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Women's Religious Advocacy and Subversive Strategies Across Histories

Submitted to Program Units
1: Women and Religion Unit

Rachel Pang, Davidson College, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

This session offers historical analyses to uncover the diverse strategies women have employed to navigate, resist, and reshape the landscapes of religious communities and societal expectations. From the radical advocacy of Caroline Dall and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the 19th century, through the covert resistance of crypto-religious women in the Crown of Aragon, to the nuanced negotiation of social and religious roles by Coptic Orthodox women in 20th-century Egypt, the session illuminates the often-overshadowed narratives of women's resilience and agency within religious frameworks. Through critical analysis of historical texts, socio-religious dynamics, and feminist methodologies, the panelists present how women across different epochs and cultures have challenged religious violence, preserved contested identities, and claimed spaces of leadership and influence.

Papers

  • Lydia Willsky-Ciollo, Fairfield University

    Caroline Dall, Lost Prophet? Engaging Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible” and Caroline Dall’s The College, the Market, and the Court

    Abstract

    Caroline Wells Healey Dall (1822-1912) did not play well with others—so goes the historical record.  Dall’s excision is notable for a number of reasons.  As with many stories of “difficult women,” the leap to cite personality issues as the reason for exclusion by her peers obscures more than it reveals.  This paper argues it was the radical politics born from her Unitarian upbringing, and her continued devotion to that liberal branch of Protestantism, along with her Transcendentalist proclivities that made her difficult to pin down.  More specifically, it will engage in a critical reading of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible with an eye to what is carefully curated passages and commentaries obscure about the kind of biblically-rooted and radical women’s rights advocacy (which included a reimagining of sex work) that Dall brought to light in The College, the Market, and the Court. 

  • Ivana Arsic, University Pompeu Fabra

    Navigating Adversity: Women's Strategies in Crypto-Religious Communities

    Abstract

    The paper explores the survival strategies of crypto-religious minorities within the forced mono-confessional pre-modern Crown of Aragon. It introduces a novel comparative framework, focusing on the strategies employed by female members: Conversas and Moriscas, Christian women of Jewish and Muslim origin, respectively. These strategies are examined as they navigate the complexities of preserving their contested identities amidst religious violence within the inquisitorial tribunals of Barcelona, Valencia, and Zaragoza from the late 15th to the mid-17th centuries. Employing an interdisciplinary and intersectional methodological approach, the study investigates the strategies adopted by these women to negotiate religious violence and maintain their identities. Through analysis of religious practice preservation, coping mechanisms, and negotiation tactics, the research unveils the resilience of these communities. By shedding light on the challenges faced by women in preserving cultural heritage amidst religious persecution, it highlights the intricate interplay of gender, religion, and social status within crypto-religious minorities.

  • Weston Bland, University of Pennsylvania

    Navigating the First Mission of Motherhood: the Exclusion of Coptic Orthodox Women from Institutions of Communal Leadership, 1920-1960s

    Abstract

    This paper explores women’s exclusion from Coptic institutions of governance between 1927-1961. Despite a growing consensus that Coptic institutions should represent and be chosen by the people, Coptic women were excluded from participation as voters and members. I argue that women’s exclusion from Coptic institutional governance was rooted in the deployment of paternalistic readings of scriptures and tradition alongside a popular current in Egyptian feminism that stressed the need to educate women so they could raise nationalist sons. These dynamics created a communal discourse that framed women’s position in society in terms of their place in the family, justifying institutional exclusion on the grounds that wives should be subservient to their husbands and should dedicate themselves to maternal responsibilities. In turn, Coptic women mobilized these expectations to demand inclusion given Coptic institutions’ role in family life, as well as to carve out alternative spaces of influence as educators and journalists.

Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen
Play Audio from Laptop Computer
Podium microphone

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

90 Minutes
Schedule Info

Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Session Identifier

A25-334