LOST IDENTITY

A female college student acquaintance was taking a class in which the students were asked to come up with 10 words or phrases with which they identified themselves. The student’s first word was “female.” She was upbraided for saying this and the professor was in wonder that anybody would choose their sex as an aspect of who they are that filters the way they relate to the world. (I wonder if the same dressing down would have occurred if the student had referred to a different lifestyle choice?) 

In point of fact in the Christian world – and in particular the Catholic Christian world this would have definitely been in the top ten if not the top two (child of God vying for first place) proper descriptions. We are not souls occupying a body – we are very much our bodies (and we say every week that we believe in the resurrection of our bodies.) Our sex is far more than other aspects of who we are. “Bald” or “stoop-shouldered” or “athletic” do not carry the same weight in having an effect in how we see the world as does being male or female. This foundational mark of who we are is also the lens through which we see the world and relate to others and God. It is not something to be ignored but something to be cherished, understood, appropriately used, and celebrated. To say that it is inconsequential is damaging to the dignity we have as human beings and to the ability to feel at home in our bodies.

There are those who would solve much of the world’s problems by doing what is possible to rid ourselves of the differences between men and women. This seems logical. In history there has been an inequality between the sexes and erasing that which makes us different does seem like a logical fix. But it is not. Erasing our identity is not a move toward health but a different sickness. Rather, a full respect of who we are as embodied beings, accepting it, honoring it, and realizing (as it says in the rite of blessing at marriage) that we are partners equal in the inheritance of heaven, and correcting any inequalities there may be between the sexes is the path to a better world. We can only do this by recognizing the true worth of our bodies and their unique gifts rather than ignoring the fact that differences exists.

MASCULINISM

Does this word bother you? There is something about it that at best feels clumsy and maybe even a bit disturbing. Going out for coffee last night after the great presentation by Colleen Caroll Cambell as mentioned as up and coming below (Feminism, Rising from the Ashes) one of my compatriots posed the question, “Does a new understanding of feminism require a new understanding of . . .” And he had to stop for lack of a corresponding word.

But what the conversation was trying to surface was, “Does a new understanding of what it is to be woman in the modern age require a new understanding of what if is to be man?” Obviously it does. Though the preponderance of the discussion must focus on what it is to be authentically human, for God made all of us in His likeness and image (Genesis 1:26), He also made us male and female (Gen, 1:27). Though equal in all things, we are not the same. Our mere physical make-up radically influences how we experience and relate to the world and to each other.

Adam knew what it was to be human in relation to the animals. But he only knew what it was to be a man in relation to Eve. Certainly, the reverse is also true. But for a man, who comes from a woman’s body, who is largely raised and educated by women, yet whose body sets him apart, the cycle seems to begin with man defining who he is compared to woman. So when the feminine is undervalued he becomes domineering. When the feminine is over valued and a man’s role is seen as minimal or unnecessary, he becomes ineffectual and weak. Neither is healthy for either of the sexes. Accordingly, any reevaluation of what it is to be female will have an equal and opposite thrust in the understanding of what it is to be male. So all considerations must bear in mind not only how it will effect women, but how it will form our men.

A sign that used to hang in my parents room read, “The best gift a father can give his children is to love their mother.” It is also, I believe, the best recipe for raising noble sons. For only then will he see his proper relation to woman and this will naturally lead him to the most healthy understanding what it is to be confidently and authentically a man.

IN OTHER NEWS

Yesterday, in the Diocese of Cleveland, thousands of persons entering the church gathered at the Cleveland Convention Center for the Rite of Election with Bishop Lennon, an event far too large for the cathedral. Seventeen of these people were from Saint Clare. Pictured here are many of the catechumens and candidates with their godparents and sponsors from all parts of the diocese. These are all the adults who will be brought into full communion with Catholic Church this Easter Vigil. Please say a prayer for them and the people of your own diocese as they continue the final leg of their journey to the Eucharist this Easter!

FEMINISM - RISING FROM THE ASHES

fem'i-nism, 1 fem'i-nizm; 2 fem'i-nism, n. 1.

Beyond that I do not feel confident to write. Just as we watch the ground break open between factions within the Anglican Church threatening to cause the two movements to part company and go in their respective directions, so does it seem that there will be inevitable breaks in the common ground in feminism.

A woman was telling me of a conversation that she was having with her grandmother earlier this week (if you are reading this, I hope this is a fair reporting of that conversation) in which she stated her rejection of the modern feminist movement. The grandmother was aghast and emphasized how much life was better for women and indeed people in general now because of the work of the feminist movement. But that was countered with the notion that the feminist movement of today bears little resemblance to the movement of her grandmother's day which also focused on and protected the family.

Indeed there has been a shift. For example, consider what an early pioneer of the feminist movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, had to say about abortion, "When you consider that women have been treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." Compare that to NOW's (the National Organization of Women) statement. "NOW affirms that reproductive rights are issues of life and death for women, not mere matters of choice. NOW fully supports access to safe and legal abortion, to effective birth control and emergency contraception, to reproductive health services and education for all women. We oppose attempts to restrict these rights through legislation, regulation or Constitutional amendment."

So where does that leave the faithful Catholic who also believes in the advocacy of the political and socioeconomic equality of men and women, the hallmark of the feminist movement? It causes a deepening abyss within feminism leaving many to redefine for themselves what feminism is. Whatever this new definition is, it will grow out of the ashes that we wear today. It begins, to borrow from Sheldon Vanauken, with the realization that this God who made the universe came to live in the world and was killed by the world and the proof of this is His resurrection. And that if this is true, this is simply the only really important truth. For all other supposed truths will come to an end. This one lasts for eternity. And we need to conform our lives to it. In the end what is truly good about feminism will reflect what is good about faith and the meaning of the human person in relation to and relationship with God.

I still will not pretend to know how to finish the above dictionary entry, but Colleen Caroll Cambell is willing to start the ball rolling. She is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a former White House speechwriter, and author of The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy. (Perhaps next time she could get Dawn Eden to help her with a snazzier title.) She has an international television talk show, "Faith and Culture," on EWTN, writes for a number of publications and speaks to audiences across the Unites States.

This Sunday, February 25th, she will be speaking at St. Mary Church in Hudson at 7:15 on The New Feminism: An Authentic Catholic Vision of Woman. I hope to get there myself if parish duties permit. Perhaps a tectonic shift is taking place and instead of feeling left apart, here will be discovered a new place to stand with feminism.