yes, yes and completely yes! Let's all keep inspiring the good women in our lives to help us stand up for all women in this new moment of anti-woman legislation...
Do you really agree with Gloria's position on the concept of gender? Call me morbidly curious (and a naysayer, from your perspective); don't you self-identify as a feminist? Or have a misread your blog during previous visits?
-A concerned, ex-Catholic who was nearly a Daughter of St. Paul (not a troll, flamer, or baiter)
Sorry for looooong delay! I do not believe that gender is a concept or a social construction. (Society can stereotype, etc., but that ain't right.) I do not self identify as a feminist (as I once did--I think I was searching for my identity as a woman)--now I don't need a label, I'm just a woman (and the world better treat me like one! :] ). I am sympathetic to the feminist cause and issues, however, but I believe we really went off when we embraced the culture of death as a quick-fix solution to our problems: artificial contraception and abortion. I hope this is as clear as mud. I took up this issue on an Evangelical blog recently. You can see the objections and my answers.... God bless!
Gender is a body/soul reality and connection. The human person=body and soul, together forever. There can be confusion regarding gender identity and SSA (same-sex attraction), and even intersex issues, but none of this detracts from the fact that gender is what it is (in humans): male and female.
I love this video and what Gloria says. I've also thought the same thing about the fact that woman's ability to form new life and give birth is exactly analogous to what priests do in the Eucharist.
I see a TOB reason for only men to be priests. Every sacrament requires the necessary "matter". In two sacraments, the necessary "matter" are human beings: marriage and ordination. Since gender is an intrinsic part of who we are as persons, gender is an essential part of that "matter," and so it is in both of the sacraments.
The "matter" for marriage must be one male and one female. The "matter" for ordination must be male. To claim that gender does not matter in the priest, who acts in the "person" of Christ, is to say that the gender of Jesus was irrelevant (or worse, forced by the 'cultural milieu') and that therefore gender is, itself, irrelevant to the human person.
The result of such thinking must always be to denigrate the physical aspects of gender that are not common to both genders, which means denigration of the feminine functions of pregnancy, childbirth and lactation, which have no biological counterparts in men. The only physical aspect of gender which remains is coitus, or to take it even further, sexual pleasure.
And to answer you, kmt, although I'm not Sister Helen, yes I agree with Gloria that gender is a biological reality and not a social construct. Some feminists confuse the fact that social constructs are built up *around* gender with the idea that gender is not a physical reality in and of itself. It would be similar to positing that there are no real biological differences between babies and adults just because there are social constructs built up around babies.
Thank you, Sister Helena! With attribution to you, I have shamelessly plagiarized at:
ReplyDeletehttp://commentarius-ioannis.blogspot.com/2012/03/gloria-purvis-hhs-mandate-is-anti-woman.html
yes, yes and completely yes! Let's all keep inspiring the good women in our lives to help us stand up for all women in this new moment of anti-woman legislation...
ReplyDeleteThanks Sr. Helena! I blogged this video:
ReplyDeletehttp://grigaitis.net/blog/2012/03/hhs-mandate-is-anti-woman/
Do you really agree with Gloria's position on the concept of gender? Call me morbidly curious (and a naysayer, from your perspective); don't you self-identify as a feminist? Or have a misread your blog during previous visits?
ReplyDelete-A concerned, ex-Catholic who was nearly a Daughter of St. Paul
(not a troll, flamer, or baiter)
ktaylo@saic.edu
Sorry for looooong delay! I do not believe that gender is a concept or a social construction. (Society can stereotype, etc., but that ain't right.) I do not self identify as a feminist (as I once did--I think I was searching for my identity as a woman)--now I don't need a label, I'm just a woman (and the world better treat me like one! :] ). I am sympathetic to the feminist cause and issues, however, but I believe we really went off when we embraced the culture of death as a quick-fix solution to our problems: artificial contraception and abortion.
DeleteI hope this is as clear as mud. I took up this issue on an Evangelical blog recently. You can see the objections and my answers.... God bless!
http://rachelheldevans.com/ask-a-nun-response
Gender is a body/soul reality and connection. The human person=body and soul, together forever. There can be confusion regarding gender identity and SSA (same-sex attraction), and even intersex issues, but none of this detracts from the fact that gender is what it is (in humans): male and female.
DeleteI love this video and what Gloria says. I've also thought the same thing about the fact that woman's ability to form new life and give birth is exactly analogous to what priests do in the Eucharist.
ReplyDeleteI see a TOB reason for only men to be priests. Every sacrament requires the necessary "matter". In two sacraments, the necessary "matter" are human beings: marriage and ordination. Since gender is an intrinsic part of who we are as persons, gender is an essential part of that "matter," and so it is in both of the sacraments.
The "matter" for marriage must be one male and one female. The "matter" for ordination must be male. To claim that gender does not matter in the priest, who acts in the "person" of Christ, is to say that the gender of Jesus was irrelevant (or worse, forced by the 'cultural milieu') and that therefore gender is, itself, irrelevant to the human person.
The result of such thinking must always be to denigrate the physical aspects of gender that are not common to both genders, which means denigration of the feminine functions of pregnancy, childbirth and lactation, which have no biological counterparts in men. The only physical aspect of gender which remains is coitus, or to take it even further, sexual pleasure.
And to answer you, kmt, although I'm not Sister Helen, yes I agree with Gloria that gender is a biological reality and not a social construct. Some feminists confuse the fact that social constructs are built up *around* gender with the idea that gender is not a physical reality in and of itself. It would be similar to positing that there are no real biological differences between babies and adults just because there are social constructs built up around babies.