Voices of protest and anger

Abstract

Many contemporaries consider feminism primarily as a protest movement characterised by rage and anger. We have to ask ourselves why this is so. What is feminist protest about? Has it legitimate foundations and if so, how is one to interpret the social, political and spiritual implications of this protest? In particular we want to know why feminists challenge religion and what in religion it is they challenge.

‘Feminists have charged that Judaism and Christianity are sexist religions with a male God and traditions of male leadership that legitimate the superiority of men in family and society. This new challenge to traditional faiths just confirms the view of some feminists that society has outgrown its need for religion. … Other feminists, however, are convinced that religion is profoundly important. For them, the discovery that religions teach the inferiority of women is experienced as betrayal of deeply felt spiritual and religious experience. … They are convinced that religion must be reformed or reconstructed to support the full human dignity of women.’ — Carol P. Christ and Judith J. Plaskow, Womanspirit Rising, p. 1