This past semester I wrote my thesis, driven onward in the writing by the nagging question of woman's place in the world: what was she created for? and how is she most fulfilled?
Here is the first section of my paper, exploring the two-fold nature of woman according to John Paul II, Edith Stein (or St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), and Gertrude von le Fort.
Introduction
The
world is seeped in many vague images that attempt to define the ideal woman,
yet many of these ideas appear irreconcilable in our minds: how can we
reconcile an authoritative Catherine of Sienna with the obedient
fiat of Mother Mary? Judith, from the
Old Testament,
represents woman as strong, commanding, and unyielding; but the woman of
Proverbs 31 represents woman as humble, caring, and merciful
. It
is on account of these seemingly incompatible images that the nature of woman
presents a Paradox to the World.
How
are we to understand woman’s relation to reality, and the role that she plays
therein, and where can we find a key to unlock this great mystery? Woman is a mystery: she is not simply a submissive
creature, created to bow to man’s whims, but neither is she a man, created to
function as he does in the world. She does share with him a common humanity,
but ultimately, she is her own unique sex, distinct from man in the attitude by which she lives her life. Attitude,
as I use it here, is a mental and spiritual orientation toward a particular
invisible reality.
Woman
today is active in every sphere of public life, and the common understanding of
her is that the professional world is her proper sphere. The world regards the
home and family life as taking second place to the woman’s role as an
independent, autonomous individual, who finds her fulfillment by realizing her
creative energies in a realm that is purposefully separated from her home,
children, and husband.
Is the public/professional sphere a
proper sphere for woman in light of her true dignity? We will explore this
question in relation to woman’s dignity as a person, then as regards her unique
nature as a woman, and finally, we will be able to answer the question with
which this thesis is primarily concerned – whether woman ought to participate
in the professionally competitive world. It is in compiling the writings of Pope
John Paul II, Gertrude von le Fort, and Edith Stein on the subject of women
that we can come to an understanding of the two-fold nature of woman: first, of
her call to give of herself for others; and second, for her to actively receive
love. When woman maintains an attitude of her feminine nature toward life, then
no matter what sphere (professional or familial) in which she participates, she
will bring the gift of her feminine charism to the world.
The final section of this thesis
deals with a commonly discarded image of woman: the veil. It is an image that
most properly demonstrates her nature and which, when properly understood,
allows woman to best live out her nature in this life.
The ultimate goal of this thesis is
to lead the reader to a more complete understanding of who woman is, why she is
such, and how we are to embrace her
unique nature which is so universally misunderstood. It is not a question that
offers a ready answer, but one that, when answered, opens multiple horizons for
exploration and invites the questioner to continue searching it out, in all its
nuances.
Chapter 1 – The Nature of Woman
Woman
is not a distinct species from man. On the contrary, “God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
What is proper to man’s nature is proper to the nature of woman. John Paul II, in his pastoral letter
Mulieris Dignitatem, says that “only a
person can love, and only a person can be loved in return.”
Woman,
as a human person, is an ‘I’, an entity created for her own sake to be loved
and to love in return. John Paul II says that “from the very beginning, both
are persons . . .
The woman is another
“I” in a common humanity.” Therefore,
as a person, she can only find herself through a sincere gift of herself.
It
is through this gift that she comes to know and understand herself, and thus
finds fulfillment and happiness in this life.
“The
woman is created by God ‘from the rib’ of the man and is placed at his side as
another ‘I’, as the companion of the man, who is alone in the surrounding world
of living creatures and who finds in none of them a ‘helper’ suitable for
himself.”
The
purpose and dignity of the person lies in the fact that he is created in the
image and likeness of God and the woman is in no lesser sense a reflection of
this image. She is rational, self-aware, and free to choose to do good; she is
just as capable of creativity, management, and intellectual pursuit. All these
qualities raise her alongside man above the “living creatures,”
and bequeath her a station apart. Man, as male and female, participates in this
common human dignity through which he exemplifies and portrays God. Each sex is
created with a complementary nature toward the other, and it is ultimately in woman’s relation to
others, and especially in relation to man, that she realizes her full potential.
Edith Stein says that “the complementary relationship of man and woman
appears clearly in the original order of nature.”
Man
and woman benefit each other and are mutual helpmates on the road of life. The
complementarity of their relationship is most clearly seen in marriage:
Man’s primary
vocation appears to be that of ruler and the paternal vocation secondary (not
subordinate to his vocation as ruler but an integral part of it); woman’s
primary vocation is maternal: her role as ruler is secondary and included in a
certain way in her maternal vocation.
She goes on to
say that “the husband will find that she can give him invaluable advice in
guiding the lives of the children as well as of themselves.”
Thus, men and women are mutual helpmates, mirroring in their relationship the
sacramental nature of God to his Creation; both are called to give of
themselves, but in a manner unique to their own sex. Woman’s dignity and
vocation as a self-aware person lies in making of herself a “sincere gift of
self”
through the filter of her own unique and separate dignity. We will presently
discuss this unique nature of woman more fully, but first, it is important to
fully understand the concept of exaltation.
