Notes on Gender, both Society and Theology, in accordance with the OCR Religious Studies specification. The notes provide information, scholars, ideas and quotes compiled from various resources from both within and outside of the curriculum.
Rosemary Radford Reuther
- the current doctrine asserts that Jesus is a man because of his superiority,
rationality and authority which means these traits are denied for women due
to its historical context. Jesus must be re-examined and redefined to be able
to represent women
Davidic Messiah
- Jesus is not the Davidic Messiah, an aggressor or militaristic leader, which is
unexpected in an extreme patriarchal society. This is a symbol of Jesus
rejected the patriarchal aspects which David symbolised
- Instead, Jesus was radically egalitarian and he focused on marginalised
people
- Reuther points to women as the bottom of society are the focus of Jesus, ‘the
last who will be first in the Kingdom of God.’ Luke 13:30
Female Wisdom
- Sophia is Greek for wisdom and is personified in female form
- the Hebrew Bible incorporated this idea, ‘Does not wisdom call out? Does
not understanding raise her voice?’
- the concept of divine wisdom is equal to the Son of God metaphor but has
been hidden behind a patriarchal veil
Jesus as Incarnation of Wisdom
- we shouldn’t emphasise the male aspect of Jesus, but rather recognise the
core message of Jesus’ ministry
- ‘without confusing one aspect of that particularity, his maleness, with
the essence of Christ as God’s Word incarnate.’ Reuther
Strengths
1. Christianity doesn’t need to be rejected, feminism can work theologically
alongside the church
Weaknesses
1. Is trying reform Christianity into a feminist agenda which isn’t there and
therefore comes across as naïve and unconvincing
2. Historical roots of Christianity are Sexist and Christianity will always have
‘one foot in the past’ Hampson. Part of the meaning of Christianity is tied
to its history, Jesus was a historical event in a particular place and time
3. Revelation of Christ is full of patriarchal symbols and messaging. Martha is
commended for sitting passively at Jesus’ feet, there are no male disciples
and ‘we do not have stories of a man sitting at the feet of a female
teacher.’ Hampson
Mary Daly
- argued women are superior to men and should govern men as this would
create a more peaceful society with a better environment
- Religion has been a tool of the subjugation for women and religion is still
placed over women’s rights ‘God needs to be castrated.’
, - Daly has an issue with a Father-God as is sustains a patriarchal view of
society which oppresses women ‘If God is male then the male is God.’
Christianity’s ‘Unholy Trinity’
- Christianity exists to destroy women and encourage men, and the three
symbols in the Christian narrative of male dominance are rape, genocide and
war
- rape: Daly uses a literal use of rape, citing how rape has been used as a
weapon of war and the Bible’s graphic instance of rape of women. However,
rapism is also any systematic violence towards women and the male
dominance against women and the environment
- genocide: the groupthink of the Church as excluded and attacked women in a
similar way the Nazis persecuted Jewish people
- war: Daly argues this is the inevitable result of a male-dominated world as
the Church aims to justify and condone violence, idea of just war, which is an
example of male dominated morality (phallic morality)
- Christianity must be rejected as this trinity is so integral to Christianity itself
Spirituality Through Nature
- male dominance has suppressed female spirituality as Christianity excludes
women in every way
- ‘the senile cracking whines of the men in red and the nuns, sat docile.’
- Daly points to architecture and the hierarchy of the church to highlight the
confinement of female spirituality in Christianity
- female spirituality is tied to paganism, eco-feminism and the environment
which a male dominated governance undermines
Strengths
1. It is sensible that a society based on a male God will have clear bias and
perspective of male. ‘God in ‘his’ heaven is a father ruling ‘his’ people.’
Daly
2. the Fall is often the fallback excuse of the subordination of women and the
story is simply a reflection of the social arrangements of the time so we
cannot truly progress until this myth is rejected. ‘women need to fall out of
Eden.’
3. Rapism recognises importance of intersectionalism and how the white
patriarchy does not oppress women in a vacuum
Weaknesses
1. Use of comparison between KKK and the church’s oppression of women is
extreme, it is not fair to compare the struggles of black people and women
and the church isn’t devoted to sexism as KKK is devoted to white supremacy
Patriarchy and Sexism in the Church
continuity
- Aristotle: ‘the male rules and the female is ruled.’
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