Quest for Female's Identity in Tiwari's Prashnaharuko Kārkhānā

Sarita Tiwari (2015) in her collection of poems, Prashnaharuko Kārkhānā [Factory of Questions] protests the tradition of wearing ornaments and cosmetics by women. Likewise, she rejects the use of submissive symbols and metaphors that have been used by the creative writers to define women. She identifies them as ploys that patriarchy has invented to maintain the subordination and subjugation of women to men. She argues that these techniques mystify and blur women's identity, so she questions and challenges them. Thus, this article analyzes five poems from the anthology to examine how the poet protests the traditional norms and values of patriarchy that define women as secondary to men and search for female's identity through them. To examine the quest for female's identity in her poetry, this article takes theoretical support from feminist critics like Mary Daly, Kate Millet, Naomi Wolf and others. These critics believe that patriarchy uses different types of myths to maintain women's secondary position in the society. The article concludes that in the quest for female's identity independent of men, Tiwari protests the tradition and culture that emphasize women's beauty and their submissive roles in the society. Through their interrogating tone and syntax, the selected poems challenge patriarchal norms which have been imposed upon women to erase their identity. The study helps to understand how patriarchy manipulates the myths of religion and beauty to maintain males’ supremacy over females.

Mary Daly’s Philosophy: Some Bergsonian Themes

The primary goal of this article is point out certain close parallels between some ideas of the radical feminist theorist Mary Daly and those of the French philosopher Henri Bergson. These similarities are particularly striking regarding distinctions made by both authors between two fundamentally contrasting types of cognitive faculty, of time and temporal experience, and of self and emotion. Daly departs from Bergson inasmuch as she employs these distinctions in her own way. She does not—like Bergson—employ them to depict the result of a natural process of consciousness or life, and the dangers for human freedom and thought of not properly respecting these differences. Rather, she locates these differences within a more liberatory, ethical perspective to ground a sharp, inimical contrast between feminist creative movement on the one hand, and static, fixing, and “fixating” patriarchy, with its “technocratic” pretensions, on the other. My hope is that highlighting the similarities between Daly and Bergson will open new paths of appreciation and critique of Daly’s work.

Að breyta Guði. Endursköpun guðsmyndar í ljósi reynslu kvenna af ofbeldi og kúgun