Exaltation
is the raising of an individual above the other creatures of the cosmos and a
recognition, thereby, of the great nature of the elevated individual. In a way that
will be seen more clearly in a moment (when we discuss the unique nature of
woman), it is a perversion of woman’s nature for her to exalt herself. Self-exaltation
cannot lead to fulfillment, since it reflects back only into the self: the self
desires intrinsically to move outward, to find meaning in ‘other’, in the
recognition of the dignity of the human person. Self-exaltation cannot reveal
that dignity. Woman’s dignity finds true exaltation when she gives of herself
to God, and He elevates her on account of her gift to Him.
 |
| Gertrude von le Fort |
Woman’s
nature is two-fold, and the second aspect, her unique dignity, is separate from
the common nature she shares with man. Woman,
qua female, is separate from man
qua male. Man, in respect to the cosmos, represents the Creator as
the active lover: he who offers love first and anticipates the reception of his
beloved of the love he offers. As creation awaits with joyous expectation the
love that is poured forth upon it from God, so woman stands in relation to man,
to actively receive the love that he gives and then offer it back again. However,
woman’s ability to love is not dependent on any mortal’s gift, but upon her receptivity
to the love of God; her relationship with man is simply a mirror of all
mankind’s relationship with God. This receptivity to both God and man is her
fiat:
her openness to Love, and her willingness to receive and respond to it.
Gertrude
von le Fort, a woman with deep insight into woman’s dignity, says that “for his
redemption, man [as mankind, who stands in relation to the creator] has nothing
to contribute to God other than the readiness of unconditional surrender. The
passive acceptance inherent in woman . . . appears in the Christian order of
grace as the positively decisive factor.”
Le
Fort is saying here that woman represents the receptive nature of creation: she
is a symbol of creation’s cosmic openness to God’s life-giving love.
Pope John Paul II, On the Dignity and Vocation of Woman (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2013), part 29
Mother
Mary is the most excellent example of a woman who lives in full recognition and
acceptance of her vocation. It is she who best demonstrates woman’s active
receptivity to love, and the way in which this receptivity affects woman’s call
to give of herself. In her Fiat to
the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation, Mary accepted
the love of God at the same time as she gave
herself to the Christ Child. John Paul II says that “the Bride is loved: it is she who receives love, in order to
love in return.”[1]
Mary understood this, and when Love was offered to her, she accepted it humbly
and with a sincere return of devotion. This relationship between the Lover and
Beloved, demonstrated by Mary and the Holy Spirit, is a symbol of God’s
relationship with the cosmos. It demonstrates the fruitful nature of self-gift
that springs from the love between the Lover and the Beloved. In this role as
both Bride and Mother of God, Mary receives her ultimate fulfillment. Mary
abases herself, always pointing toward God and leading others who love her to
the love of Christ, just as creation continually points toward the Creator. Mary,
while finding happiness on this earth, is ultimately exalted in heaven above
all creatures in heaven and on earth; for, being “full of grace,”[2]
she was able above all women (or any person) on earth, to abase and humble
herself before the Lord, and for this reason, she is and always will be the
most gloriously exalted woman of all mankind. “The motherhood that is
accomplished in her comes exclusively from the ‘power of the Most High’, and is
the result of the Holy Spirit's coming down upon her (cf. Lk 1:35).”[3] Her
only participation is her wondrously active receptivity: her ‘yes’ to the
request of the Holy Spirit. Thus Mary displays the ultimate example of
self-effacement before God, and so receives the ultimate glorification at his
hands: the honor of being the Theotokos.
As
Mother and Bride in relation to Jesus and Joseph, we can imagine that Mary
found intimate joy and satisfaction in her private life, where we can easily
envision that great love and happiness overflowed on account of the holiness of
each member of the Holy Family. Mary offered a continual gift of self to her
family, for whom she would have poured out her energies. Despite the many
trials of her life, such as giving birth in a stable, fleeing to Egypt for the
safety of her son, and finally, watching her only child die on a cross, she
continued to accept the will of God in her life: “he who does the will of my
father is my mother.”[4]
Christ appreciated the loving care of his mother to such an extent that he
entrusted to her the care of his beloved disciple, whom he desired should
benefit from the same maternal love that he himself experienced: “behold your
mother.”[5] Mary
is the best example of how mothers that live holy and sacrificial lives can
find a degree of that eternal fulfillment and glorification here on earth that
awaits the faithful in heaven.
in her
home in her later life. She embraced her vocation to extend her motherly love
to all the world, and enrich it through her unique gifts and charisms. It was
the inward humility of her soul that allowed her to live in the world but still
retain the attitude of her womanly nature: she neither exalted herself nor
sought to set herself up as a queen among men, but lived to serve and to
continually efface herself so that the glory of Christ her Son might be all the
more visible. She sought out the company of others so that her gaze, that was
so continually oriented toward Christ, might direct their eyes also to His
splendid radiance. The call of woman in the world is that she utilize those
qualities which are so visible in motherhood for the care and nurture of the
world and society.
