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Feminist Theology Summary

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In the introduction and the first chapter of Introducing Feminist Theology, Anne Clifford explains multiple concepts regarding feminism, society and Christian theology. Throughout the chapter, Clifford discusses the coming about of feminism and how feminism lead to feminist liberation theology. Firstly, Clifford asserts that a patriarchal world is a white man’s world, oppressing women and people of color. Therefore, feminism came (in three waves) to liberate women from sexism and oppression. According to the author, patriarchy, with its dominance, creates a barrier between interdependence and equality. In addition, within patriarchy, there exists the concept of androcentrism, which states that the male perspective is dominant, and the female …show more content…

A patriarchy is a system where men dominate, and women are marginalized. The patriarchy can be traced to Aristotle’s writings in Ancient Greece, where he spoke of women as subordinates of men. Aristotle was also dependent on dualism (dividing reality into different spheres). In the case of men and women, men were seen as the rational and women, the emotional. These labels lead to sexist behavior and thus oppression of women, because they were seen as less than men. Due to the idea of dualism in a patriarchal society, it does not only oppress women, but the patriarchy is also a root cause of racism, classism, colonialism, etc. This occurs because dualism is based on dividing reality into different spheres and in doing so, dualism is creating a hierarchical …show more content…

Thus, feminism sought to liberate women from androcentrism, which was prevalent in multiple aspects of life, including religion. Women’s views were not expressed in religion and theology, therefore, feminist theologians attempted to reinterpret religion based on the female experience. Feminist theologies can be divided into three categories, revolutionary, reformist and reconstructionist. The first, revolutionary feminist theology, views the bible and Christianity as patriarchal and antiwoman. Thus, women abandoned Christianity and looked to worshipping ancient female deities. The second, reformist Feminist Theology, does not seek to see a holistic change within the Christian doctrine, but a change within existing church structure. The last, but major type of Feminist Theology is reconstructionist Feminist Theology, which is seen as the liberation Feminist Theology. It seeks to reconstruct society and Christianity as a whole, by reinterpreting traditional symbols and ideas of Christianity, while still acknowledging God and Jesus

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