I teach at the only all-girls school in Minnesota. We are also a community of devout Catholics. visiting sisters To educate young women in virtue, intellect, mind, and heart. To further develop its founder’s mission, the school began offering a women’s studies elective entitled “Women and Society,” a subject I have been proudly teaching since 2014 .
This course covers the history of feminism then and now, and also includes extensive lessons on gender violence. sexual abuse and violence against women These are already difficult topics for teenagers. Add to this the fact that it is a Catholic school, and school administrators’ concerns skyrocket.
Yet, our students deserve a curriculum that exposes the injustices of being young in a world where abuse and discrimination against women still exists.
As a teacher, I can provide my students with the knowledge to transform our society into one that respects the inherent dignity of women. Despite the risks at Catholic girls’ schools, incorporating women’s studies into the curriculum is becoming more important as students become more motivated to build a more just world.
When friction or conflict arises
Former colleagues originally created the Women’s Studies course in response to the school’s efforts to brand itself as a leading institution that helps girls realize their potential and lead lives of dignity and service. Fortunately, the school board felt that his proposal on Women and Society was in line with this push and the course was approved. In 2014, just before his colleague retired, he asked me if I would like to take over his role, and I simply said, “Yes!” I applied for the position and was given the opportunity to teach this course based on my experience studying as a women’s studies major in college.
Over time, this course has become a student favorite. Students feel empowered by women’s studies. Because it forces you to question and understand the systemic injustices and contradictory perceptions of feminism that your friends, family, and social media have taught you. Unfortunately, teaching women’s studies is still considered un-Catholic in our wider school community.
In 2016, like most communities in our country, our schools were divided between conservatives and progressives. catholic beliefs, although improvements have been made, it is still not completely resolved. Also, many community members believed that activism and feminism were topics that did not belong in our curriculum. As a result, the women’s studies course became an easy target to be identified as anti-Catholic, and I, as the course’s teacher, came under intense scrutiny and the curriculum I created was reduced to a poor quality. A political agenda that promotes a man-hating feminist agenda.
Frankly, and for the record, there is no agenda for this course. Yet I have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that advocating for the dignity of women and the abolition of violence is deeply connected to our Catholic identity.
As an educator, I value my classroom as a place of hope where my students and I come together to develop empathy and humanity. Women’s Studies provides the space to do just that, and I have learned that understanding the inherent dignity of each person we encounter creates a better community of learners.
Despite this class and its curriculum sometimes causing controversy from the school community, our administration and the Visiting Sisters never decided to remove “Women and Society” from our course catalog. In fact, there is complete agreement among our teachers and administrators that teaching young women and girls to advocate for themselves is our foundation as a Catholic school.
Helping students connect Catholic identity to feminism
Women’s studies in Catholic girls’ schools is important because women have a unique opportunity to take center stage in their lives as women in a male-dominated society. The course not only strives to debunk commonly held facts; myths about feminism But we also establish a definition of feminism that aligns with the school’s mission.
At the beginning of the course, we will introduce you to Catholic feminists. elizabeth johnsonhe defines feminism as:
“A worldview or position that affirms the dignity of women themselves as full human beings; criticizes patriarchal systems that violate this dignity; and advocates social and intellectual challenges to liberate relations between human beings.” doing…”
I use this quote to establish a partnership and direct connection between feminism and the Catholic concept of seeking the full dignity of women. human dignity. This allows us to dissect how women are systematically stripped of their dignity in a society that prioritizes men’s needs.
Because feminism is firmly rooted in the idea that women should be afforded equal dignity, it looks at difficult topics such as gender violence and why societies function in ways that repeatedly degrade women’s dignity. You can ask whether the Too often in our society, women’s dignity is erased and devalued, especially considering situations such as: 1 in 5 women in the US She has been sexually assaulted throughout her life. Walking down the halls of a Catholic girls’ school, this statistic becomes especially alarming.
For me, the most impactful part of my research on gender violence was when I presented a panel on sexual assault and abuse. victims and survivors to our class. One of the victim-survivors is an alumnus, and she and two of her colleagues have been coming to class in recent years to talk about her personal experiences with gender-based violence. Every time they come, they speak with candor, humor, and authenticity that ignite the hearts of our students. Suddenly, gender violence, a topic we had studied and studied in the abstract, was humanized by the lived experiences of these women. Students will gain a better understanding of how pervasive sexual assault and abuse is in their lives, and that it can happen to strong, confident women like themselves. I am.
By the end of the panel, students will be forever changed by the courage and vulnerability of the victims/survivors and inspired to share their knowledge with family, friends, and anyone who will listen. For me, this is education that works at the deepest level.
Research on women in Catholic schools matters
It is my duty as a teacher at a Catholic girls’ school to educate my students about how our society perpetuates sexual violence and the inferiority of women. As a graduate of a Catholic girls’ high school myself and the mother of three daughters, I know that I have played a role in educating and inspiring students to become safer and more dignified women. I think I want to do.
While many community members believe that teaching women’s studies is outside the scope of church doctrine, I still believe that teaching women’s studies is outside the scope of church doctrine. eliminate discrimination against women We will build a society where all genders share dignity equally.As a Catholic Theologian Sister Joan Chittister Feminism is “not about getting what men already have…feminism is about getting a better world for everyone.”
Like the Visitation Sisters, I continue to exercise leadership as a woman within a patriarchal framework and strive for equality from the inside out.
