WOMAN’S BODY

LOCUS OF ASIAN FEMINIST THEOLOGIZING

Authors

  • Mary John Mananzan Institute of Women’s Studies, Philippines

Keywords:

Asian Feminist Theology, Body, Prostitution, Rape, Incest, Vagina, Woman, Womb

Abstract

The article traces the development of a body denigrating spirituality from Platonic philosophy to Augustine and other Church Fathers. The identification of the denigrated body with woman resulted in woman’s self depreciation and the subsequent misogynistic writings of Church Fathers. In contrast, oriental spirituality regards body and spirit as an integral whole as expressed in the synergy of body, breath, and posture in prayer. In the light of Asian feminist theology, the article discusses the body of woman, specifically her womb and her vagina, as the locus of her commodification, oppression and exploitation as well as her greatness and glory as bearer of the cradle of humanity and the portal to life. This sacred life-giving body is oppressed and exploited by rape, incest, battering, prostitution and other forms of violence against women and the denial of her reproductive rights. What is envisioned is an integral holistic spirituality restoring the sacredness of the body.

Author Biography

Mary John Mananzan, Institute of Women’s Studies, Philippines

Sr Mary John Mananzan, OSB is a Missionary Benedictine Sister. She holds a degree in History (St Scholastica’s College), Post-Graduate degree in Missiology and Systematic Theology (Wilhelms universität, Muenster Germany) and a PhD in Philosophy (Gregorian University, Rome). She was Dean of St Scholastica’s College,
its President, and Prioress of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of the Manila Priory. She was National Co-chairperson of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), and the General Secretary of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT). She was also the National Chairperson of GABRIELA, and was a member of the Administrative Council of CIB (Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum). She is Founder and present Executive Director of the Institute of Women’s Studies (IWS).  Email: smaryjohnm@gmail.com

References

C.R. Boxer, Mary and Misogyny: Woman in Iberian Expansion Overseas, 1415-1815, London: Dockworth, 1975.

Pauline Logue, “The Treatment of Rape in Theology,” ITB Journal (December, 2000).

Plato, The Collected Works of Plato, 49, as quoted in Tammy Galvan Burnett, Approaching Christianity: Exploring the Tragic Impact of Greek Philosophical Thought on Christian Thought, Master’s Thesis submitted at Olivet Nazarene University, July 2012.

Soka Gakai International, Buddhism in Action for Peace, http://www.sgi.org/.

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Published

2016-06-30

How to Cite

Mananzan, M. J. (2016). WOMAN’S BODY: LOCUS OF ASIAN FEMINIST THEOLOGIZING. Asian Horizons, 10(02), 245–256. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2052

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 02 (2016): ASIAN HORIZONS

Section

Articles