RSS 1.0Gender and Theology
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Gender is a term which is used to denote "a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female" (Oxford Dict., OUP), but which stand for a social construct, by opposition to a reduction to a psycho-physiological determinism. Globethics.net Gender and Theology collection gathers over 40,000 items in the intersection of gender and theology with a strong focus on Latin America.
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As moças e os pobres: considerações sobre a comunidade feminina “Toca de AssisEste artigo analisa as representações de moças da comunidade religiosa Toca de Assis sobre a sociedade contemporânea, bem como os papéis de gênero e as motivações para a adesão religiosa a uma experiência radical de cuidado da população de rua. Os dados empíricos contribuem para discutir a dinâmica não linear do processo de construção da identidade religiosa e das escolhas religiosas juvenis nos tempos atuais. A Toca de Assis apresenta interessantes nuances do que pode ser compreendido como um paradoxo em sua atuação, isto é, a recuperação de valores presentes no franciscanismo do medievo – como o cuidado dos pobres – e a inovação tanto nas relações de gênero quanto nas formas de expansão da mensagem religiosa. Resultado de uma pesquisa mais ampla, este texto está embasado principalmente em entrevistas realizadas com moças integrantes da Toca de Assis entre os anos de 2009 a 2011.
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Sexual and reproductive health knowledge, perceptions and experiences of women in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative studyBackground: There is no formal sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education currently offered in Saudi Arabia. Lack of knowledge and misconceptions are evident among Saudi women, which can lead to negative sexual and reproductive experiences. The aim of this study is to explore Saudi women's SRH knowledge, perceptions and experiences. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with Saudi women were conducted. Interviews took place in a public hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Interviews were conducted in Arabic, recorded and transcribed verbatim, to allow for thematic analysis of the data. The following themes were identified: experience with menarche, deep-rooted negative views towards sex, difficulty discussing SRH topics, knowledge of sex and reproduction, generational gap, sources of SRH information and the role of the mother. Results: A total of 28 women, both married and unmarried, aged 20–50 years were interviewed. A profound lack of SRH knowledge was observed among Saudi women which contributed greatly to negative experiences both in childhood and adulthood. Lack of knowledge about menstruation often caused emotional distress for young girls, and menarche was associated with bad memories and negative emotions. Lack of knowledge about sexual intercourse and the deep-rooted negative views towards sex were linked with physical and psychological issues for women. Women rarely received information from their parents or teachers and preferred the internet for their SRH information. Conclusion: There is a substantial unmet need for SRH education for women in Saudi Arabia. It is our recommendation that SRH education should be tailored to meet Saudi women's unique needs, while understanding specific socio-cultural barriers to SRH education and discussions. Research and policy efforts should be directed towards regulating and producing evidence-based health information on the internet, particularly Arabic language websites.
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Marroc amb ulls de donaResumen de la revista en catalán
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(Muslim) Woman in Need of Empowerment: US foreign policy discourses in the arab springWhy, in the current geo-political and strategic context seemingly in stark contrast to the "War on Terror," does the emphasis on women in US foreign policy persist? Why the repeated references to the vulnerability of women who "need" US help to become "empowered" in the countries of the Arab Spring? An examination of US policymakers discourses indicates a neo-orientalist biopolitical construction of the (Muslim) female population as one in perpetual need of "empowerment," presumably by American or western benefactors. Public statements by US foreign policy officials, discussions of government programs and Congressional testimony add to the repertoire of a western-constructed archaeology of neo-orientalist knowledge of Islam. Further, these gendered discursive "imperial encounters" create open-ended possibilities for US interventionist policies in the region for years to come. The Arab (Muslim) woman may have participated in sparking and sustaining revolutions and even bringing down dictators, but she must still be trained and taught - by Americans or westerners. The sometimes didactic, often foreboding "concern" for her empowerment is more nuanced, but no less significant, than the professed commitment to "saving" her as justification for military operations in the heyday of the War on Terror. 2015 Taylor & Francis.
