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WOMEN’S EMBODIED SPIRITUAL GROWTH: LEARNING THROUGH NARRATIVE RESEARCH, TEACHING THROUGH NARRATIVE EDUCATION A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Claremont School of Theology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Eun Mi Paik May 1999 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © 1999 Eun Mi Paik ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation, written by Eun Ml Paik----------- under the direction of Faculty Committee, and approved by its members, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Theology at Claremont in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Faculty Committee J J Chairperson jv) / £££.. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract Women’s Embodied Spiritual Growth: Learning through Narrative Research, Teaching through Narrative Education by Eun Mi Paik The primary purpose of this dissertation is to explore women’s bodily experiences in relation to spiritual growth and to develop an educational method to nurture women’s embodied spirituality. Women’s bodily experiences, such as menstruation, body image, sexuality, sexual abuse, pregnancy, childbirth, mothering, menopause, and aging, are critical influences that nurture and challenge the spiritual being of adult women. Despite the importance, women’s embodied spiritual growth has rarely been acknowledged or studied in Christian communities and in academic fields focused on human development and religious education. This dissertation critically examines the faith and faith development theories of James Fowler, John Westerhoff III, and Thomas Groome, focusing particularly on the limitations of their understandings of women’s embodied spiritual growth. To advocate the importance of women’s embodied experiences in spiritual growth, the dissertation draws upon feminist understandings of women’s embodied experiences in relation to theology, epistemology, psychology, education, pastoral care, and spirituality. The characteristics of women’s spiritual growth can best be understood, respected, and enhanced when women share stories about their embodied experiences; thus, a narrative approach is important for research and, also, for education. In the narrative research of this dissertation, twenty interviewees gave a full extempore narration of events and experiences from their embodied spiritual lives. These women described their faith Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. journeys and the influence of their bodily experiences. The interview results, enhanced by feminist literature in psychology and theology, provide foundations for a feminist vision of women’s embodied spiritual growth. In order to move toward this vision, an embodied-narrative educational method is needed. Such a method can help women break silence, encourage women to describe their embodied experiences in relation to their spiritual journeys, and nurture and empower their embodied spiritual growth. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. Introduction......................................................................................... 1 2. Critical Analysis of the Faith Development Theories of James Fowler, John Westerhoff III, and Thomas Groome . . 10 Description and Critique of James Fowler’s Faith and Faith Development Theory..................................................... 10 Description of Fowler’s T heory.......................................... 10 Critique of Fowler’s Theory................................................ 18 Description and Critique of John H. Westerhoff Ill’s Faith And Faith Development Theory.......................................... 24 Description of Westerhoff5 s T heory..................................... 24 Critique of Westerhoffs Theory.......................................... 29 Description and Critique of Thomas Groome’s Faith and Faith Development Theory..................................................... 33 Description of Groome’s Theory.......................................... 33 Critique of Groome’s T heory................................................ 37 Conclusion..........................................................................................39 3. Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Theories................... 41 Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Theology . . . . 41 Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Epistemology . . 50 Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Psychology . . . 57 Conclusion...........................................................................................69 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4. Women’s Bodily Experiences in Spiritual G row th..................... 71 Feminist Religious Education..................................................... 71 Feminist Pastoral Theology and C a re ..................................... 79 Feminist Spirituality.................................................................... 90 Conclusion.................................................................................... 98 5. Women’s Embodied Spiritual Growth: Personal Narratives . . 100 Narrative Theory and Methodological D esign.................................100 The Purpose of Research..................................................... 104 The Story-tellers in Research................................................ 106 The Method in Interview..................................................... 108 The Method of Description and Analysis.......................... Ill Women’s Bodily Experiences and Spiritual Growth . . . . 114 Menstruation.......................................................................... 116 Body Im ages.......................................................................... 121 Sexuality............................................................................... 124 Sexual A buse.......................................................................... 130 Marriage and D ivorce.......................................................... 133 Pregnancy and Childbirth..................................................... 137 M othering............................................................................... 139 Aging and Menopause.......................................................... 143 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Relationship with Family and O thers..................... 145 Images and Relationships with G o d .......................................... 150 Experience in Church and Christianity..................................... 154 Understandings of Spiritual Journey and G row th..................... 157 Conclusion...........................................................................................163 6. A Feminist Vision of Women’s Embodied Spiritual Growth . . 164 Body-Affirming Spirituality.............................................. 165 Embodied Images of G o d .................................................. 177 Embodied Relationship with Other Human Beings . . . . 185 An Interdependent Relationship with the World as “God’s Body” ............................................................. 193 Involvement in the Church as the “Body of Christ” . . . . 200 Embodied Participation in Social Transformation . . . . 204 Conclusion...........................................................................................209 7. Embodied-Narrative Method as an Education Method . . . . 210 Narrative Interview’s Effect on Women’s Spiritual Growth. . 211 Embodied -Narrative Method as an Effective Educational M ethod........................................................ 214 Enhancing Embodied-Narrative M ethod......................... 221 Empowering Women to Remember and Construct Their Life Stories........................................................ 222 Integrating and Critiquing of Narrative T ruths............. 225 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Offering Companionship in Teaching and Learning . . . 231 Building Communities of Mutual Understanding and Empowerment.......................................................... 234 Conclusion...........................................................................................237 8. Conclusions......................................................................... 238 Bibliography............................................................................................... 240 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 Introduction Women’s bodily experiences are central to women’s emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual development. Despite the importance of understanding women’s spirituality in a full way, religious educators have rarely studied women’s bodily experiences, especially not in relation to their spiritual growth. In addition, when women are invited to talk about their embodied experiences, they often have difficulty articulating these experiences and telling their stories because they have been affected by patriarchal control of women’s experiences and voices. Three specific problems emerge. The first problem is the neglect of bodily experiences in faith development theories. Many religious professionals, including religious educators, worldwide, get important insights from James Fowler’s, John Westerhoff Ill’s and Thomas Groome’s theories of faith and faith development.1 All of these theories describe diverse components of human faith and diverse styles, or stages, of faith. In spite of their great contribution to understandings of faith development, they take little account of the effect of women’s bodily experiences on their spiritual growth. This limitation is significant in relation to understanding women’s faith development in a holistic way because bodily experiences, such as menstruation, body image, sexuality, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause, are critical influences that nurture and challenge women’s spiritual growth. Religious 1 See, panicularly: James Fowler, Stages of Faith (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981); Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984); John Westerhoff III, Will Our Children Have Faith? (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1976); Generation to Generation (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1979); Thomas Groome, Christian Religious Education (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980); Sharing Faith (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.