Feminism and Religion in the 21st Century

Gina Messina-Dysert, PhD, is Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Ursuline College and co-founder of the blog Feminism and Religion. Rosemary Radford Ruether, PhD, is Professor of Feminist Theology at Claremont Graduate University and Claremont School of Theology.

"This is an exciting collection of essays from some of the best feminist voices in religion of our current era. The writers explore the profound effects that technology has on how we communicate and the myriad ways we do so globally as well as locally to probe enduring social inequalities, reshape religious conversations, inspire social justice activism, expand our sense of religious communities, breaking down restrictions of language and space, transform education, find ancestors, and explore embodiment. Rather than see us as captive to technologies’ expansions, these writers point us toward the possibilities of technologies’ positive transformations as tools of justice-making and sustaining."Emilie M. Townes, Vanderbilt Divinity School, USA"For anyone interested in how feminism and religion intersect with blogging, open source, life broadcast, social media, virtual community, and activism in cyberspace, this text is a must-read. Feminist scholars and activists need to catch up with cyberfeminism or become obsolete!"Kwok Pui-lan, Episcopal Divinity School, USA"This fascinating collection of essays by diverse authors explores a multitude of possibilities for women’s use of social media in religious reflection, community building, and activism. The essays are informed by both theory and practice and engage a range of religious traditions, settings, and topics to enhance our understanding of contemporary feminism and religion."Pamela K. Brubaker, California Lutheran University, USA"This collection of provocative essays on feminist theology speaks to our world that is increasingly immersed in technology as a way of living. The book stands at the intersection of feminist theology and feminism lived out pedagogically to illuminate an emerging, creative, cutting edge way of being woman. The reflections span issues of social media, alternative communities, and technology. These essays provide delightful views of new and burgeoning areas of reflection and practice on what it means to do theology for women in our world today, with blogging, hashtags, and social networking."Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Georgetown University, USA

• Introduction, Rosemary Radford Ruether; Part I Expanding Borders through Social Media; Chapter 1 #FemReligionFuture, Gina Messina-Dysert; Chapter 2 Blogging as Religious Feminist Activism, Monica A. Coleman, C. Yvonne Augustine; Chapter 3 Mormon Feminist Blogs and Heavenly Mother, Caroline Kline; Chapter 4 Being Undone by the Other, Xochitl Alvizo; Chapter 5 The Catholic Church and Social Media, Michele Stopera Freyhauf; Chapter 6 From Typewriters to Social Networking, Mary E. Hunt; Chapter 7 Television, Social Networking, and Cultural Criticism, Elise M. Edwards; Chapter 8 Finding Ancestor Connection via the Internet, Carol P. Christ; Part II Feminism and Alternative Communities; Chapter 9 Private Space, Public Forum, Kristina Benson; Chapter 10 Faith from Nowhere, Brett C. Hoover; Chapter 11 From Telephone to Live Broadcast, Bracha Yael; Chapter 12 Creating “Open-Source” Community, Kate M. Ott; Chapter 13 The Mormon “Ordain Women” Movement, Margaret M. Toscano; Chapter 14 Experimenting with Feminist Pedagogy and Technology in the Classroom, Grace Yia-Hei Kao; Part III Embodiment and Technology; Chapter 15 Inter-cendent Bodies, Sara M. Frykenberg; Chapter 16 Broken Body, Virtual Body, Rachel Wagner, Sarah Scott;