A curious thing happened last week regarding female Orthodox rabbis. When the umbrella organization for Orthodox Jewish congregations denounced female clergy for the third time in five years, they actually accepted that there are, in fact, female Orthodox rabbis. Eighty years ago, Regina Jonas of Berlin was the first woman ordained as a rabbi, but […]
At the beginning of every semester, I start classes by asking my students to introduce themselves. I ask them to answer several questions which vary by semester. What does not change is a practice I began in my first semester teaching undergraduate students at Occidental College. I ask my students to give me their preferred […]
What should feminist scholars in religious and theological studies do about the recent developments related to Title IX? After all, even the federal government is currently involved in trying to eliminate sexual harassment and sexual assault from US-American colleges and university. The situation is indeed dire, as a survey of September 2015 indicates. The responses […]
By Megan Goodwin. The internet is no safe place for women. Yes, all women. In “Social Media, Feminism and Public Writing,” Grace Ji Sun Kim compellingly argues the need for religious studies scholars and theologians to make their work accessible to the public, and to engage in online discussions about the things that matter most to […]
By Mitzi J. Smith, PhD Many people applauded The Daily Beast photo of the twenty-something year old white female protester who stood toe to toe with a New York City cop defiantly screaming into his face and daring him to arrest her. The white male cop remained stoic and motionless. That is quite a contrast […]
Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig in The New Republic thinks that feminists should not give up on Francis. Maybe not though he provides little to chime my feminist bells. My view is that any suggestion that Pope Francis is a feminist is like calling Raul Castro a Republican. It is simply absurd. While one can affirm many […]
By Claire K. McKeever-Burgett. “Claire, the judge declared a mistrial in the Vanderbilt rape case.” “No,” I said with horror. “No!” Silence hung between us, the silence our palpable, “Yes.” Apparently the foreman of the jury was raped and did not disclose this information during jury selection. However, he claims it was consensual. His parents claim […]
A Dialogical Blog with Susanne Scholz (s2), Nancy R. Nangeroni (NRN), and Gordene O. MacKenzie (GOM) Transgender activist, writer, speaker, and media producer on issues of gender, Nancy R. Nangeroni (below, left) serves as Chair Emeritus of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition. She created and co-hosted GenderTalk, the award-winning weekly radio talk show about gender and transgender issues. Award-winning gender activist, speaker, […]
A version of this blog was posted previously at The Huffington Post. In the wake of the devastating terrorist attack on June 17, 2015 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina it has become apparent that this nation needs to deal with the pervasive issues of malicious racism and white privilege. Emmanuel AME, […]
The United States has seen major changes in the past week. Healthcare subsidies were upheld for residence of states not participating in the federal healthcare exchange. Same-sex/gendered partners can marry in all 50 of the United States. Social institutions and laws can change the social fabric and cultural rules by which we live. Legal decisions […]