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Feminismo islàmico: Una hermenéutica de liberaciónURL del artículo en la web de la Revista: https://www.upo.es/revistas/index.php/ripp/article/view/3631
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Not-Quite-Equal: Mentoring Women for 21st Century LeadershipWomen are being ordained to ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at a higher rate than men, but they are not achieving parity in ministry opportunities, salary and benefits. Women comprised 52% of the ordinations in the PC (USA) denomination from 2006-2018. However, they receive fewer full-time positions, fewer congregational positions, less pay for the same positions as men, and Board of Pensions benefits at a lower percentage than men. Reviewing the history of women’s leadership in the church contextualizes biases and prejudices women continue to face today. In Section 1, this paper examines the history of women’s leadership in the Presbyterian Church since the Civil War, including their immensely successful mission boards and subsequent dismissal from leadership. Then, I examine biases, excuses, and propaganda used against women serving in leadership. These biases and excuses persist today, although the phrasing has changed. I explore the broken rung theory, proposing that a woman’s first position in ministry is critical to her career growth and trajectory. In Section 2, I review a PC(USA) program for students transitioning from seminary to their first ordained call. I also examine organizations dedicated to women in ministry leadership and how their success differs from standard denominational programs. In Section 3, I propose mentorship as a form of leadership and spiritual formation that will help women in ministry in their professional and personal lives. Although mentoring is an ancient concept, there is little to no data on mentoring in ministry in contemporary contexts. Sections 4 and 5 outline the formation of Diakonos Solutions, a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring women in ministry through the key transitions of their ministries and lives. Section 6 includes my reflections on the process of writing, developing, and executing this project.
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The pandemic as a catalyst to do things that could have been done before:Jewish Orthodox female-only online prayerDr Katja Stuerzenhofecker, Research Associate on the BRIC-19 project and Lecturer in Gender Studies in Religion at the University of Manchester, reflects on her research with Jewish Orthodox female-only online prayer groups.
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The Struggle of the Soul Medieval Women Mystics and the Constraints of the OrthodoxyFirst Corinthians 14:34 tells us, “let your women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak.” But what happened when medieval women in the 12-15th centuries did speak, and what techniques did they apply to gain credibility? This paper explores the various methods (along with cultural aspects such as the appearance of piousness) women mystics utilized to gain power within the Church in a time when their voices were silenced, and the factors that allowed individuals such as Catherine of Siena to gain incredible influence where individuals like Joan of Arc were burned at the stake.
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Catholic Church’s Pastoral Counseling Role in Addressing Domestic Violence against Women in Marriage in Muranga County, KenyaA research article published in African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences
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Eastern European Orthodox Christian Immigrant Women: A Pilot Study and Needs AssessmentThe healthcare perceptions of the Eastern European Orthodox Christian immigrant women (EEOCIW) to the United States (U.S.) are under-represented in the literature. Although they appear similar to Americans, their cultural and religious traditions are outside the mainstream American culture. This pilot study and health needs assessment examines the women’s healthcare perceptions of 14 EEOCIW and identifies similarities and differences with 25 U.S. born Orthodox Christian women (USOCW). Between September and November 2020, interviews were conducted with Orthodox Christian immigrant women from Eastern Europe and Orthodox Christian women born in the U.S. Questions covered the perceptions of women’s healthcare, factors influencing women’s healthcare, contraception, and trust. Madeline Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality was used to analyze the similarities and differences between the groups of women. Qualitative content analysis was the primary analytic strategy. Ten themes emerged. Findings indicate unique cultural healthcare needs. Understanding the perspectives of these women is the first step in addressing their needs. The information presented is important because it provides healthcare practitioners insights and recommendations that can improve the lives of both groups of women. Continued research on the social structure dimensions and worldview will help ensure culturally congruent care that encourages holistic health and wellbeing, and will provide for needs and comforts during times of disability, illness, dying, and death.
