The Encyclopedia of World Religions

feminism S 149

feminist positions. Latina and African-American women have often felt that feminism was a move ment of white, privileged women. Its goals, such as having more women become Chief Executive Officers of companies, had little to do with the lives that Latina and African-American women were living. As a result, Latina women developed a kind of thinking they call mujerista. From this perspective, they have, for example, criticized the male-centered aspirations of people working for the benefit of the Latino/Latina community. Simi larly, African-American women have developed a variety of feminism known as “womanism.” Feminist movements are found around the world today. Their visions of women’s empower ment often change from context to context. For example, many Protestant and Jewish feminists in North America see abortion as an important right; it is part of the struggle for women to gain control of their own bodies. In India, however, feminists generally oppose abortion, because there people generally use abortion to get rid of unwanted female children before they are born. Feminists in the non-Western world sometimes feel that North American and European feminists have little understanding of the situations in which women elsewhere live but nevertheless try to dictate what all women’s concerns should be. CRITICS OF FEMINISM Traditionalists within the various religions have often dismissed and condemned feminism. Conser vative religious leaders in North America, Protes tants, Catholics, and Jews, have often viewed femi nism as a threat to the divinely ordained orders of society. In many traditions, the aspirations of some feminists have conflicted radically with the values of conservative religious people over the issue of abortion. There has been opposition to feminism on a global scale, too. For example, at the UN World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, the Vatican, together with several Catholic countries (Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and the Philippines) allied with several Muslim countries (Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, and Sudan)

role has resulted in some changes. For example, some women trained in Zen have sought to elimi nate male-oriented, martial elements that Zen prac tice acquired in Japan ( see Z EN B UDDHISM ). For their part, many Muslim feminists have grappled with the meaning of the Q UR ’ AN . They have claimed that many of the traditional teachings that favor men result from faulty interpretations of the Qur’an. Not all feminists are convinced that traditional religions can be saved from their patriarchal pasts. They have formulated their own rituals, beliefs, and communities. They often see themselves as recovering a primal tradition of goddess worship that had been lost or suppressed. In North Amer ica and Europe this desire has inspired the devel opment of communities dedicated to Wicca. In Africa, too, some women have sought relief from male-dominated Christianity and Islam by recover ing native traditions. WORKING FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS Many feminists working for women’s rights derive their primary inspiration from their religious iden tity. Their identities and goals vary widely. Here it is possible only to give examples. Some people distinguish three kinds of Roman Catholic feminism in North America. Reconstruc tive feminism seeks to change official teachings of the Catholic Church; it has been particularly interested in the church’s teachings on sexual ity and birth control. Moderate feminism takes less notice of teachings on sexuality; it seeks to empower women within the Catholic Church, making them responsible, independent members of the church. Holistic feminism rejects what it sees as the tendencies of the more radical femi nism of the 1970s to reject experiences that stand at the center of many women’s lives. It empha sizes women’s rights, but it also recognizes and respects the fulfillment many women find in the traditional roles of wife and mother. Unlike recon structive and moderate feminism, holistic femi nism has little to say against the male-dominated structures of the church. Holistic feminism is not the only form of feminism that has arisen as a reaction to earlier