Reclaiming Agency: Feminist Theology, Catholicism, and the Path to Women’s Sexual Empowerment

A Podcast by Hannah Smith Purpose:  The purpose of this project is to critically examine the role of feminist theology in addressing the historical marginalization of women’s sexual agency within Catholicism. By exploring the contributions of feminist theologians Rosemary Radford Ruether and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, this project seeks to understand how their critiques of patriarchal […]

Virgin, Mother, Whore

This series discusses how Christianity often categorizes women as either the Virgin, the Mother, or the Whore, with sexuality being the deciding factor in how they’re viewed. It looks at the contrast between “pious” women and those labeled as “disobedient,” tying it all back to the idea that God controls man, and man controls woman. Through collages that showcase these restrictive categories, I hope to show how these rigid tropes limit women and start a conversation about why sexuality plays such a big role in defining their worth.

Muslim Women in the U.S. and their Attitudes towards Sex: The Battle Between Dignity and Desire

As women, we are generally programmed by societal norms and beliefs to view our sexual desires as “shameful”. No matter how progressive a society is, there has always been stigma around women embracing their sexuality and being able to explore it in any way they prefer. If women sleep around “too much”, we are called […]

Healing The Virgin and The Whore by Adelyne Jareo

“Mother, Daughter, Holy Slut.” For my first collage, I wanted to illustrate the Virgin vs. Whore Complex itself. The complex represents a categorization of women into two binary categories: Virgins and Whores. Virgins are sweet, reserved, and nurturing; while whores represent almost anyone outside of that description. It is important to note that “Virgins” don’t […]

I FORGIVE YOU FATHER FOR YOU HAVE SINNED ME – Maggie Syrett

Introduction to the piece: Growing up Irish Catholic, I was taught from a very young age that if I do wrong, I must ask for God’s forgiveness so that when I die I can go to heaven. As I grew up and realized more of the realities of the world, it seemed crazy to me […]

Being a Good Religious Wife

There are 32 countries that allow marital rape. Of the 150+ countries that do, some explicitly criminalize it, some it is simply considered the same as non-marital sexual assault etc. Some of those countries may in theory not exclude marital rape from being a crime, but those laws have never been tested, in effect meaning […]

Impure

When thinking about what to create for the final project, I decided to delve into the tradition I was raised most closely to. I grew up in a non-religious household, however, I am from Mexico, a Christian-majority country. Christianity was all around me growing up, and Christian values definitely had an effect on the relationship […]