Women’s Space – Dr. Marcelline Naudi

women’s space marceline

• 19 May – Gender Spiritualities – Rev. Dr. Charlo Camilleri O.Carm.

26 May – St Aelred of Rievaulx – Tyrone Grima 02 June – John J McNeill – Christopher Bezzina 9 June – Parents’ perspective – Joseanne Peregin 16 June – Jeanine Gramick – Rev. Dr. Rene Camilleri 23 June – Women’s Space – Dr. Marceline Naudi 30 June – Margaret Farley – Rev. Dr. Paul Pace SJ 07 July – Henri Nouwen – Clayton Mercieca 14 July – Rene Girard and James Alison – Mario Gerada 21 July – Bible figures and Saints who transgender – Chris Vella

I don’t wish to be hostile, or overly critical, really I don’t… I just want people to be able to see how things are…

Feminism is about opening our eyes, and it’s about conceding the possibility of change, and working towards that change…

He can/ She can’t He smiles at her, he’s friendly She smiles at him, she’s flirting He tells a dirty joke, he’s funny She tells a dirty joke, she’s crude His pants are too tight, he gained weight Her skirt is too tight, she’s asking for it He pats her on the head, he’s being fatherly She pats him on the head, she’s forward

He does what she says, he’s a wimp She does what he says, she’s a good wife He swears, he’s a real man She swears, she’s no lady He got a good job, he’s responsible She got a good job, she’s neglecting family He cries when he’s sad, he’s a sissy She cries when she’s sad, she’s just a woman

He does the housework, he’s an equal partner She does the housework, she’s doing her duty He wants to be mayor, he’s a leader She wants to be mayor, she’s too pushy He needs time for himself, he deserves a break She needs time for herself, she’s being selfish He takes care of the kids, he’s an exceptional father She takes care of the kids, she’s doing what’s expected.

He can/ She can’t

He’s sleeping with her, he’s scored She’s sleeping with him, she’s a slut!

• First there was a recognition that women were oppressed and subordinated and women organised around that.

• Then there was a further step, the theoretical analysis of the situation, • connected to social change, in other words • looking at what was happening, • and trying to define why it was happening • in order to be able to change the situation.

but

central concepts • the importance of sisterhood and solidarity • the personal being political • the false separation of public and private spheres • a recognition of the common oppression of women and their diversity in terms of ‘race’, ethnicity, sexuality, class, age, and levels of disability • women’s historical and immediate experience • the idea of the development of a feminist consciousness

Feminist consciousness is the apprehension of possibility, the recognition that things are not right but also the belief that we can change them to make them better.

• The aim is to empower people to create personal and social change. It is also to do with gaining confidence and pride in ourselves as individuals and as a group. Believing that we deserve better, and working towards that.

Gender studies We cannot look at women alone since women live in a society, and within that society live women and men, and women and men live within that society in relation to each other. Furthermore, the organisation and structure of society itself and its cultural and knowledge production are gendered.

(Davis, Evans and Lorber 2006).

• As stated by Hearn and Kimmel (2006:53) ‘men’s outlooks and culturally defined characteristics were formally generally the unexamined norm for religion, science, citizenship, law and authority’.

• Gender is a system of power in that it privileges some men and disadvantages most women. It is constructed and maintained by both dominant and oppressed in ascribing to ‘appropriate’ masculine and feminine behaviour (Davis, Evans and Lorber 2006:2). It can also be defined as the meanings, practices, and relations of femininity and masculinity that people create as they go about their daily lives in different social settings (Spade & Valentine 2011:xiii).

As a result of the androcentric way the world was viewed and organized, inequalities between the genders came about… and continued to be reinforced for many many centuries…

These resulted in social prohibitions, some of which were clearly excluding of or discriminating against women (and these are relatively easily challenged nowadays), and other patterns of discrimination which are more subtle, and appear ‘natural’, which are more difficult to see and therefore to challenge. Many of these form assumptions and processes by which we live our life, and these are often invisible, unquestioned and unexamined (Davis, Evans and Lorber 2006).

The gendered expectations and stereotypes that we have absorbed are part of how we define ourselves, and they shape how we act and react as well as how others see us. They are the result of larger societal and cultural forces which are deeply felt, deeply ingrained, and thereby acted upon by us as individuals. We rarely question what we have learned about sex and gender – we go through life assuming that gender is a relatively simple matter: a person who wears lipstick, high heel shoes, and a skirt is a feminine female, while a person who plays rugby, belches in public, and walks with a swagger is a masculine male.

‘my faith’? my spirituality?

• the Catholic faith?

• ‘Christianity’?

• my own personal beliefs?

• My inner reflections?

• all of these?

• none of these?

Oxford pocket dictionary FAITH: ‘reliance or trust’ in someone or something; OR ‘belief in religious doctrine’; OR ‘a system of religious belief’.

SPIRITUALITY: ‘of the human spirit or soul, not physical or worldly’; OR ‘of the Church or religion’.

Wikipedia Christian faith (in particular), rather than being passive, leads to an active life aligned with the ideals and the example of the life of Jesus.

It says faith is not simple obedience to a set of rules or statements, and that it is not static, but causes one to learn and grow, and it causes change. It also says that without understanding we cannot have true faith, and that understanding is based on, also amongst other things, ‘the personal experiences of the believer’ (as well as ‘the foundation of the community of believers, the scriptures and traditions’).

