1.7 Gender

Question 1

who was one of the earliest feminist philosophers?

Answer 1

Mary Wollstonecraft, published ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ in 1792

Question 2

what are four landmark feminist events in the 20th century?

Answer 2

1. 1928 women are able to fully vote as equals to men
2. 1974 the contraceptive pill was made fully accessible
3. 1967 abortion is made legal
4. 1970 women were allowed to be paid equally to men

Question 3

what are the three waves of feminism

Answer 3

1. first wave feminism: second half of the 20th century, equal rights for women
2. second wave feminism: during the 1960s, challenged the patriarchy, pressed for women to have rights over their selves which led to developments in sexual health
3. third wave feminism: began in the 1990s, moving it away from white heterosexual women from the west

Question 4

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what is Ephesians 5:22-33?

Answer 4

• a set of instructions for Christian households
• wives should submit to their husbands
• the husband is the head of his wife
• the husband’s leadership is like the leadership of Christ to the church
• husbands should love their wives like Christ loved the church (Christ loved the church so much he gave his life up for it just as a husband should do for his wife, pretty radical)

Question 5

what is Mulieris Dignitatem 18-19?

Answer 5

• Catholic 1988 letter of Pope John Paul II on the dignity and vocation of women in response to feminism
• emphasis on respect for women mirrored by Mary without whom Christ would have never been
• motherhood is a part of the order of creation
• the psycho-physical structure of a woman is made for motherhood
• the man should learn parenthood from the mother
• the mother has precedence over the man as the first teacher of the child, this is the spiritual aspect of motherhood
• argued that motherhood is a great privilege and does not in any way make women lesser beings

Question 6

what are some issues with mulieris dignitatem?

Answer 6

• approach feels patronising and limiting the abilities of women
• seems as though the Pope is saying either be mothers or be virgins

Question 7

what are arguments that motherhood is liberating?

Answer 7

• it is what women were created for and is a way for them to fulfil their purpose (Aquinas, telos)
• Mulieris Dignitatem suggests motherhood is liberating for women
• a women’s desire to be a mother is biological

Question 8

what are arguments that motherhood is restricting?

Answer 8

• a women must give up her own life, interests and personality to take care of her children
• it slows down progress with careers and affects bodily health
• Simone de Beauvoir’s arguments in a second sex ^^^
• important to remember that it is an incredibly personal and complex thing and is often a mix of liberation and restriction and is different for every woman

Question 9

what do traditional Christians argue family should be?

Answer 9

• emphasise the type of family they see in the bible, heterosexual and married
• might accuse feminists of changing the idea of love from selfless christian love to a love based on the sexual aspect of the relationship
• argue the biblical model of marriage leads to a more stable society
• condemns those who live together outside of marriage

Question 10

how might more liberal christians argue a family should be?

Answer 10

• the traditional view of the family is not a reflection of the way people are made (e.g. LGBT)
• for them, reluctance to endorse same-gender parents is a social issue, not a faith one
• Jesus welcomed those who did not conform to society and love needs to remain at the centre

Question 11

what is a challenge to the idea of a nuclear family in the bible?

Answer 11

• figures in the Bible such as Abraham, David and Jacob had multiple wives
• this might lead to the idea that the notion of family is more cultural than religious
• just as the gender elements of the bible need to be understood in the context of their time, so do the ideas around family

Question 12

what is the argument that the idea of family is entirely culturally determined?

Answer 12

• the notion of family has changed over time
• marriage in the UK has been permitted for homosexual couples since 2014
• the idea of family will be entirely culturally determined and Christians will need to decide how they react to what a family is

Question 13

what is the argument against the idea that the family is culturally determined?

Answer 13

• many commandents in the bible concern family life suggesting it is not just a product of its time
• Catholic natural law supports nuclear families

Question 14

what was Ruether’s argument about Jesus’ role as leader?

Answer 14

• she argued he challenged the notion of the ‘male-warrior messiah’ expectation
• at the time, the messiah was expected to be a military leader who would save the people from the Romans
• Jesus however rejected the use of force to win arguments
• Jesus rejected patriarchal talk by using ‘abba’ for God, the dominant-subordinate dynamic was rejected for a more familiar relationship
• therefore the fact that Jesus maleness does not matter

Question 15

what is the idea of Sophia?

Answer 15

• God as the female wisdom principle
• the person of wisdom (‘Sophia’) is present in later Old Testament books who is always represented as female
• she has been argued to represent the feminine aspect of God
• Ruether argued that this principle has been lost in modern Christianity due to patriarchal structures

Question 16

what is a quote to show Sophia in the Bible?

