Women and Spirituality: Voices of protest and promise

287 Pages·1993·40.274 MB·English

by  Ursula King (auth.)

\EN IN SOCIETY
inist List editedby
)oCampling
editorialadvisory group
PhillidaBunckle, Victoria University,Wellington,NewZealand;Miriam
David, South Bank University; Leonore Davidoff, University of
Essex;Janet Finch, University ofLancaster, Jalna Hanmer, University
of Bradford; Beverley Kingston, University of New South Wales,
Australia; Hilary Land, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College,
University ofLondon; Diana Leonard, University ofLondon Institute
of Education; Susan Lonsdale, South Bank University; Jean 0'Barr,
Duke University,North Carolina, USA;Arlene Tigar McLaren, Simon
Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada;Hilary Rose, University
ofBradford;Susan Sellers, Centre D'Etudes Feminines, Universite de
Paris, France; Pat Thane, Goldsmiths' College, University ofLondon;
Clare Ungerson, UniversityofKent at Canterbury.
The last twenty years have seen an explosion of publishing by, about
andforwomen.This listisdesignedtomakeaparticularcontribution to
this continuing process by commissioning and publishing books which
consolidate and advance feminist research and debate in key areas in a
formsuitableforstudents, academicsandresearchers butalsoaccessible
to abroader general readership.
Asfaraspossiblebooks adoptaninternationalperspectiveincorporating
comparative material from arange ofcountries where this is illuminat
ing.Above allthey are interdisciplinary, aiming to put women's studies
and feminist discussion firmly on the agenda in subject-areas as dis-
parate aslaw, literature, art, religion and social policy.
A list ofpublished titlesfollows overleaf
EN IN SOCIETY
inist List edited by
)oCampling
Published
ChristyAdair Womenand Dance
SheilaAllenandCarolWolkowitz Homeworking: mythsand realities
NiarnhBaker Happily Ever After? Women'sfictioninpostwar Britain, 194~O
Ros Ballaster et al. Women's Worlds: ideology, femininity and the woman's
magazine
JennyBeale WomeninIreland: voicesofchange
JenniferBreen In Her OwnWrite:twentieth-centurywomen's fiction
ValerieBryson FeministPoliticalTheory: anintroduction
RuthCarterandGillKirkup WomeninEngineering: agoodplacetobe?
Joan Chandler Women without Husbands: an exploration of the margins of
marriage
GillianDalley IdeologiesofCaring: rethinkingcommunityand collectivism
EmilyDriverandAudreyDroisen(editors) ChildSexualAbuse:feministperspectives
ElizabethEttorre Womenand Substance Use
LesleyFerris ActingWomen: imagesofwomenintheatre
DianaGittins TheFamilyinQuestion:changing householdsandfamiliar ideologies
TuulaGordon Feminist Mothers
EileenGreenetal. Women'sLeisure, WhatLeisure?
FrancesHeidensohn Womenand Crime
UrsulaKing Womenand Spirituality:voicesofprotest and promise
JoLittleetal.(editors) Women inCities:gender and theurbanenvironment
SusanLonsdale Womenand Disability:theexperienceofphysicaldisabilityamong
women
MavisMaclean Surviving Divorce:women's resources after separation
ShelleyPenningtonandBelindaWestover A Hidden Workforce: homeworkers in
England,1.850-1985
VickyRandall Womenand Politics:an internationalperspective
DianeRichardson Women,Motherhoodand Childrearing
Rosemary Ridd and Helen Callaway(editors) Caught Up in Conflict: women's
responsestopoliticalstrife
SusanSellers Language and SexualDifference:feministwriting inFrance
PatriciaSpallone BeyondConception: the newpoliticsofreproduction
TakingLibertiesCollective Learningthe Hard Way:women's oppression inmen's
education
ClareUngerson(editor) WomenandSocialPolicy:areader
KittyWarnock LandbeforeHonour: PalestinianwomenintheOccupiedTerritories
AnnieWoodhouse FantasticWomen:sex,gender and transvestism
Women and Spirituality
Voices ofprotest and promise
SECOND EDITION
Ursula King
* © Ursula King 1989, 1993
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover lst edition 1993
AU rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London W1T 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First edition 1989
Reprinted 1990, 1992
Second edition 1993
Published by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN 978-0-333-59472-8 ISBN 978-1-349-22844-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22844-7
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
'Our work in "secular" feminism reinforces a conviction that a
yearning for spiritual dimension is as powerful amongst those who
have rejected thechurch as those who remain.' - SusanDowelland
Linda Hurcombe, DispossessedDaughters ofEve,p. 113
'When we are no longerdriven by powerlessness to excessive need
for power, we can express our human potency in many ways
