Sexism as Original Sin

Abstract

CHRISTIAN FEMINIST THEOLOGIANS have received negative assessments of their treatment of sin. A mild criticism holds that feminists are relatively inattentive to topic of sin because they are preoccupied with valorizing women's experience (Yeager). A more severe analysis charges that because of an obsession with the promotion of full humanity of women, feminists are narcissistic and risk self-deception on question of sin; they identify sin in patriarchy but refuse to apply it to women (Stroup). Christian feminist theology has not always effectively challenged these persistent criticisms. As Rosemary Ruether suggests, feminists have had a strong aversion to topic of sin because of special way Christian tradition associates sin with women (72-115, 160, 165-183). Close arguments on behalf of feminist positions on sin are very much in order. In contrast to criticisms sketched above, I hold that Christian feminist discourse about sin is constructive. It offers an important contribution to our theological understanding of historically specific forms of human waywardness, not simply of one kind of sin (sexism). To make my case, I begin with a proposal about nature of discourse in order to show strengths and weaknesses of feminist accounts of sin.