advertising Taglines like “You’re worth it” or “Strong is beautiful” which carry a psychological imperative, subtly instructing women to compare, conform, and continually invest in their appearance as a measure of worth ? These subliminal marketing strategies are deeply rooted in social comparison theory, objectification and fear appeal/protection motivation theories.

Keyvermestn by Janet Madden

in memory of Esther Shumiatcher-Hirschbein

1.
On a sunny Elul afternoon
I kneel at your grave
a sprig of rue in my pocket.
I recite a tkhine for visiting the graveyard
and imagine that you know this ritual–
stretching string to calculate
the space your body inhabits.
The unspooling wick rests gentle
on rough-cut grass, touching
the edges of mortality,
its twists separating and connecting worlds:
the dead and the living
the past and the now
mine and yours,
a woman I never met,
a writer dead these 40 years.

Sex Radical. A new film by Andy Kirshner; film discussion by Janet Rudolph

At the bottom of this post you will find information for a free streaming of the film.

We are witnessing now in real time what happens when the full weight of the Federal Government turns its attentions and goes after individuals and even companies with the intent to squash dissent, intimidate and punish dissenters. This is perhaps most prominent among the immigrant population and those who the administration have been targeted with the legal system. But before there was Mahmoud Khalil, CBS, The Washington Post, UC Berkeley and all the others who have been hounded by government, there was Ida Craddock who faced the full weight of a government that turned its sights on her.

From the Archives: Censored Angel: Anthony Comstock’s Nemesis. A Novel by Joan Koster

This was originally posted on October 10, 2024.

Moderator’s Note: With the Trump administration getting closer and closer to re-establishing the Comstock Laws in their efforts to stop all abortions in the United States, we felt it important to repost this story. It is about Ida Craddock, her life and her efforts to stand against Anthony Comstock. Joan Koster wrote a powerful book about her. This post today is also a prelude to tomorrow’s post which will discuss a new movie Sex Radical that will be premiering this month about Ida Craddock’s life.

“I would lay down my life for the cause of sex reform, but I don’t want to be swept away. A useless sacrifice.” Ida C. Craddock, Letter to Edward Bond Foote, June 6, 1898

In 1882, Ida C. Craddock applied to the all-male undergraduate school of University of Pennsylvania. With the highest results on the entrance tests, the faculty voted to admit her. But her admission was rejected by the Board of Trustees, who said the university was not suitably prepared for a female. (U of P only became co-ed in 1974)

With her aspirations blocked, Ida left home determined to leave her mark on women’s lives by studying and writing about Female Sex Worship in early cultures. At the time, little information was available to women about sexual relations. To do her research, Ida resorted to having male friends take books forbidden to females, such as the Karma Sutra, out of the library for her.

An unmarried woman, she turned to spirituality and the practice of yoga, a newly introduced practice to the American public at the time, as a way to learn about sex. In her journals, she describes her interaction with angels from the borderlands, and in particular, her sexual experiences with Soph, her angel husband through what was likely tantric sex.