Gender: Men, Women, Sex and Feminism

by Frederica Mathewes-Green

"Is hell a male-only club?" Frederica asks this provocative question as she takes us on a journey through her early years as a feminist, a conversion experience to Christianity, and the realization that men and women are unique yet equal. She gives us glimpses into her meetings with prominent feminists, takes us through Crisis Pregnancy Centers and explores the idea of early marriage as a way to mature and healthy adulthood. Sure to make you think and react, this is a great book to give to friends, for lively discussions on some of the most important issues facing us today. Frederica Mathewes-Green is a commentator on NPR's "Morning Edition" and a columnist for Beliefnet. She contributes to many magazines, including Christianity Today, where she was formerly a columnist. She is also a contributor to the Christian Millennial History Project and a book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. A popular speaker and writer, she lives in Linthicum, Maryland, where her husband, Fr. Gregory Mathewes-Green, is pastor of Holy Cross Church. This excellent book is first in a four part series, which provides a selection of Frederica's best writings on contemporary issues relating to Gender, Culture, Ethics, and Faith. Her original and thoughtful insights are expressed in a style that is fresh, personal, and frequently humorous. She examines modern-day challenges from a perspective of ancient wisdom, as one who seeks to be deeply grounded in the faith of the early Christian Church.

Genres: Feminism, Theology, Spirituality, Christianity, Church

184 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Madeline Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a refreshing read for anyone interested in feminism and why one pro-choice feminist changed her mindset towards pro-life feminism. Frederick shows us how feminism can and should be about celebrating and utilizing our differences between the two genders (why else would there be differences?), the beauty of the natural reality of women, and should not be about believing we deserve a masculine version of success.

I loved it so much, I’m going to buy a copy for myself.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing, thoughtful book. She finds "common ground" between Pro-lifers and Pro-choicers and tries to bring some degree of understanding and tolerance. I admire her and will most definitely read more. Her style of writing is Anne Lamottish without the offensive cursing. For a decisive pro-lifer like me it was good to be stretched in a direction of God-likeness in regard to the por-choicers.

[Alex of Yoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing in my quest to read all of Frederica's books, I have finally stumbled upon this one, which was a bit of a mixed bag. I liked most of it, but it's definitely lacking in places.

This is a collection of articles written at various moments by Frederica on a variety of topics surrounding abortion, feminism, and sexuality. It draws on a lot of her own experience as a former member of the feminist movement and her work on bringing pro-choice and pro-life adherents into dialogue with each other.

There is a lot about this book that I liked: the call to embrace real "feminism" that celebrates womanhood as opposed to one that simply calls on women to like what men like and do what men do; the call to forgive and embrace each other's differences; the refreshing view on a Christian response to homosexuality; and the press for seeing abortion as a sociological issue that requires community support to fix. I can really get behind and support most of what she says. I appreciate her wisdom and variety of life experiences. She's an important voice for the younger generation trying to navigate these hot issues.

However, I really don't like the formatting of this book. The articles were all written for a different time/place, and the book itself doesn't provide the context for which each article was originally written. I think part of interpreting her writings here includes knowing the audience and time for which she was writing. Also, because it's just a collection of articles, they don't necessarily connect or flow. Some articles repeat concepts found in others; some don't expand enough on their content. It's just not the same as having an actual book written on this topic. I'd also love to see an updated version as this book is somewhat dated.

Sometimes the tone of the book grated on me too. I'm not sure why. Usually I enjoy Frederica, but some of the sarcasm seemed a little hypocritical in this collection. But, again, when you just have a collection of articles taken out of their contexts, they can be hard to understand.

Overall, I did appreciate what I learned from this, but it's not as good as some of Frederica's longer works, and it's not the format I would've chosen for this topic.

[Prophet Elijah]

HQ1075.5.U6 M357 2002