Jul 10
I spent Summer Project 2010/11 looking at feminist theology hoping to find something I wanted to pursue for my MDiv Research Project. Originally, I thought I would look at the concept of ‘mother’ in the OT but I’ve decided that’s a little too ambitious for this paper. Instead, I’ve re-directed my research to a particular Bible passage, Judges 11. In particular, I want to look at the story of Jephthah’s daughter, which I blogged on recently.
Feb 8
Summer’s almost over (at least, it feels that way in Melbourne at the moment!) and classes start back in less than two weeks which means it’s time to put my summer project to bed for a bit. I find the whole area of feminist theology fascinating and when I started this little venture I hoped to find something that I would want to pursue for my MDiv project in Semester 2 this year. Here are the four front-running options: Read more
Muriel Porter lives in Melbourne and is a familiar speaker at Anglican meetings such as Synod. She’s written ’The Christian Origins of Feminism’, found in Maryanne Confoy, Dorothy A Lee and Joan Nowotny’s Freedom and Entrapment: Women Thinking Theology. Porter has an agenda in writing this piece: she’s an avid supporter of women’s ordination and wants to show that the movement for it in the Anglican church is not a product of selling out to the women’s lib movement.
Although the tone of this article is difficult, Porter has some valuable things to contribute. Read more
Jan 31
When I blogged on Women Only Communities I mentioned a paper I was intending to read on the place of women in Muslim societies. The author uses both her experiences of living in the Middle East for 20 years and scholarship to ask how understanding this might help in the evangelism and discipleship of women of Muslim background. As I read it, I wondered whether western women have a great deal to learn here as well. Read more
Jan 27
She Can Read is Emily Cheney’s attempt to answer the feminist question of whether it is possible for a ‘her’ to read. While some feminists highlight women’s writing over men’s, others suggest that because language is so laden with patriarchy, even when women write or read, they reinforce that patriarchy. In this sense, they act against themselves. Though sexually female, they must be intellectually male. It begs the question, can ‘she’ read? Read more
Jan 23
I blogged recently about the Protestant ideal woman, the mother. Luther considered this to be a sacred calling. Cutting across the tendency to see some vocations as ‘holy’ and some as ‘secular’, Luther saw all work as a way of glorifying God. Yet, in today’s world, women “leave” work to become mothers. Feminism has been blamed for such an unhealthy attitude towards motherhood. There may be something in that, but I wonder whether we need to look a little closer to home. Read more
