Sexism and misogyny have found their way into the fundamental foundations of many Roman Catholic, Judeo-Christian and Protestant religions. Many of these religions perceive women as subordinate to men, as women are only seen as caretakers and a vital part of home life. For example, according to research done by Megan Haggard and others, “Protestant fundamentalists lobby to defend the institution of traditional heterosexual marriage and family life via a return to a patriarchal ‘values’ of wives as husbands’ helpmeets, not equals” (Haggard). In other words, religious advocates for “traditional” values prioritize women to fulfill submissive, and complementary roles in marriages and family life instead of equals. The Bible explicitly states in I Timothy 2:12 that, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” It also continues to emphasize the role of women as it advises women to submit themselves to their husbands the same way that they submit themselves to God (Ephesians 5) and forces women to come to the realization that the “…the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” (I Corinthians 11:3). 

The institutionalized oppression of women is explored through the Women in Church edition of Off Our Backs. The 21st issue of the first volume of Off Our Backs includes

Cover of Volume 1, Issue 21 of Off Our Backs, 1971

specific details and testimony from women and their role in the church and how the church’s traditional ideals affect their everyday life.  In the article, “In the Beginning: The Early Christian Church,” details on the history of the Roman Catholic church and their shift in the perception of women are analyzed by the author. The article explains that “The Church’s degrading view of women came from three sources: the Greek culture, the Roman culture and the Hebrew culture” (anne). The author emphasizes that at the birth of these different cultures, women were prioritized until each culture began to expand and gain new perspectives on the role of women in society. Among the differences in each society that influenced the emergence of the Church, women were seen as submissive, sexual creatures who were to obey their husbands and take care of their children. However, the author determines that before the church became institutionalized, women were allowed to fulfill more active roles such as ministers and teachers (anne). Nonetheless, the institutionalization of the Church resulted in women being forced to live in submission and follow a male-centered religion that thrived off of male chauvinism. 

No More Fun and Games also delves into analyzing the effect of traditional religions and values on women through literature. In “Women Up Against the Wall,” Stella

Cover of No more Fun and Games, October 1, 1968.

Kingsbury examines the effects of the biblical status of women through the story of Adam and Eve.  She begins her essay by saying, “Since Adam’s rib we have been secondary; the other half that complements the whole, which is man.” (Kingsbury). She addresses how misogynistic, indoctrinated religious values have kept the subordinate role of women alive. She carries an urgent tone that reveals that the inferiority cycle of women starts as young girls and never ends even in adulthood. By using the examples of the role of girls in school in relation to boys and marriage, Kingsbury explicitly displays her point that women have suffered from oppression since biblical times and will continue to face oppression as “future generations of men are guaranteed to be stood by and looked up to regardless” (Kingsbury). 

Sources: 

anne, et al. “Off Our Backs.” Off Our Backs, vol. 1, no. 21, May 1971, pp. 1–21, https://jstor.org/stable/community.28041778.

Haggard, Megan C., et al. “Religion’s Role in the Illusion of Gender Equality: Supraliminal and Subliminal Religious Priming Increases Benevolent Sexism.” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, vol. 11, no. 4, 2019, pp. 392–398., https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000196. 

Kingsbury, Stella. “Women Up Against The Wall.”  No More Fun and Games, no. 1, Cell 16, Oct. 1968, pp. 1–84, https://jstor.org/stable/community.28041474. 

“Bible Gateway Passage: 1 Timothy 2:12 – New International Version.” Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+2%3A12&version=NIV.

“Bible Gateway Passage: Ephesians 5 – New International Version.” Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians+5&version=NIV

“Bible Gateway Passage: I Corinthians 11:3 – New International Version.” Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I+corinthians+11%3A3&version=NIV

The book, Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation, by Mary Daly. Published in 1973.