human sex, human politics, the creative further reaches of the
human spirit. The most important effect of transcending those old
sex roles may be an evolution of morality and religious thought, as
the concrete, flexible dailiness that used to be reserved for female
privatefamily life iswedded tothe noble grandeurofspiritual vision
and higher moral principles as formerly preached from pulpits one
hour a week by male priests, ministers and rabbis. In the second
stage, that same wedding of the abstract and the concrete will
transform the discipline and practice of every profession.' - Betty
Friedan, The Second Stage,p.322
Contents
Preface to th-e SecondEdition xi
Prologue 1
Showing one's face and finding a voice of one's own 1
A broad understanding offeminism 3
Feminism and spirituality 5
Crisis, change of consciousness and choices 7
Listening to feminist voices 9
1 Voices ofprotest and anger 12
The challenge of anger 13
The feminist challenge illhistorical perspective 14
Feminist consciousness and sisterhood 17
Challenging patriarchy 20
The perception of androcentrism 24
Sexism and the critique of masculinity 27
2 Voices ofchallenge 32
Women and world religions in a cross-cultural and
global perspective 33
Women's roles and status in religious institutions 36
Women in religious language and thought 42
Women and religious experience 53
vii
viii Contents
3 Voices of experience 57
The changing experience of women 59
The international dimension and pluralism of women's
experience 61
Women's social and work experience 65
Female bodilyexistence asa source of women's
experience 70
Women's experience of the self 78
The spiritualdimension of women'sexperience 83
4 Voices of spiritual power 88
Spiritual resources within women themselves 89
The spiritualheritage of women 91
The paradigm of the woman saintand mystic 95
Women mysticsin medieval times 98
Mysticism andfeminism: some questionsforthe
feminist mystic 105
Space for women's spirituality III
5 Voices of a new spirituality 114
In search ofthe Goddess 117
ContemporaryGoddess worship and feminist
witchcraft 125
Goddess worship in matriarchygroupsand thedebate
about matriarchy 133
The many meaningsof the Goddess 140
The ideal of theandrogyny 148
6 Voices of a new theology 154
What isfeminist theology? 156
Basic orientations infeminist theology 162
Controversies infeminist theology 169
The ordination of women, ecumenism anddialogue 178
Feminist theologyand the quest for spirituality 188
Contents ix
7 Voicesof prophecyandintegration 198
Power, peace, non-violence and ecology 199
Feminist dilemmas and choices 212
Transformation of human consciousness 215
Feminism and spirituality: an integrationof
perspectives 218
Epilogue 223
Further Reading 229
Bibliography 233
Index 260
Preface to the Second Edition
Ever more women and men are interested in feminist spirituality and
theology.Since this book was first published in 1989debates surround
ing women and spirituality have continued togrow.They have become
global and worldwide, but also more particular and differentiated, ad
dressing specific concerns ingreaterdepth.Women's voices cannowbe
heard everywhere but they do not receive the attention they deserve.
New developments include more women's voices from the third world,
and more women addressing urgent ethical andenvironmental concerns
regarding the vulnerability and preciousness of all life on earth.
The tremendous social and political changes of the last few years
radically challenge us to reflect and act in a critical, informed and
committed way to ensure that we develop all available resources to
respond tothegreat contemporarythreatsofpoverty,violence,war,and
ecological disaster. Inthiscontextitisabsolutelyessentialthatwomen's
voices around the world are listened to and that women take their full
partinshapingand transformingtheworldoftoday.This isnotpossible,
however, without giving spirituality itscentral place in our lives.
This newpublication represents arevised version of the first edition
withanumberofamendmentsandadditions, especiallyanewEpilogue.
Bibliographical references have been augmented by about a quarter
itselfanindication oftheproductivityofcontemporarywomen andtheir
active involvement inandconcernforarticulatinganewspiritual vision.
Just afewdetails about how this book came to be written inthe first
place. It was originally suggested to me by Jo Campling who is the
general editor of the Macmillan series 'Women in Society'. She had
heard my Hibbert Lecture 'Voices of Protest, Voices of Promise:
Spirituality for a New Age' when it was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
Xl