The following is a guest post written by Sara Frykenberg, Ph.D., independent scholar and graduate of the Women Studies in Religion program at Claremont Graduate University.
“It all started when they messed with Pluto,” my husband joked to me as we listened to the NPR report last week about the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. I imagined a slighted god of the underworld smiting our exploration of the heavens! “How dare you tell me that Pluto doesn’t count,” he yells, dragging our shuttles out of the sky. But joking aside, I am really, truly bummed about this new “development” is US space exploration. The idea that human beings have the ability to travel in outer space is a great source of hope and inspiration for me— but why? And why am I so bummed? I decided that I needed to examine these feelings from both a feminist and a spiritual dimension.
Does feminism care about the Space Program? That is a question, because I really don’t know. I know particular feminists do. I know some don’t. Continue reading “What about “the final frontier?” Saying goodbye to the Space Shuttle Program By Sara Frykenberg”
Feminism and Religion 