Tea at Trianon: What is Feminism?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, April 14, 2014

What is Feminism?

From Kamilla Ludwig:

Feminism It seems there are as many definitions of feminism as there are feminists. However, foundational to all feminisms is a common anthropology clearly illustrated in the oft repeated mantra, “feminism is the radical notion that women are people”. This plays out to varying degrees in the belief that women should receive equal pay for equal work (a notion thoroughly misused in the main), that they should be allowed to compete on an equal basis for jobs and places in schools and sports teams. At the extremes, feminists view all sexual encounters between a man and a woman as rape and all apparent differences (other than crude biology) as the result of social conditioning.

In history, feminism has come in various waves – from the Suffragettes of the 19th and early 20th Centuries (although it is something of an historical anachronism to call them feminists, a contention I will expand upon in future) the so-called 2nd wave sparked by Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” and on into 3rd and 4th wave feminisms. Then, too there are different schools of feminism – equity, gender, radical, etc. However different these feminisms all are, they have in common a view of the human person (anthropology) that departs from the historic or traditional one.

Religious Feminism is feminism carried into the religious sphere. Simple enough. In particular, the term will here refer to the importing of feminist principles into Christianity and the attempt to blend the two belief systems.

Egalitarian is the term preferred by religious feminists who say they are Evangelical Christians, also known as Evangelical Egalitarian. While this term is sometimes used as a courtesy here, the proper generic term, religious feminist, will be the normal use. Egalitarians generally hold that the priesthood of all believers is a controlling belief and often point to Galatians 3:28 as a key verse. They hold that there is no difference in ways authority are exercised in the home and the church and that church office is open to those who claim a gift and a calling, regardless of maleness or femaleness. In addition, Egalitarians hold that all patriarchy is abusive by definition.

Complementarian is the term preferred by neoTraditionalists to describe the form of soft patriarchy to which they hold. Rather than set down a clear definition and practice of authority, Complementarians coined their new term to avoid the negative connotations patriarchy has in the culture at large as well as its abuse. While the Complementarians came together to respond to feminism within Evangelicalism, they view “Egals” as colleagues with whom there are (generally) no first order theological differences. Complementarians believe the husband is the head of the wife means there is a differential in authority between husband and wife and that only men are eligible for the presiding office (pastor), although some Complementarians will hold that women may hold a sort of associate pastoral office as long as they are under the authority of a male senior pastor. Complementarians are deeply divided on the matter of authority in the culture and government, as the recent candidacy of Sarah Palin for VP illustrated. A primary weakness of Complementarianism has been their failure to articulate a theology of sex and authority that stems from creation but yet does not seem to apply in all of creation. (Read more.)