Equality for Women and Catholic Feminism

Author(s):  
Sharon Erickson Nepstad

This chapter examines the origins, themes, and actions of Catholic feminism in the United States. It begins with an overview of Catholic teachings on women and then provides an account of the early voices and organizations that challenged these views and proposed biblical gender equality. The chapter summarizes the ideas of feminist theologies, particularly the work of Mary Daly and Rosemary Radford Ruether. It then explores several distinctive strategies of resistance, including actions for the ordination of women, the Roman Catholic Womenpriest movement, the emergence of Women-Church groups that practice inclusive liturgies and worship, and organizations that promoted diverse Catholic perspectives on contraception and reproductive rights.

1988 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-124
Author(s):  
Marian McDonald

November 1988 marks the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Government's adoption of guidelines for federally-funded sterilizations. This action was the result of years of organizing by the anti-sterilization abuse movement which grew in the early 1970s in response to the alarming increase in numbers of coercive sterilizations, particularly among poor and minority women. This retrospective examination looks at the strengths and weaknesses of anti-sterilization abuse organizing in the United States, and draws out lessons for other areas of work. It begins by exploring the problem of sterilization abuse and the history of the movement against it. The movement is analyzed using key theoretical concepts of community organizing. An evaluation indicates that the anti-abuse efforts were successful and rich with lessons for reproductive rights and other popular health struggles today.


Commonwealth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua J. Weikert

The 2018 elections saw a record number of women running for elected office in the United States and in Pennsylvania, but whether this represents a temporary wave or a lasting trend is not clear. Using a combination of survey data; interviews of new candidates, elected officeholders, and party officials; and election data, this study examines the gender equality gains of 2018 in Pennsylvania’s legislature in historical and political context. The data provide evidence that formal recruitment of female candidates was common (but not universal), that the number of women running for and winning office increased by historic (and not just significant) levels, and that a persistent and consistent motivation was discernible in large portions of the candidate body. Survey measures of female candidate persistence—whether they plan to run again or recruit new candidates—also indicate that women intend to remain similarly active after the 2018 election cycle has come and gone.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 1450010
Author(s):  
BRIAN ARTHUR ZINSER

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a small remote Midwestern bank reformulated itself into a major marketer of retail Islamic financial services in the United States and influenced Islamic financial services marketing in North America. The paper is based on a review of existing literature and a case study of how University Bank, now based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has become the leading provider of Islamic financial services in the United States. University Bank whose principals are Roman Catholic identified the Muslim market in Southeast Michigan as measurable, differentiable, accessible and substantial. As part of the Bank's reformulation strategy it has successfully executed a strategic plan to capture this growing market in the United States and North America. The paper draws attention to the often ignored attractiveness of the Muslim market in North America as well as highlights how a small, nimble organization has been able to capitalize on using Muslims as a market segmentation variable.


2020 ◽  
pp. 184-208
Author(s):  
D. G. Hart

This chapter investigates the use of Americanism to appropriate Roman Catholicism for the good of a nation. It recounts older Roman Catholic heresy claimed that the American political system was not at odds with church teaching, even though the United States seemed to stand for most of the social and political realities that nineteenth-century popes had condemned. It also talks about the Americanists in the nineteenth-century who argued that Vatican officials misread the United States, stating that the nation was far friendlier to Roman Catholicism than Europeans imagined. The chapter details how Americanists urged the church to update its polity to the nation's political sensibilities, a strategy that would make Roman Catholicism look less odd in the United States. It also highlights ways Americanists adapt Roman Catholicism to life in a secular, constitutional republic.


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