Answer 16

‘she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the almighty’
The Wisdom of Solomon, 7:25

Question 17

what is the idea that Jesus is the incarnation of wisdom?

Answer 17

• Ruether argued that we should recognise in Jesus the feminine aspect of God, Sophia
• in Corinthians 1 Paul makes the reference that Jesus is the ‘wisdom of God’, with wisdom, of course, being Sophia
• therefore Jesus’ maleness was not essential

Question 18

what is the argument that a male saviour can’t save women?

Answer 18

• if Jesus is a perfect human then a perfect human is male, there is nothing in that statement for women except the belief that they are less important
• salvation requires us to ‘buy in’ to the Christian message but why should women be expected to buy into the patriarchy
• the Catholic church’s view that women cannot be priests is inherited from Aquinas’ view that women are defective

Question 19

what is the argument that women can be saved by a male saviour?

Answer 19

• Jesus was only male by chance or because he would not have been respected at the time if he were female
• modern Christianity has lost sight of Jesus’ feminine/wisdom aspect
• Jesus challenged the warrior king expectation of the day which was traditionally masculine and went for the traditionally feminine approach instead
• Jesus engaged with women as much as he did with men

Question 20

what is Daly’s absolutely beautiful quote?

Answer 20

‘IF GOD IS MALE THEN THE MALE IS GOD’

Question 21

who was Daly and what was her aim?

Answer 21

• a radical feminist in the 20th century
• aimed for a post-Christian spirituality that rejects male-focused control that Christianity has traditionally had
• she believed you cannot simply replace male adjectives about God with female ones, everything requires a complete re-evaluation: God needs to be castrated

Question 22

what is Daly’s unholy trinity?

Answer 22

three male power games that are infused into our culture and are the main reason women are abused
1. rape: not only literally but also ‘armchair rapists’ who subscribe to the same approach such as through pornography
2. genocide: the current hierarchical structure places men over women just as genocide puts one group over another
3. war: we live in a world of violence constructed by men, war is defended as necessary but abortion and euthanasia are rejected as wrong

everything needs to be rewritten

Question 23

how did Daly argue we can achieve spirituality through nature?

Answer 23

• verbs as opposed to pronouns are better at explaining the ongoing and unlimited nature of spirituality
• ‘being’ is life being viewed as a spiritual process
• the key to women’s spirituality comes from collaboration towards reinventing society
• only women can achieve spirituality

Question 24

what is the argument against Daly that women can achieve spirituality within Christianity?

Answer 24

• point to vast range of female mystics and saints who have flourished within the church as well as prominent biblical figures

Question 25

what is an alternative approach to God’s gender

Answer 25

• God is beyond gender
• any discussion about gender is too grounded in human words
• when dealing with the ineffable divine can we restrict it to pronouns
• make link to religious language (via negativa?)

Question 26

what is a Catholic quote about God’s gender?

Answer 26

‘in no way is God in man’s image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes’
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 370

Question 27

name 10 women in the bible and their roles

Answer 27

1. eve: first woman, known for being weak to temptation, punishment for eating fruit was subservience to man
2. hagar: slave girl of sarah, Abraham’s wife who bore his first child and became estranged from the family, nearly dying is the desert
3. miriam: prophetess and sister of moses
4. deborah: powerful prophetess and judge in early Israel
5. delilah: tempted by the Philistines and betrayed the Israelite Samson
6. Ruth: an example of virtue and loyalty
7. esther: an example of courage who saved the Jewish people from death
8. martha: the one who Jesus told to stop doing her domestic chores
9. women at the resurrection: in all account women are the first to hear of the empty tomb and became messengers of the resurrection
10. priscilla: co-missionary with Paul, possible leader of a house church in early Christianity

Question 28

who is an alternative feminist theologian?

Answer 28

• Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in the 60s and 70s
• She emphasises the importance of reexamining scripture from a feminist perspective to uncover marginalized voices and challenge patriarchal interpretations

Question 29

who has criticised Mary Daly?

Answer 29

• Audre Lorde, 20th century, prominent black feminist: criticised her exclusionary language and expressed concerns over limitations regarding race
• Judith Butler, contemporary philosopher: criticised her essentialist understanding of gender and exclusion of transgender individuals

Question 30

what is a bible quote showing inherent patriarchy within the bible?

Answer 30

Ephesians 22
“Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as you do to the Lord”

Question 31

who are two famous theologians who don’t like women?

Answer 31

Aquinas: saw women as inherently inferior in both intellect and rationality, ‘women is defective’
Augustine: women are subordinate as a result of the Fall, ‘women was given to man to be a helpmate to him’