The New Catholic Feminism: Theology, Gender Theory and Dialogue / Edition 1

by Tina Beattie

Overview

It is hard to over-estimate the challenge that feminism poses to Roman Catholicism. Pope John Paul II's call for a 'new feminism' has led to the development of a Catholic theological response to the so-called 'old feminism'. The New Catholic Feminism sets up a dramatic encounter between the orthodox Catholic establishment and contemporary critical theory, including feminist theology and philosophy, queer theory, and French psycholinguistics, in order to explore fundamental questions about human identity, personhood and gender. From the naked bodies of Eden to the 'gay nuptials' of liturgy, it argues that the strange and volatile world of Catholic sexual symbolism cannot be 'tamed' to meet the ideological agendas of either feminist theology or conservative Catholicism. Only through a radical re-evaluation of the sacramental significance of the sexed human body might the Catholic Church provide a redemptive response to the sexual politics of contemporary society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415301480
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/22/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Tina Beattie is Senior Lecturer in Christian Studies at the University of Surrey Roehampton, where she also convenes the MA programme in Religion and Human Rights. A leading Catholic and Marian theologian, she is the author of Woman: New Century Theological Studies (2003); Eve's Pilgrimage (2002); God's Mother, Eve's Advocate (2002); The Last Supper according to Martha and Mary (2001); and Rediscovering Mary (1995).

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part 1 The middle; Chapter 1 Catholicism, feminism and faith; Chapter 2 Feminist bodies and feminist selves; Chapter 3 Gender, knowing and being; Chapter 4 Knowledge, desire and prayer; Part 2 The end; Chapter 5 Incarnation, difference and God; Chapter 6 Masculinity, femininity and God; Chapter 7 Cherchez la femme; Chapter 8 Desire, death and the female body; Chapter 9 Sex, death and melodrama; Part 3 The beginning; Chapter 10 Being beyond death; Chapter 11 Maternal beginnings; Chapter 12 Redeeming fatherhood; Chapter 13 Redeeming motherhood; Chapter 14 Redeeming language; Chapter 15 Redeeming sacramentality;

What People are Saying About This

Dr. Janet Martin Soskice

It is only right that a theologian of Von Balthasar's influence should have a "Devil's Advocate." Tina Beattie's animated discussion will surely be read by all who are interested in his work and in the sexual dynamics of Catholic Christianity. (Dr. Janet Martin Soskice, Reader in Philosophical Theology, University of Cambridge)

Editorial Reviews

"The centrality of gendered, sexual bodies to the life of faith and traditional theology's repression of such have long been the focus of feminist theology. Beattie's book takes the conversation to new levels with her exploration of the crucial role of the psychological - desire, pleasure, fear, terror - in the workings of faith and theology." - Mary McClintock Fulkerson, Associate Professor of Theology, Divinity School, Duke University

From the Publisher