Karen Doherty, a contributor to Zanotti’s ‘A Faith of One’s Own’ (1986) states that even though she views the Church with fury and frustration, she cannot renounce Catholicism, since to do so would be to renounce her memories which form a too integral part of her life...

As Zanotti (1986) herself explained, belonging to a religious community generates a sense of social and cultural location. Redding (1983) stated, notwithstanding her strong condemnation of the Church’s authoritarian tradition, its underdeveloped and antiquated theology of sexuality and its blatant sexism, she cannot reject her faith that has made her what she is.

And I would agree...

My empirical work at the time seemed to suggest that those women who, although practising, had less to do with the actual Church as such, were less bothered, whereas those who, practising and non-practising, had more dealings with the institution as such, felt more strongly about these issues.

However, it was still not that simple...

One respondent in my research, for example, said that although she disagreed with the Church on so many things, she would not stand for it being criticised by a foreigner (read, non-catholic), and she would defend it, because it felt like an attack on her... Catholicism, and all that it brings with it, seems to be inexorably woven into our very identity...

Michelle Roberts (1983: 52) put it such: “as integral as the blood in my veins, passed on to me by my mother, like milk. Catholicism was language itself: a complete system of images, and such a rich one, within which to live and name the world...

(Living) within a culture where religion was as necessary as breathing, inextricably woven into personal and social life. The church bells divided the days not only into hours but into the moments of liturgy: the angelus, mass, office. The festivals divided the year into vibrant chronology.�

• Mary Mendola: although she does not consider herself a member of the Catholic Church, to say she is no longer a practising Catholic would be a nonsense, like saying she was no longer practising digestion, since Catholicism was as much a part of her as her digestive tract. • Martha Courtot: had left the Church, but came back... She felt that she had a right to the good that Catholicism might have for her, while not having to accept the misogyny of the male power structure, and that she did not have to allow the male language to keep her an outsider. She still felt that the Church had taught her justice, struggle and love and she had a right to these learnings. • Margaret Cruikshank: she recognises that her Catholic past bears on her present, and that she wants to be fully aware of the links. She calls herself Catholic on her own authority rather than by definition of the official church. But she also acknowledges that the mould was set so early, she may not be free to do otherwise...

Zanotti 1986

• Sara Maitland, in her introduction to Antonia White’s ‘The Hound and the Falcon’ (1980), talks about the conflict she recognises in the works of Antonia White over the Church she had ‘decidedly left but continued to yearn for’. She likened it to the way that battered women, especially if they had been in a relationship for a long time, would sometimes speak of their (abusive) partners; with a knowledge that they had been hurt and would be hurt again, but which could not totally outweigh the passionate longing to be involved again in that relationship which was the source of all emotions, positive as well as negative.

Marjorie Reiley Maguire (1987)

•

strongly advocated that, regardless of what disagreements existed with ‘the management’, women should not allow themselves to be ‘drummed out or badgered into leaving’ if they want to stay in the Catholic tradition. And yet, even when women chose to reject the church, as has been seen, they knew that its effects were still there, their past linking to their present and their future...

• Hence, many women, in fact, feel that even though they are very aware of the negative aspects of the Church, they cannot just reject it completely because to do so would mean having to reject parts of themselves which they are not happy to do... Instead it could well be a ‘healthier’ option to instead learn to accept and make peace with the ‘Catholic’ part of ourselves...

4 basic components • Awareness – a consciousness of one's personal reactions to people of a different gender • Attitude – carefully examining our own beliefs and values regarding men/women • Knowledge – of gender differences (?), of the correct terminology, etc • Skills – communication including gestures and other non-verbal communication and how they differ in acceptability between/among genders

Two newly born infants‌.

4 basic components • Awareness – a consciousness of one's personal reactions to people of a different gender • Attitude – carefully examining our own beliefs and values regarding men/women • Knowledge – of gender differences (?), of the correct terminology, etc • Skills – communication including gestures and other non-verbal communication and how they differ in acceptability between/among genders

4 basic components • Awareness – a consciousness of one's personal reactions to people of a different gender • Attitude – carefully examining our own beliefs and values regarding men/women • Knowledge – of gender differences (?), of the correct terminology, etc • Skills – communication including gestures and other non-verbal communication and how they differ in acceptability between/among genders

gender, ETHICS Our beliefs and values…

At HEART it is these beliefs and values that guide our ‘reactions’, conscious and/or unconscious, our behaviour, what knowledge we seek out and accept, and what we reject, and what we base our skills learning on…

dialogue ... it is through the assimilation of an alternative viewpoint in terms which makes sense to the enquirer that understanding is achieved. Understanding involves an element of reflection and self-understanding. It acknowledges that in exploring the other’s world we also reflect back on the tradition from which we speak, and therefore requires us to explore the prejudices we bring to the encounter and to accept the possibility of change in our own assumptions and prejudices in relation to our own ‘traditions’.

Turney, Danielle 1999 ‘Speaking Up and Speaking Out: A Dialogic Approach to Anti-Oppressive Practice’. In: A. Jokinen, J. Kirsi and T. Poso (eds) Constructing Social Work Practice. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp 257-273.

So where are we now…?

Michel Foucault’s concept of maturity consists in at least being willing to face the possibility that action cannot be grounded in universal ahistorical theories.

I still hold that we need to be open to change, to dialogue openly with those who are different to us, the ‘other’, we need to accept different ways of seeing, or being, and that it is in being open to others that dialogue is fostered, and change occurs.

One way or the other...

Cracked?

Thank you for putting up with my meanderings‌