In 1973, Mary Daly, an American radical feminist theologian, philosopher and ethicist (Stefon), released Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation. Because of Daly’s radical approach, many women rejected her ideas while accepting them as new spiritual ideas. In this book, Mary Daly challenges the Christian doctrine and suggests that Christianity has manifested itself as a symbol for the patriarchy and an enabler of misogyny. Daly’s radicalism prompts her to outright reject Judeo-Christian, Roman Catholic and Protestant religions. Her critiques of these traditional religions lead into her argument that women’s religiosity and spirituality must come from within oneself and not be dependent on a male figure. In her book, she argues that “the women’s revolution, insofar as it is true to its own essential dynamics, is an ontological, spiritual revolution, pointing beyond the idolatries of sexist society and sparking creative action in and toward transcendence” (Daly 6). She emphasizes that “the liberation of language is rooted in the liberation of ourselves” (Daly 8). Creating spaces that help women become comfortable with expressing themselves results in the societal and spiritual liberation of women. It breaks the chains of the patriarchy and allows for women to recognize their own sense of power and participate in new theologies and philosophies. Not only does Daly believe that women’s literary works are a form of liberation, but she views the women’s movement as a form of “cosmic covenant” that may transform sexist society as she draws similarities between prophets and women in the movement. She affirms that, “…prophets have been persons who do not receive their mission from any human agency, but seize it. The revolution of women has this kind of dynamic…what we are ‘seizing’ and ‘usurping’ is that which is rightfully and ontologically ours – our own identity that was robbed from us and the power to externalize this in a new naming reality” (Daly 164). The Women’s Liberation Movement offered opportunities that allowed women to reclaim their feminine identities and redefine their realities through different spiritual and religious beliefs. 

 Among the critiques of this book, Audre Lorde published a letter to Mary Daly expressing how the book has been “strengthening and helpful” (Lorde) to her in her perception of Eurocentric religions. Carol Anne Douglas also provided her opinion on Daly’s book in the second issue of the fourth volume of Off Our Backs. She summarizes Daly’s arguments and provides her own opinion on Daly’s radical views on the women’s movement as a form of female transcendence. As a feminist writer, Douglas’s critiques Daly’s argument by addressing that “One problem with Daly’s perception of feminism as a religious revelation is that  feels it must have a message for men some day too; separatism can only be a temporary means of self-strengthening (even if it is a necessary temporary step) rather than a goal” (Douglas). This critique implies that Douglas must want the message to only be available to women as it can create a form of feminine power that rejects any traces of men who may abuse this power. She  agrees with and praises Daly’s perspectives on the women’s movement and regards her philosophies “cogent and exciting.” Which in turn provides the audience of Off Our Backs an opportunity to understand Daly’s points and internalize these arguments to redefine their relationship with religion as feminists. 

Within this same issue of Off Our Backs, Mary Beth Edelson depicts different women who have contributed to the women’s movement through art like Louise Bourgeois, Lee Krasner and Georgia O’Keeffe in a picture of the Last Supper by Leonardo Davinci. By replacing the faces of Jesus and his disciples with the faces of women, Edelson

A picture created by Mary Beth Edelson as it appears in the second issue of the fourth volume of Off Our Backs.

displays the transformation of religion that Mary Daly advocated for in Beyond God The Father. The redefinition of religion encouraged women to interpret religious texts under the lens of feminism as well as stray away from male-centered religions and prioritize women as equal human beings. 

By outwardly rejecting the Christian doctrine, Daly helps women realize that by reconstructing religion to prioritize their identities and fit their wants and needs the women’s movement is further empowered. The radical viewpoints that Mary Daly makes in her book creates a new perception of the women’s movement as a religious revelation that is spearheaded by women’s literary and creative works. The shift towards female spirituality and religiosity revitalizes the power of women and transcends male-centered religions.

Sources:

Daly, Mary. Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation. United States, Beacon Press, 1985. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_God_the_Father/tswJvbG9mAQC?hl=en&gbpv

Fannie Lou Hamer, et al.  Off Our Backs, vol. 4, no. 2, Jan. 1974, pp. 1–20, https://jstor.org/stable/community.28041805. 

