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Women & Gender
This section includes articles with themes that include feminism, sexism, sexual exploitation, women’s ordination, and related topics.

The Great (False) God, Masculinity

There are varying degrees of oppression related to patriarchy around the world, and the church is as responsible as other institutions, argues Robert Hewitt. To focus the debate, he offers four theses, and reminds us that God is neither male nor female. [posted 2/4/05]

Where Is God? A Ghanaian Reflection

At the start of 2005, Elizabeth Kaeton traveled to West Africa. In the Season of Epiphany, she experienced many personal epiphanies, as well as the powerful moment of being the first woman from the U.S. to celebrate the Eucharist in the Anglican Church of Ghana. [posted 1/20/05]

No Mandate from Women of Color

There was a gender gap in voting patterns in the November 2004 presidential election, but an even more marked difference when race is considered as a factor. Linda Burnham analyzes the statistics, and predicts four bleak years for women of color. [posted 1/14/05]

What Will We Have?

How can the Christian community stay together? Human sexuality divisions are tearing apart churches, including the worldwide Anglican Communion. Tracey Lind seeks guidance in scripture, and finds we are all “prisoners in the Lord.” [posted 11/24/04]

April 2002 issue of The Witness magazine Women Confronting Violence The silence about the abuse of women and children needs to be broken. Women of faith who are committed to breaking this silence about violence and abuse at all levels of the church and societal institutions are profiled in this issue. Interviews with San Antonio organizer Pat Castillo, feminist theologians Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker, and Native (Cherokee) Episcopal bishop Carol Gallagher are featured.

V.P. Candidates Fail AIDS & Black Women Question

The Cheney-Edwards debate showed both candidates unable to answer how their administration would address the epidemic of African-American women with AIDS. Irene Monroe says their pathetic responses were emblematic of a widespread silence. [posted 10/18/04]

No Room for Complacency

The church is woefully behind the times when it comes to providing an equitable workplace for women priests, argues Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows. Behind the numbers, this “Gen X” priest sees complacency as the primary challenge. [posted 8/11/04]

Texas Time Warp

The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth still refuses to permit the ministry of women priests, thirty years after the first such ordination. Katie Sherrod writes about the creative ways that women find to be fed spiritually in one of only three “hold-out” dioceses. [posted 8/11/04]

Learning to Sit Still

Arrington Chambliss reflects on her growth as a social activist and now a priest. Values of integration, wholeness, and balance are often ignored in our driven world, she says, but without them our actions are rooted in fear, not God. [posted 8/11/04]

Growing Up with Carter

Stephanie Spellers describes how Carter Heyward, one of the Episcopal Church's first female priests, gave her a new vision of what it means to follow Christ. As she prepares for her own ordination, Spellers hears the call for us to be “irregular,” not comfortable, in our efforts to allow God's love to reign over fear and isolation. [posted 8/11/04]

Vocation and Transformation

Ordination has offered limited vocational choices for many women in the church, suggests Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook. As laypeople do battle with clericalism and religious hierarchy, she imagines a new church model that draws on the priesthood of all believers. [posted 8/11/04]

The Earth-Moving Day

As a child, Elizabeth Kaeton knew that she wanted to become a priest. But she was firmly warned by her Catholic schoolteacher that this was impossible. Years later, when the Episcopal Church began ordaining women to the priesthood, Kaeton got angry. [posted 8/10/04]

Honoring Verna Dozier

In 1976, Jane Holmes Dixon prayed her son would become a priest. Verna Dozier, the legendary spiritual writer, challenged Dixon that it was she who should be ordained, not her offspring. Dixon, who became the second female Episcopal bishop, pays tribute to her mentor. [posted 8/10/04]

Who Are Your Heroines?

Amy Cortright was born in 1976, the same year the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women. Now she herself is a “collar crusader,” despite the sexism that has resisted this change. She finds that friction in the church may create openings for new ministry. [posted 8/10/04]

Christianity and Cultural Conflict in China

In Chinese traditional culture, the birth of a stillborn baby requires a month-long rest for the mother. This ritual conflicts with modern business practices, notes Dorothy Lau. Using a case study from her work in Hong Kong, we learn how to create win-win scenarios. [posted 5/20/04]

The March for Women's Lives

On Sunday, April 25th, approximately one million people marched on Washington DC. Winnie Varghese reports that the huge turnout was not simply about reproductive health issues, but a whole host of interrelated concerns for a public disaffected by an administration's war on human dignity. [posted 4/30/04]

Eyes Wide Open

Ellen Meloy's book The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky is “one long prayer of the senses, celebrating and mourning humanity through nature's mirror,” according to reviewer Jonathan Callard. [posted 4/22/04]

Afghanistan Beyond Images

Afghanistan has fallen from the media's attention, and is now mostly considered to be a war-torn nation: a modern-day Lebanon. Afghan refugee Leeza Ahmady wants people to know the other, beautiful face of her country. Sybille Ngo Nyeck shares Ahmady's love for her homeland. [posted 4/16/04]