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Lutheran Church Women of Zion ScrapbookBright, orange, glossy scrapbook with brown paper pages. This scrapbook contains only newspaper clippings of various sizes glued to the pages. The articles are all focused on the Lutheran Church Women of Astoria. The inside covers are covered with an extremely bright and patterned paper of pink, blue, and green patterns. Only the first seven pages of the book have been used, so the majority of the pages are blank. Size: 11.75" x 2.25"
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The Care Economy as Alternative EconomyThis essay explores the care economy, defined as activity oriented toward sustaining life and promoting basic well-being, whether that activity is paid or unpaid. The essay finds parallels between Pope Benedict XI’s concerns about neoclassical economics as expressed in Caritas in Veritate and feminist scholarship addressing the care economy. Both Benedict and feminist economists challenge sharp binaries between the market and the state and affirm a spectrum of motives driving economic activity. Both Benedict and feminist economists critique an individualistic, voluntaristic anthropology of self-interest, and both understand true economic development to promote the holistic well-being of all persons. However, Benedict does not draw on scholarship about development and the care economy. Progress toward the vision of development outlined in CV requires consideration of this economy and acceptance of a more complex and pluralist account of the social organization of caregiving than Benedict envisions.
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Sophia Mae Brown ShatteenDigital Commons@Georgia Southern, 1992-10-23https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/willowhillheritage-obituaries/1551/thumbnail.jpg
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Black trans women and ploughing: ethical resistance and postures for lifeThis dissertation argues for an ethical investment in the flourishing of black trans women. It builds on the ongoing work of womanist and black theological ethics and draws from the personal narratives of black trans women. Carrying forward the black ethical tradition, this project recognizes black trans women and their lived experiences as an ethical source from which a unique, ethical posture emerges: ploughing. Necessitated by a social context that understands black trans feminine existence as abject and expendable, this ethical posture is a necessarily dynamic and laborious movement through life that resists and disrupts the moral ground thereby revealing and creating new moral possibilities in the process. Ploughing shows how the everyday experiences of black trans existence embody moral postures of resistance to heteropatriarchal systems of surveillance and violence. Ploughing denotes a series of ethical postures that generate alternate moral capacities that embrace embodiment and underscore the centrality of community.
 
 Focusing on respectability politics, its influence on black (Christian) religious spaces, and the operations of Black Sexual Panopticism (BSP), a system wherein black sexuality is acculturated through surveillance, chapters 1 and 2 examine the long history of social narratives that regulated and disciplined black movement and sexuality in ways that later targeted black trans femininity. Chapter 3 turns to black aesthetics. It examines blues culture and its links to black gospel through gesture and performance, introducing interstitial performativity as a glimpse of the moral potential within black-constituted spaces that affirm black erotic expression. The remaining chapters develop ethical postures through the metaphor of ploughing, highlighting distinctive features of black trans women’s existence. Drawing on published personal narratives, Chapter 4 outlines the social realities that confine and relegate black trans femininity in service of oppressive demands for social order. Chapter 5 identifies four ethical postures -- claiming pleasure, humble un/knowing, incessant becoming, and “no mind” ethos -- that coalesce to form ploughing. These postures irrupt social expectations and forge new moral trails in the process. This project recognizes black trans women as moral exemplars largely overlooked in Christian ethics, and the moral imperative to prioritize black trans feminine futures.
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Somewhere over the Rainbow: Italy and the Regulation of Same-Sex UnionsWhile almost all European democracies beginning in the 1980s started to accord legal recognition to same-sex couples, Italy was the last West European country to adopt a regulation in 2016, after a tortuous path. Why was Italy such a latecomer country? What kind of barriers encountered the legislative process? What were the explaining factors behind the policy change? To answer these questions, this article first discusses the state of the art on morality policymaking, with specific attention on the literature dealing with same-sex partnerships. Second, it provides a reconstruction of the Italian policy trajectory, from the entrance of the issue into political debate until the enactment of the civil unions law, by considering both partisan and societal actors for and against the legislative initiative. The article argues that the Italian progress towards the regulation of same-sex unions depended on the balance of power between change and blocking coalitions and their degree of congruence during the policymaking process. In 2016 the government formed a broad consensus and the parliament passed a law on civil unions. However, the new law represented a small departure from the status quo due to the low congruence between actors within the change coalition.