Lorde, Audre. “An Open Letter to Mary Daly: Audre Lorde (1979).” History Is a Weapon, https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/lordeopenlettertomarydaly.html. 

In 1978, Heresies, a radical feminist publication, released a special edition issue that examined the idea of Goddess spirituality through a culmination of different literary works as well as depictions of female goddesses around the world. This issue was titled The Great Goddess, as it expresses the importance of female spirituality and the beliefs in female goddesses. In The Three Faces of Goddess Spirituality Merlin Stone outlines three different emerging aspects of Goddess Spirituality: the interest in the history of ancient cultures that praised female deities, the growing concern of feminist theology and spirituality and the concern for how male-centered religions have institutionalized the secondary status of women (Stone 2-3). By outlining these

5th Issue of Heresies, 1978

aspects, Stone clearly emphasizes the importance of Goddess spirituality. She explains that, “Goddess spirituality offers us the immediate and inherent refutation of institutionalized ‘religious’ values that have far too long been used as weapons of oppression” (Stone 4). In other words, the value of Goddess spirituality offers women a form of rejection of traditional religious values that have been the root of their oppression. Later in the article, Stone makes a similar point to Mary Daly as she asserts that, “Goddess spirituality has grown from our continually feeling, speaking, comparing, analyzing, feminist-consciousness raising process – the very core of our new perceptions and thus motivating energies” (Stone 4). The idea of Goddess spirituality and the rejection of male-centered religions derives from women feeling empowered to express their sentiments in a multitude of ways. This same argument is expressed by Carol P. Christ in Why Women Need the Goddess as she states, “This new mood of affirmation of female power leads to new motivations; it supports and undergirds women’s trust in their own power and the power of other women in family and society” (Christ).

An important poem that is included is “Mother With the Moon in Your Mouth” by Alla Bozarth Campbell. The poem describes the goddess, Ishtar. Ishtar is “a primary Mesopotamian goddess closely associated with love and war” (Pryke). Ishtar is an important deity as she was also the first deity to ever be recorded and “had a significant impact on the images and cults of many later goddesses, including the famous Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, and other well-known goddesses such as Astarte” (Pryke). The poem’s stanzas are composed of vivid descriptions of Ishtar as

The poem, “Mother With the Moon in Your Mouth,” by Alla Bozarth Campbell as it appears on Heresies.

well as the narrator begging Ishtar to empower them as the “Goddess of Underneath.” The poem says, “…teach me the old ways/put me to sleep with/the old magic/make stars rise/on my breasts/like silver women/dancing naked/encircled by night/by a legion of wings” (Campbell). This stanza reveals the narrator begging Ishtar for security and faith. It reads like a prayer to Ishtar while maintaining the effectiveness and form of a poem. The end of the poem exclaims, “Moon Mother and Maiden, Awake!” (Campbell). This quote could reflect the meaning of the narrator’s inner Goddess and female power awakening within them. By forming a prayer to Ishtar, the poet is emphasizing the importance and empowerment of acknowledging and praising female deities.

Goddess spirituality served as a way for women to reject traditional religions and reconstruct their femininity and autonomy through the lens of spirituality. Goddesses and women alike used their bodies as forms of expression and art through natural human processes. Goddess spirituality was not an escape for women, instead it was a way for women to look for hope in liberation. It encouraged women to look beyond the constraints of traditional religious values and develop ways to appreciate their female identity through spirituality. 

Sources: 

Campbell, Bozarth Alla. “Mother With the Moon in Your Mouth.” Heresies A Feminist Publication on Arts & Politics, vol. 2, no. 1 (5), Heresies Collective, Apr. 1978, pp. 1–140, https://jstor.org/stable/community.28038304.

Pryke, Louise. “Ishtar.” World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia, 5 Dec. 2021, https://www.worldhistory.org/ishtar/. 

