The Fad Called Feminism

I said “Christian Feminism,” not… Oh, never mind.

Note: I wrote this article some time last year for “The Crest,” the official student publication in the school I work for. I decided to publish this here after referencing to it in my newest blog, What I Wish I Knew Before I Turned 22: I Need Men in My Life. I wrote it with my high school students in mind as my only reading audience, so please channel your inner teenage girl when reading.

A few weeks back, two young actresses, famous in their own rights, made tabloid headlines. One was named United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador and gave a speech at the U.N. Headquarters to launch her HeForShe campaign. The other was an Oscar award winner who issued a non-apologetic statement in the aftermath of her nude photo leak.

One said, “Men, I’d like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too… I want men to take up this mantle, so their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too.”

The other said, “I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for. I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.”

According to most young women today, both Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence (sadly) are feminists.

But what does it really mean to be a feminist?

If you have the misfortune of being in one of the Literature classes I handle this school year, you may (or may not) remember that I introduced myself with a quote from my favorite female novelist, Jane Austen, who penned, “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word [of being an accomplished woman]; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved… All this she must possess and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.”

Fortunately for us, Auntie Jane was neither too literal nor hypercritical when she wrote these lines for Pride and Prejudice, but she did have a point. The point being was that at any given age, society will impose a certain standard, especially on women.

Feminism is today what petticoats and corsets once were to our great grandmothers.

In addition to juice cleansing diets and annual gym memberships, feminism is trendy. Hollywood actresses like Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence boost their celebrity-hood by being feminists, or, more accurately, being perceived as feminists. It’s no wonder that many young women today buy into the trendy idea of feminism – without necessarily understanding what it is really all about.

Feminism is not as straight-cut as its dictionary meaning of being “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men” suggests. It encompasses an entire spectrum: one end may be composed of a peaceful prayer rally outside an abortion clinic and the other end may be composed of a violent riot of topless women on the streets.

So who’s the real feminist? Which opposite end of the spectrum are you buying into?

First, let us consider American theologian Pia de Solenni who received her PhD at the age of 29, in addition to the 2001 Pontifical Academies’ Prize from St. Pope John Paul II himself. She was awarded for her doctoral thesis on feminism.

Wait what? You can be Catholic and a feminist?

“Feminism can be categorized into the feminism of equality, feminism of differences, anti-essentialism feminism, and deconstructivist feminism,” said Pia de Solenni.

These categories are alternatively known as first, second, and third wing feminisms. Instead of delving into the details, I’ll tell you the most important thing you have to understand at this point and that is if you take God out of each feminist category or wing, you’ll have secular feminism.

Quick vocabulary trivia: “Secular” comes from the Latin word “saeculum” which can mean generation, age, or even the world – as opposed to the Church. Today, “secular” simply means cutting God out of the picture.

“Secularized feminism raises excellent questions but cannot answer them,” said de Solenni in an interview after her awarding ceremony.

The root of the problem of secularized feminism (aside from the obvious godlessness and all) is that it views the woman as an “atomistic individual.” An “atom,” being the smallest particle known to science, combined with “individual” equals a woman who is a person completely separate from society.

Picture yourself being stripped off your title as a daughter and your mother from her title as a mother, and you’ll have two non-entities. This is just one of the concrete ways why secularized feminism is ultimately doomed to fail.

But what about Christian feminism, you may ask? What does it have to offer?

Pia de Solenni borrows her feminist ideas from St. Thomas Aquinas who looked no further than the Book of Genesis when he said, “Woman is created from man’s side not to rule over him or to be ruled under him but to rule with him side-by-side.” Doubtless, you’ve heard of something similar in every single wedding homily you’ve attended. Now you know it’s for a good reason.

“For Thomas Aquinas, true feminism respects the woman’s essential identity as an image of God. Where she differs from man, a true feminism understands that these differences are constructive and complementary,” Solenni adds.

To be a true feminist does not entail burning your bra on the streets or recreating an Amazonian civilization on a deserted island. No, to be a true feminist, one simply needs to go back to what is essential: Adam was not the only one created in the image and likeness of God – Eve was too. Women are too.

To be a true feminist, we have to strive to become the most perfect reflections of Our Father in Heaven. Sure it means not advocating contraceptives, same-sex marriages, abortions, divorce, and many other issues which should not be morally ambiguous to us now, but Christian feminism is not essentially a No-No-No! kind of feminism.

“Christian feminism is not about what you can’t do. It’s about what we can do. We need to rephrase our message and get it out there, in every medium including our personal lives,” finishes de Solenni.

More than true feminists, what the world needs now are true women. Women who can become good mothers, mentors, and educators to the ever-growing children of the new generation.

You don’t have to buy into feminism just because Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen said so. Be your own woman!