Í þessari grein er rýnt í texta eftir fjóra kvennaguðfræðinga sem allar hafa lagt fyrir sig nýsmíði guðsmynda í ljósi gagnrýni á vald Guðs. Fyrsti textinn um það efni kemur frá Mary Daly en hún er ein af mikilvægustu formæðrum kvennaguðfræðinnar og hóf guðsmynda-gagnrýni sína skömmu fyrir 1970. Daly sem aðhylltist róttækan femínisma beindi skrifum sínum að kaþólsku kirkjunni og kenningum hennar. Hún komst fljótlega að þeirri niður-stöðu að henni væri ekki vært innan kirkjunnar, kirkjan væri handan endurskoðunar og endurnýjunar. Þrátt fyrir það eru áhrif hennar á síðari tíma kvennaguðfræðinga óumdeild. Það sýna textar eftir Sallie McFague, Ivone Gebara og Wendy Farley, sem allar hafa ástundað guðsmyndargagnrýni og guðsmyndarnýsköpun og lagt sérstaka áherslu á vald Guðs í þeim efnum. McFague leggur áherslu á að allt tal um Guð sé líkingamál og réttir fram guðslíkingar eins og t.d. Guð sem vinkonuna, elskandann og móðurina en þannig vildi hún leggja áherslu á vægi hins líkamlega og nálæga Guðs. Svipað má segja um texta Ivone Gebara en reynsla og líf hinna fátæku er forsenda guðslíkinga hennar. Aðalatriði hjá henni er að allt líf sé samtengt og hvað öðru háð. Guð finnum við í tengslum og skyldleika alls sem lifir. Framlag Wendy Farley til endursköpunar guðsmynda felst í endurtúlkun á hugtakinu vald. Hún vill halda áfram að tala um vald Guðs en endurtúlkar hugtakið. Valdi Guðs verður, að hennar mati, best lýst sem líknsemi en það er eiginleiki sem aðeins Guð býr yfir. Líknsemi Guðs megnar að leysa manneskjunnar úr greipum ofbeldis og illsku. Vald Guðs umbreytir og frelsar á hátt sem enginn mannlegur máttur getur gert. Changing God. Reconstructing the image of God in the light of women’s experiences of violence and oppression This article examines texts by four women theologians who have all set out to reconstruct images of God in the face of criticism of God’s power. The first text comes from Mary Daly, one of the most important forerunners of women’s theology. She began her criticism of theology shortly before 1970. Daly, who embraced radical feminism, first focused her critique on the Catholic Church and its doctrines. However, she soon concluded that she was not valued within the Church, and indeed, that the Church was beyond re-evaluation and restoration. Nevertheless, her influence on later women theologians is undisputed. This is evidenced in texts by Sallie McFague, Ivone Gebara, and Wendy Farley, who have all engaged in critical and groundbreaking work regarding images of God, with particular emphasis on the meaning of the power of God. McFague highlights that all talk about God is metaphorical, presenting parables that depict God as friend, lover, and mother, which is how she emphasizes the importance of the physicality and immanence of God. Similar themes can be found within Ivone Gebara’s text, but the experiences of the poor are a prerequisite for her writings of God images. She writes that all life is interconnected and interdependent. According to her, we find God in the relatedness and kinship of all living creatures. Wendy Farley’s contribution to the critical discussion on the images of God is a reinterpretation of the concept of power. She wishes to keep talking about God’s power but reinterprets the concept. In her view, the power of God is best described as compassion, a quality, however, that only God can have. God’s compassion liberates human beings from violence and evil. God’s power transforms and liberates in a way that no human power ever can.

“The Goddess is Alive. Magic is Afoot.”

This article analyzes the influence of radical and cultural feminist ideas on the writings produced by Zsuzsanna Emese Mokcsay (b. 1940), a seminal Pagan activist who spearheaded the development of the Dianic Witchcraft tradition during the 1970s and 1980s. An examination of Budapest's writings reveals the ideological background of Dianic Wicca, found in the specific aspects in the works of radical and cultural feminist thinkers such Mary Daly, Adrienne Rich, Robin Morgan, Susan Griffin, and Susan Brownmiller, which suited Budapest's lesbian-separatists leanings. The article thus sheds light on the politics of Goddess Spirituality during its formative years that have made modern Paganism what it is today. This is particularly important in light of the challenges to Dianic Wicca (and Goddess Spirituality in general) in recent decades, as third-wave feminism and transgender rights highlight a generational gap between veteran and younger Dianic women.

As Brumas de Avalon: uma leitura ecofeminista

As teorias ecofeministas buscam responder sobre projeto de futuro e modelos de sociedade, respaldando-se em um futuro ancestral. A literatura, enquanto expressão cultural de uma época, traduz paradigmas de pensamento do seu tempo de gestação. O ecofeminismo cresce na década de 1970, mesmo período em que As Brumas de Avalon, de Marion Zimmer Bradley, são lançadas. Tal obra rememora um passado narrando estruturas matriarcais na sociedade e na religião. O objetivo deste artigo consiste em analisar os pontos ecofeministas presentes na referida ficção, utilizando autoras como Mary Mellor, Mary Daly e Ynestra King. Inicialmente, são apresentadas as bases do ecofeminismo. Em ato contínuo, explana-se o enredo para, finalmente, discutir e apontar os pontos de intersecção ecofeminista presente no livro. A metodologia utilizada é de base exploratória e hipotético-dedutiva, por meio de técnicas bibliográficas. As reflexões indicam que é possível o entendimento da manifestação ecofeminista em As Brumas de Avalon.