Professor Phyllis Kaminski
Religious Studies 362
"Women and Sexuality"
Sex is holy. Sex is powerful. Bodies matter. This course examines theological positions on women and sexual bodied reality in light of feminist theory and theology. We will examine how from Scripture and Tradition, Christians have constructed a fundamental anthropology of sexual complementarity that shapes women's understanding of themselves and their roles in Christian communities and in the world. As historical agents, however, even as Christian women have internalized the sex/gender roles given them, they have also discovered wisdom from within the tradition. Using this wisdom, and in dialogue with worldwide communities of women, feminist theologians explore how race, ethnicity, sex/gender, class, age, figure into religious understandings. A religious studies/women's studies class, we will learn and discuss traditional theological positions, current Catholic teaching, ongoing discussions of issues within and across Christian denominations. Why do Catholics hold certain norms for sexual behavior? How and why does AIDS trouble these norms? Can someone be gay and Catholic? What about these issues in other Christian denominations? We will end with discussion of the good sex project, an interfaith, interdisciplinary exploration of sexuality and justice as the women participants defined it. The class functions as a seminar with opportunities to discuss openly from a variety of perspectives. There are no tests or exams but there are two short papers and a final paper. Elective for RLST majors or any interested student who has completed Gen Ed requirements. Counts as theory for WOST minors.