Stone, Merlin. “The Three Faces of Goddess Spirituality.” Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Arts & Politics, vol. 2, no. 1 (5), Heresies Collective, Apr. 1978, pp. 1–140, https://jstor.org/stable/community.28038304.

Women of Color and Native Spirituality 

For women of color, the hardship of navigating through society was doubled as they suffered from oppressive systems that rejected their identities as women and people of color. As traditional religions like Roman Catholicism and Christianity were used to colonize many countries, feminists who were women of color came to the realization that praising these religions meant praising the very same systems that continue to oppress them. Understanding religion and spirituality and being able to express it as a woman of color resulted in the reversion to many Native forms of religiosity and spirituality. Many indigenous and African religious traditions were revived as women found comfort in the female goddesses that many of these religions praised. 

Jayne Cortez was an Afro-Latina poet and musician who expressed her stance on racism and misogyny through her poetry, music and contributions to the women’s movement through her experiences as a woman of color. In her poem, “Do You Think?” Cortez talks about different issues that affect women of color through different literary techniques like imagery and repetition. She addresses how racism, colonialism, and misogyny affect the way that women of color navigate their identities within society. She establishes the importance of her Latinx identity by using words like “chorizo” and

The poem, Do You Think?, by Jayne Cortez. This poem discusses the hardships of women of color as a result of racism, misogyny and colonialism.

“cuchifritos.” In the poem, Cortez asserts “And my chorizo face a holiday for knives/and my arching lips a savannah for cuchifritos/ and my spit curls a symbol for you to/ overcharge overbill oversell me” (Cortez 57).  By evidently depicting a woman of color with distinct physical features, Cortez alludes to the fact that being a woman of color is not justification for her to have to submit to the oppressive systems that neglect her identities. Later in the poem Cortez says, “you think i accept this pentecostal church in exchange for the lands you stole” (Cortez 57). Pentecostalism is a common religion among Latinx religions even though it was forcefully imposed on indigenous and African slave communities to erase their native beliefs. Eventually, Pentecostalism was used to subordinate people of color and subjected women to the control of men for centuries. Cortez’s rejection of Pentecostalism is significant because it displays to the reader that because of her identity, practicing institutionalized religion is difficult because of its misogynistic and racist roots. 

The poem, “From the House of Yemanjá,” by Audre Lorde also does not shy away from accepting native religion. This poem was released in 1978 in The Black Unicorn along with other poems that explored the themes of womanhood, family life and spirituality. The name Yemanjá refers to the “Yoruban deity celebrated as the giver of life and as the metaphysical mother of all orishas (deities) within the Yoruba spiritual pantheon” (Canson).  This specific poem examines the relationship that the narrator has to their mother. The first stanza describes the narrator’s mother to have two faces. The narrator says, 

“My mother had two faces and a frying pot

where she cooked up her daughters

into girls

before she fixed out dinner.

My mother had two faces and a broken pot

where she hid out a perfect daughter

who was not me” (Lorde). 

The poem, “From the House of Yemanjá,” by Audre Lorde as it appears in The Black Unicorn.

This stanza establishes the poem as the narrator’s yearning for a motherly figure who accepted them as who they were. The second stanza describes the narrator having two women on their back “one dark and rich and hidden/ in the ivory hungers of the other” (Lorde). The duality of the two women introduced depict the two faces of the mother. They depict the two sides of the narrator’s mother as these women taunt and take care of the narrator. The poem ends with the repetition of “Mother I need” signifying the narrator begging their mother for their comforting touch and presence. As Yemanjá is the mother of all, this poem could be interpreted to be the narrator asking for a form of Yemanjá to appear before them and offer support and acceptance. 

Sources: 

Canson, Patricia. “Yemonja.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 August 2014, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yemonja

Cortez, Jayne. “Do You Think?” Heresies, vol. 1, no. 1, 1977, p. 125.

Lorde, Audre. The Black Unicorn. 1st ed., Norton, 1978.