A Woman's Right to Choose is a Woman's Right to Life

Abortion continues to be one of the most contentious issues in the Christian community. 30 years after an abortion, a woman counseled by Elizabeth Kaeton continues to grieve her choice. [posted 4/15/04]

New Life for Gardens and the Church

In the lectionary readings for Easter Day, the gospel readings describe women finding the empty tomb of Christ. Katie Sherrod reflects on the role of the garden in those passages and in our own observance of the Easter season. [posted 4/1/04]

L'(Homo)érotisme chez Calixthe Beyala

A new book by Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala has achieved notoriety for its interplay of sexual identities and roles. Reviewer Sybille Ngo Nyeck argues that it is actually a deconstruction of sexuality, and, ultimately, a reflection of the Christian story. [In French and English.] [posted 1/29/04]

Fear of the Feminine

The angry debates over sexuality violate the rules laid down by all patriarchal cultures, according to Nancy Myer Hopkins. She says that many women accept that to be sexy, desirable and attractive, they must be submissive, and she relates this dominance/submission paradigm to the condition of dogs. [posted 1/8/04]

An Open Letter to the Anglican Mission in America from the Episcopal Women's Caucus

The conservative Anglican Mission in America has just released a long 142-page "report on the ordination of women," and the Episcopal Women's Caucus responds to this document. [posted 1/8/04]

Baptism Is Our Road Map

In the lectionary readings for this coming Sunday (January 11), John the Baptist speaks to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Two millennia later, Katie Sherrod says that the gift of baptism is still what can unite us, despite many efforts to push aside "the other." [posted 1/8/04]

Alienating Anglican Moderates

Anglican bishops Drexel Gomez and Maurice Sinclair have been two of the loudest critics of the U.S. church for its recent decisions concerning women's ordination and the inclusion of gays and lesbians. John Sorensen reviews their recent book To Mend the Net. [posted 12/4/03]

Vocations Lost and Found

As a child in a devout Christian family, Joseph Wakelee-Lynch thought he would find a career as a priest. Later in life, a priest is indeed emerging from his household -- but God has provided a few surprises along the way. [posted 11/12/03]

Retiring in Grace

Surrounded by ongoing violence, Palestinian writer Samia Khoury steps back from her monthly analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict to discuss her educational work. After 17 years shaping values as president of Rawdat El-Zuhur school, she finds an unexpected form of liberation in retirement. [posted 11/12/03]

Être ou Ne Pas Être Lesbienne: (To Be or Not to Be a Lesbian)

West Africans love soccer — but women players find themselves victims of sexual abuse. Sybille Ngo Nyeck interviews a leading female footballer in her native Cameroon, and finds that lesbian athletes must hide their sexual identities for fear of oppression. [In English and en Français.] [posted 10/27/03]

Autres Realites, Autres Therapies (Different Realities, Different Therapies)

Sexual abuse in Cameroon is widespread, according to Sybille Ngo Nyeck. Citing terrible statistics of sexual assault on women and children, Nyeck challenges the government and complicit NGOs to address this violent pandemic. [In English and en Français . posted 10/1/03]

Pacific Women and the Law: The Status of Fiji

Women in the South Pacific face many social, cultural and legal challenges. In an interview with Fijian activist and lawyer Imrana Jalal, journalist Cristina Verán learns about inter-ethnic tensions, and discovers that the Christian church supports patriarchal models of oppression. [posted 9/17/03]

Justice Begins in the Bedroom
The U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned Texas’ sodomy law. Irene Monroe considers the Sodom & Gomorrah story, the alleged biblical mandate against homosexual sex. She finds that the misreading of this text has also encouraged sexual violence toward women. [posted 7/21/03]

Entre Terre et Ciel (Between Heaven and Earth)
Female genital mutilation is widespread in Africa — as many as two million girls face this human rights violation each year. Sybille Ngo Nyeck from Cameroon looks at the theological underpinnings of genital mutilation, noting that many religions on the continent support this sad practice. [In English and en Français.] [posted 7/16/03]

I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches
In mid-May, a teenage girl was beaten to death on the streets of Newark, New Jersey. According to Elizabath Kaeton, Sakia Gunn was killed because she had three strikes against her: she was female, she was black and she was gay. [posted 5/29/03]

The Vision of Audre Lorde
A new film, "The Edge of Each Other's Battles," provides a glimpse at the legacy of legendary poet and feminist Audre Lorde. Reviewer Rima Vesely says the documentary reveals the resistance of women of color to the middle-class mainstream women's movement. [posted 4/3/03]

Queens and Their Crowns
A new book, Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats, is called a "stunning documentary work" by reviewer Jennifer Phillips. The photos and interviews highlight the piety and pride of black churchwomen and the heritage they embody. [posted 2/21/03]

Ten Years Later: Celebrating Women Priests in South Africa
It was only a decade ago that the Anglican Church in southern Africa voted to support the ordination of women. Wilma Jakobsen was one of the first women clergy in the region. A decade later, she reviews how far women have come in her church, and how far they still have to go.

