Feminist Theology as Practice of the Future

Exercises in feminist theology outside Western contexts and outside of discourses of theorisation can prove to be enriching to address the disconnection between secular and religious feminisms. One way to address this disconnection is to locate the intersection between secular and religious feminisms in the space of fiction. While mytho-fiction about the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, has been around for quite some time and has been extensively analysed for its critique of religion and diversity of representation of heroines, the feminist hermeneutic of reconstruction is only now witnessing a resurgence in Buddhism. This article focuses on Buddhist Studies scholar Vanessa R Sasson’s debut novel Yasodhara and the Buddha for its blending of feminist consciousness with the Buddhist ethos of love. It is hoped that this exercise will be found meaningful in understanding women’s experiences of and attitudes towards religion.

Section: Yasodhara’s Story Reconstructed: From Inspiration From the C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Yasodhara’s Story Reconstructed: From Inspiration From the C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Love as Enlightenment and Enlightenment as Love: Reading Feminist Hermeneutic of Reconstruction in Vanessa R Sasson’s Yasodhara and the Buddha

Wadhwa¹

2023

“…Third wave religious identities are presented as part of women's broader 'cultural' identity, which acknowledges the influence of religion, but does not examine theology, religious practice, text, dogma or the religious as a lived aspect of identity. Also in these examples, third wave religious 7 Feminist religious studies have explicitly drawn on third wave theory to think about feminist theology's theoretical and historical roots (Maeckelberghe, 2000); in relation to feminist theories of embodiment (Moulaison, 2007), as part of feminist theological methodology (Muers, 2007); as a lens to read through biblical constructions of gender (Sawyer, 2002); and to encourage biblical studies to embrace diversity and multiplicity (Thimmes, 1999). 8 We acknowledge that for readers of this journal, we may well be preaching to the already converted.…”

Section: Disconnections In the Third Wavementioning

confidence: 99%

“… 7 Feminist religious studies have explicitly drawn on third wave theory to think about feminist theology’s theoretical and historical roots (Maeckelberghe, 2000); in relation to feminist theories of embodiment (Moulaison, 2007), as part of feminist theological methodology (Muers, 2007); as a lens to read through biblical constructions of gender (Sawyer, 2002); and to encourage biblical studies to embrace diversity and multiplicity (Thimmes, 1999). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Secular and Religious Feminisms: A Future of Disconnection?

Llewellyn¹,

Trzebiatowska²

2013

This article identifies a disciplinary disconnection between secular and religious feminisms. While areas of study such as women’s, gender and feminist studies, and disciplines like feminist studies in religion, spirituality and theology advance understanding of gender relations, they are forms of analysis that rarely keep company. As we argue, there is a disconnection grounded in a sacred/secular divide (Magee, 1999) evident through the different stages of the women’s movement and feminist history. Not only is this disciplinary disconnection mutually unhelpful, but it has implications for the ways gendered religious and secular discourses operate in the public square and therefore, has implications for the future of feminist theology. This article first identifies the lack of relationship between secular and religious feminisms illustrated in three interrelated ways: secular feminisms’ neglect of women’s religious experiences; feminist religious studies’ reservedness; and the sacred/secular binary operating in the academy. We then suggest this disconnection extends to the most recent expressions of feminism – the third wave. This article then discusses what both disciplines lose from a lack of dialogue and what might be gained by a closer relationship; particularly when contemporary events in the public sphere (such as the Pussy Riots) highlight the importance of paying attention to the way women’s experiences, and secular and religious discourses interact.

“…Rachel Muers talks about this critical force of feminist theology, in its refusal to collude with the silencing of women's voices and perspectives, as the 'denial of a lie' (Muers, 2007). What is considered to be normative, universal within the canon has to be exposed as false, since it only represents a minority of (usually) white, powerful men.…”

Section: In Memory Of Her: Retrieving Forgotten Women In Feminist Theologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Remembrance of Things (Best) Forgotten: the ‘allegorical past’ and the Feminist Imagination

Graham¹

2012

The US TV series Mad Men, set in an advertising agency in 1960s New York, offers a vivid portrayal of corporate sexism in pre-feminist America, and yet its creators defend it as a 'feminist' show. Reflecting on the series, I will draw out two key elements which seem significant for a consideration of the current state of feminism in church and academy, both of which centre around what it means to remember or (not) to forget. First, there is the power of what might be called 'the allegorical past' in helping to shape the sensibilities of both feminist theory and feminist theology: reimagining the past in order to destabilize the present and to re-envision the future. But second there is the question of whether we have become too complacentand forgetful about the sexual revolution of the past 50 years, and whether a new wave of 're-membering' our feminist heritage is required, in order to rejuvenate progressive visions of critique and transformation.