Feminist Reading Paper

Feminist theology, has emerged in modern times as a challenge to the male bias in religion and society as a whole. In the 21st century, it can be thought that a feminist interpretation is highly needed in the Bible due to the reason that biblical scripture includes misogynist beliefs and theologies. This is because biblical writings were written in a patriarchal, misogynist era where women were constrained with labels and limitations, being treated like second-class citizens. Feminist theology is a movement that aims to reconsider the traditions, practices and scriptures, essentially correcting a distorted, discriminatory view of women in Christianity and society. It significantly challenges female submission in marriage, female reproductive

The classic Greek myths found in Mythology and ancient stories told in the Bible, often show striking resemblance to each other in narrative, symbolism, and thematic content. In both texts’ respective “Creation Stories”, women are portrayed similarly, cast in a rather unflattering light. The representation of women in both Mythology and the Bible and their portrayal has lasting impact on the way woman are perceived in the present day.

To begin with, she pointed out examples of how women are treated unfairly in society. She began to point out several double standards. The wife states, “about accused Lamech’s bigamy? Abraham was a holy man I know, And as I understand it Jacob also; And each of them had wives now, more than one, as many other holy men have done.” (61-65) Here, she shows that there is truly a double standard for women who behave in an exact manner as men.

This view caused me to analyze the text in a different way than the other members of my group. The other members of my group read more into what the author meant by “feminist," including examples of feminist experiences and feminists involved in Christianity throughout history. This focus is especially notable in one essay that concludes that feminism is not what they thought it to be — selfish, angry, career-driven women — but instead a group of people who want equality for all. Many of the CORE essays focus similar to Japinga’s point that women deserve equal, fair treatment because they are human made in the image of God. While reading through the CORE essays and reflecting on Japinga’s main arguments, my main analysis comes in one question — what does it take to be considered fully human

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. - Matthew 6:9. The idea of “God the father” is one that is rooted deep in our society predominantly the ways in which it rejoices men. The almighty all and powerful God is outlined as a male figure in the bible, constructed using almost entirely masculine language. This simple fact has provoked men to assume the position of authority, to oversee over his family. This simple fact leads to an imbalance of power between men and women subconsciously oppressing women within our society. In Mary Daly’s “After the Death of God the Father,” Mary explains how the Judeo-Christian culture has served to bring structure to a sexually imbalanced man driven culture." This male-controlled society has its establishments in the most discernible parts of Christianity.” Mary’s work is a continuation of what is known as “The women's liberation movement” furthering the conversation of societies hold on a woman and bringing change. In this critical evaluation of Mary Daly's work, I will discuss the thesis and argument of the reading, along with an analysis of its assumptions and implications.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the question of whether or not the Bible was intended to instruct equality between men and women, or if it was intended to instruct women's submission to man. Conventional Christians and evangelicals believe that the husband should have the leadership role in the household, women should not speak in church, wives should submit to their husbands, and other ideas that put women below men. Modern Christians and feministic Christians however, believe that the Bible intended to teach equality between man and woman. The belief is that the bible is not being interpreted correctly thus leaving people with the wrong ideas on how men and women should correspond with each other.

Christianity has been seen as a church that professes the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Just with this introduction, feminist individuals would have already have some opposition with the terms used and attributed to God. In this paper I will explore on several aspects that the feminist movement provides to Christianity. First, I will illustrate on what is feminist Christology. Then I will present passages from Sacred Scripture, both in Old and New Testament. Then I will go further on and reflect on the Ecclesial aspect and the service god has provided to creation. Last, I will conclude by acknowledging all aspects exposed, yet analyzing the fact that God would be limited if he had a

I purchased this book or this assignment with preconceived notions that this book was written by a feminist so the view of the women would be biased. I also believed that the book would only discuss the women in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament because the author was Jewish. I was clearly surprised to find my ignorance had proved me wrong. This book analyzes women’s roles in Biblical history on a collegiate and academic level by a professor who cared deeply enough to research minute details of these characters. Tikva addresses one of my thoughts within the acknowledgements page when she said, “My feminist sensibilities

When the text is read through a feminist lens, an emphasis is placed on the roles and

The term ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ first started to gain popularity in the 1970s. Starting in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, continued into the 1960s and 1970s, then followed by the 1990s to the twentieth century, feminism and feminist grown across the nation. From clubs and organizations, to readings and speeches, feminist all across the nation, and world, have influenced aspects of our daily lives, including our literature. “Feminist criticism examines the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, political., social, and psychological oppression of woman” (Tyson 83). In simpler terms, feminist criticism is critiquing literary readings, through the mind of a woman’s opinion of structure and being.

As Iser explains in "The Reading Process," readers situate themselves within their responses, in effect "awakening [the] responses within himself" (51). He further argues that "if a reader were given the whole story...his imagination would never enter the field," and yield nothing but "boredom" (51). To Iser, the life of the text depends on a reader's participation in formulating his own response. More importantly, Iser touts the "unwritten parts," (gaps and ambiguities) of a text to stimulate the imagination, a process that "animates these 'outlines,'" and "in turn...influence the effect of the written part..." (50-51). Iser and other phenomenological reader-response critics depend utterly upon the reader

To continue, what I think Trible was trying to get at when she was asking that people that interpret scripture must reread rather than rewriting scripture and religious texts is that reading critically is more important than reading with preconceived notions and trying to prove that the text is in fact a piece of work that puts men over women, women over men, men dominating women, and or women dominating men, but seeing women and men as equal with one another. When scripture is rewritten, it loses its context just as the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and peoples interpretations have twisted the meaning and the story behind the creation of woman and man, the earth, and all else that inhabits it. She ends by saying that the scripture

The Bible is controversial on the matter of gender equality. There are numerous contradictions about the status of women in Christian society. Historically, the most prominent interpretation has been rather negative toward women. The Christian Church, with principally male authority, emphasizes the idea that women are inferior to man. They focus on Eve’s sin leading to a punishment that “her husband will have authority over her.” (Drury, 34)

Reader-response theory identifies the reader as an affective agent who imparts real exist-ence and life to the work, completing its meaning through interpretation. Reader- response criti-cism argues that literature should be viewed as art in which each reader creates his or her own-most likely unique, text-related performance. I am using Wolfgang Iser and Stanley Fish’s takes on Reader Response for my study.

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary