Why Women's Studies Matter

For the next few weeks, I have the privilege of teaching at the Oregon Extension Women's Studies May Term, a program I blogged about awhile back. Tomorrow, our 19 students will begin to arrive from universities across the country. We'll spend weekday mornings studying gender, theology and literature in the solace of the Rogue Valley in Oregon.

Today, I'm in downtown Ashland, OR, at a coffee shop with wireless internet, but for most of the next few weeks, I'll be on the top of a mountain with two computers equipped with dial-up internet (for 25 + students and staff to share). Needless to say, the blog entries will be short, or, possibly, non-existent. This is because part of what we try to do at the Oregon Extension is to create a contemplative climate for students, a place without the daily distractions of technology, an environment where students and faculty can commune with nature, read books, take hikes, and just chat over a cup of tea. Such sacred spaces are becoming more and more rare in this world of globalization.
But before I sign off into the land of pine trees and chai, I want to take a moment to celebrate the existence of women's studies programs like this one. According to the National Women's Studies Association,

Women's studies, as a distinct entitiy within U.S. higher education, made its debut in 1970 with the establishment of the first program at San Diego State University. Forty years later, there are more than 900 programs in the U.S., boasting well over 10,000 courses and an enrollment larger than that of any other interdisciplinary field.

These programs are important for women and men to critically examine the gendered structures in our world today. Often, they allow individuals to discover agency and create social change.

This spring's issue of Ms. Magazine (available now at your local newstand) offers an excellent guide to women's studies programs throughout the U.S. A more comprehensive list than even the print version is available online.

With budget cuts looming at nearly every university in this country, my guess is that women's studies programs will feel the brunt of the economic downturn. But my hope is that justice-minded folks (and even those non-justice minded folks who accidentally stumble into a women's studies class for a core requirement) will continue to dedicate their undergraduate and graduate years to unmasking gender constraints that cripple both women and men. And while most of these programs aren't located in a picturesque Oregon valley, they are still quite beautiful in their commitment to empowerment and scholarly inquiry.

Feminism and faith

In the context of Western religion, these are not two terms that one often sees together. In fact, much of my life, I have heard one side criticizing the other. But as you'll see in some of my previous posts, I pronounce this perceived paradox proudly. (How's that for alliteration??)

I'm also an eternal optimist, which may explain why I believe that more and more folks on both sides of these labels are reaching across to the other side. Take, for instance, publications like Harvard's Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, which covers this emerging dialogue between feminist theory and theology. (And if you check out this magnificent publication, be sure to check out the Fall 2008 issue to read one of my poems, which is published there!)

Or, in the realm of popular culture, Sue Monk Kidd's memoir (before her Secret Life of Bees fame), The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, where she explores the dance between her Christian self and her feminist self.

Of course we're all aware (and perhaps a little tired of) the Da Vinci Code's rise to fame, but I think the importance of its popularity lies in the fact that it reflects an ongoing cultural desire for the divine feminine.

I speak from my own Protestant perspective when I say that we've lost that particular image of God. Despite biblical evidence to the contrary (God portrayed as a hen gathering her eggs, a midwife birthing a child, etc.), we've often chosen to see God exclusively as father. This is detrimental to women in so many ways. First, we learn that God is the best, and if God is male, then male is the best. (Mary Daly famously wrote in the seventies that "If God is male, then the male is God.") Second, we tend to identify God as being the same kind of father as our earthly father, which is not always a positive image for women. Sometimes our fathers abandon us, abuse us, or tell us we're never good enough. Finally, it is extremely limiting to see God as embodying only one half of the human race.











But again, the eternal optimist in me begs to speak. One sign of improvement in the feminism/faith dichotomy is a program at which I have the pleasure of teaching every other May. The Oregon Extension Women's Studies May Term allows college students the opportunity to explore the intersection of faith and feminism through academic discourse, journaling, and creative projects. It's the place where I learned to embrace this seeming paradox within myself many years ago as a college student.

This year, we have so many applicants to the program that we may need to begin a waiting list. It seems undeniable that the dialogue about feminism and faith lives on.

I don't usually use this blog to elicit donations, but many of our applicants are in need of financial aid in this economic climate. If you believe in this important conversation, please consider donating to our scholarship fund by clicking on the "Donate Now" button at www.oemayterm.org It's tax-deductible, and your contribution may allow a student the freedom to call herself "feminist" and "faithful" for the first time without fearing the wrath of God.