To begin Women’s History Month, professor Mary Jo Neitz spoke about feminism and spirituality Thursday at Ellis Auditorium.

Women’s Center adviser Beth Pickens said Women’s History Month is important. 

“Women across identity and location have been written out of history,” Pickens said.

She said Women’s History Month shows people that women’s achievements did not “start in the 1950’s.”

Nietz filled in at the last minute for scheduled speaker Robyn McGee, who had an emergency and could not fly in from California. McGee was scheduled to present a lecture entitled, “From Auction Block to Idiot Box: Images of African American Women, 1897-2003.”

Nietz, a professor of sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies, read from her paper “Gendered Spiritual Paths and Empowerment and Ecstasy.”

The paper was about Nietz’s studies of alternative religions with regard to feminism, mostly about contemporary witchcraft, otherwise known as Wicca.

She said mainstream people’s usual take on spiritual “wholeness” involves what she calls the St. Francis method.

The idea is that someone, most often a man, starts with many advantages, that leads to self-indulgence. He has some sort of religious experience, experiences spiritual crisis, surrenders to the religion and finally builds a new spiritual life.

In her paper, Nietz argues that this culture of submission does not affect women the same way it affects men because women have been culturally conditioned to be more submissive.

This, she said, is where alternative religions that do not encourage “surrender and submission” come into play for women, though men can and do participate in many of the religions.

Nietz said these other religions appeal to women because they embrace autonomy, an idea that came up many times during the lecture. They reject the dualism of mind and body and instead focus on “wholeness” of being.

Nietz visited many sections of these religions and observed many kinds of rituals and workshops. She talked to these women in groups and individually.

The Women’s Center and the Women’s and Gender Studies department are sponsoring several events, including a lecture by Maya Angelou March 17 and a roller skating event March 20.

These events are funded by the National Women’s Studies Association, MU Parents Association, Mizzou Alumni Association, the Women’s Center, Women’s and Gender Studies and the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative.

Source

• Moring, Roseann. Women’s History Month begins with religion talk. (2007, March 2). UM Maneater, MO. Retrieved March 3, 2007.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 at 11:40 pm and is filed under Spirituality, Feminism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.