AIDS’ Troubling Gender Factor
Both in the U.S. and worldwide, the fastest growth of the AIDS epidemic is among heterosexual women. Women of African descent are particularly vulnerable, and Irene Monroe blames stigma, discrimination… and silence. [posted 12/18/02]

How Many Times Do I Have to Forgive?
Forgiveness is something we are all called to do as a part of our faith. But is it always possible? Following September 11, 2001, Elizabeth Kaeton tried to pray for the terrorists who coordinated the attacks. She couldn’t, and still can’t… but says that God’s forgiveness still awaits them. [posted 9/26/02]

Mixing Politics and Religion
In Washington DC, the combustible mix of faith and politics becomes an even stronger brew. John Chane, the new Episcopal Bishop of Washington, can’t help but take a stand. He strives to follow in the footsteps of four outspoken American women who he calls "pearls in a turbulent sea." [posted 7/23/02]

Seven Roman Catholic Women Are Ordained in Europe
More than a quarter-century ago, a group of Episcopalian women were illegally ordained to the priesthood by bishops who had tired of the Church’s silencing of this debate. Georgia Fuller, reporting from a boat in the Danube River, reports that Roman Catholics have now held a similarly defiant action. [posted 7/23/02]

The Iron Womb: Betrayal and Resistance
The practice of slavery continues to this day within families and communities, even if it has been officially outlawed, according to Sybille Ngo Nyeck. This "ownership" is especially exerted by men against women, and can sometimes lead to death. [In French and English.]

Suzanne Hiatt: In Memoriam

Craignez Ce Qui Tue le Corps et l’Esprit
Amidst Cameroon’s soccer-crazed euphoria of winning the African Cup of Nations, Sybille Ngo Nyeck is sobered by the nation’s social realities. Political dissension and the oppression of women — with recent news reports of the rapes of young women by international humanitarian workers — indicate there is little to truly celebrate. [posted 3/29/02]

The Wisdom of Daughters: Two Decades of the Voice of Christian Feminism
A quarter-century ago a magazine named "Daughters of Sarah" was launched to give voice to a radical concept: Christian feminism. Elizabeth Kaeton reviews a new book offering some of the periodical’s best writing from its two decades, before it ceased publication in 1996. [posted 01/04/02]

Child Prostitution in Thailand
Prostitution, which has a long history in Thailand, has never been as bad there as it is now. Sirirat Pusurinkham details: the growth of sex tourism in her country how girls as young as ten years old are being conscripted into this industry, and how thousands are now dying of AIDS. [posted 12/19/01]

Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani?
Cameroon society condemns incest, but no one actually knows how to prevent it. Sybille Ngo Nyeck outlines how tribal practices and social practices have served to protect the aggressors in sexual assault crimes, rather than the victims. [posted 12/12/01]

Developing Grassroots AIDS Education
A trip to rural South Africa was a stark reminder of how quickly the AIDS pandemic is spreading without local outreach. Ann Smith finds hope in the response of a group of young students who took it upon themselves to address HIV/AIDS in the absence of adult leadership. [posted 11/13/01]

Creation: The Persecuted, Adulterous Woman
The story of the adulterous woman in the gospel of John is fascinating to Sybille Ngo Nyeck. This little-cited passage seems to her to be a metaphor for the many ways we mistreat Creation. [posted 11/09/01]

Call Her Jordan!
Crossing the Jordan River serves as a metaphor for our relationship with God, writes Sybille Ngo Nyeck. Citing "cruel doctrines," she names the Church’s silence on social issues as the type of discomfort and hypocrisy as that which leads to protest movements. [posted 10/30/01]

Special Report: The Global Anatomy of a Local Church Conflict
by Pamela W. Darling The dispute between a åtraditionalist÷ parish and the Bishop of Washington, Pro Tempore, has become emblematic of power struggles in the worldwide Anglican Communion

Jubilee Reflections on Mordechai Vanunu and Samuel Day
In reflecting on the diverse meanings of "Jubilee 2000," Middle East advocate Patti Browning honors Israeli nuclear protester Mordechai Vanunu and the deceased activist Sam Day.

‘Through Prayer and Action’: The Seeds of a New Anglicanism?
In a post-colonial Anglican Communion, threats of schism abound. Ian Douglas finds hope for true communion, however, in recent efforts by Anglicans from the political left & right to come together and seek common ground.

Defending the Episcopal Women's Caucus Angel Project
The Episcopal Women’s Caucus responds to accusations that its new "Angel Project" is a confrontational initiative designed to subvert agreements from the recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

The Opposite of Love
Shelters for battered women serve as stark reminders to our society’s failure to end domestic violence. Elizabeth Kaeton shares the story of meeting a survivor of a quarter-century of abuse who managed to break the cycle of violence.

Word as Idol
Examining the concepts of idolatry and fundamentalism, Sam Portaro is reminded that "a life of faith is a risky business."

Whither Anglo-Catholicism?
The question of "Authority" in religion made Lynea Search realize that she delights in the fact that Anglicans are often perceived as "wishy-washy" about doctrine and issues such as human sexuality.

General Convention MM — the Middle Has Moved
Katie Sherrod says that conservatives in the Episcopal Church are fuming because the "middle" has moved, and it has moved to the left.