Here is the third part of my thesis that I wrote on women. The last time (which you can read Here) I talked about Mary as the ideal woman, and before that, about the Two-fold Nature of Woman. Now, I will discuss Woman's Proper role in the world. Is she called to the professional world? Or purely Motherhood? Why or why not?
Woman,
as a bride and mother, is called to emulate Mother Mary’s example. She is often called upon to sacrifice the development of
her personal talents in order to pour her energy into the cultivation of the
talents of her children. This is not a sinful neglect of her talents, but a
proper self-effacing, wherein the glory of humanity is revealed through the
mother’s gift of herself. This particular female charism is most
accurately portrayed through the vocation of the Bride-Mother: “wheresoever
woman is most profoundly herself, she is not as herself but as surrendered, and
wherever she is surrendered, there she is also bride and mother”[1].
Only woman can be mother and bride, and thus only woman can symbolize the
nurturing element of humanity which pours forth upon the world the gifts of
love which she receives from her lover. It is through this vocation that woman
learns to be the beloved of her spouse, and to respond to this love by
bestowing her energy and leisure upon her family. Through the family she finds
fulfillment in the love that is given her and the love she gives forth.
I
once asked my own mother, “Mom, you don’t have a job, or any hobbies, and you
can’t even donate time to our parish. How do you find fulfillment? What gives
your life happiness and meaning?” She smiled at me: she knew I was not blaming
her for not giving time to those other things, nor would I have criticized her
if she had felt a calling to them. She understood that I was asking the
question pure and simply, “It’s you guys.” She said. “When I see all of you and
your Dad happy, and practicing your gifts, and loving God, my life is the
happiest it could ever be.” As a bride and mother, she is, within this life,
blessed with an abundance of joy in watching her children and husband enter the
world brimful of the love and nurture that she gives of herself for their sake.
When her loved ones succeed and live happy, holy lives then she finds fulfillment
in their success and joy. And she seeks, by her loving example and diligence,
ever to increase their welfare. While the Bride-Mother is not the only vocation
of woman that allows her to maintain an attitude in line with her specific
dignity, it is she who most clearly symbolizes the call to openness and
reciprocity, and the subsequent pouring forth of that fruitful love upon the
world.
The
life of the mother is invaluable, but not pretty; it consists of the hidden and
the humble, the dirtiest and most unpleasant tasks, which she fulfills in a
complete and specific manner that is unique to her dignity as a woman. The
mother is called to be open to the gift of the person, to accept every individual
as an “I” and to cultivate that personality. John Paul II mentions this open attitude
of mothers: “motherhood implies from the beginning a special openness to the
new person; and this is precisely the woman’s ‘part’.”[2]
The woman is called to accept each person she encounters, receiving their
unique gifts into herself in order to love and cultivate them, but the ultimate
reception of her nature is revealed when she embraces the gift of a new person:
an infant, who depends unconditionally upon her acceptance. This is why Abortion
is such a complete denial of woman’s true nature, since it is an intrinsic
refusal to accept a person as another “I”, and thereby reduces that helpless
individual to a the state of a commodity. Woman is, within the home, called to
strive for the most ideal spiritual, emotional, and mental wellbeing of her
children; she is called to strive for the best education possible, the best
health they can attain, and the greatest independence they can achieve. She
recognizes their dependence and nurtures them on account of it, at the same
time as she teaches them to function as individuals, until finally, she makes
the greatest sacrifice by watching them become independent. The mother is the
nurturing, loving part of reality that recognizes weakness and draws greatness
out of it. She adores the smallest, most seemingly insignificant individual,
and by doing so, exalts his nature and enables him to succeed in the world. In
the success of the child, the mother finds fulfillment.
Many
women are called to exercise their gifts outside, or in addition to, the family
sphere, and when properly practiced, this call does not negate the gift of love
a woman is called to bestow upon her family. For, while woman is not called to
ignore or deny her gifts (unless a specific situation arises in which something
greater is demanded of her sacrificially), yet she is encouraged to put those
gifts to the service of those she loves. Edith Stein says that motherhood and
the professional sphere can be combined so long as there is a proper ordering
of priorities. She says that:
the fact that all powers which the husband possesses
are present in a feminine nature as well – even though they may generally
appear in different degrees and relationships – is an indication they should be
employed in corresponding activity. And wherever the circle of domestic duties
is too narrow for the wife to attain the full formation of her powers, both
nature and reason concur that she reach out beyond this circle. [3]
She does offer a
warning, however, saying that certain “professional activities” may “jeopardize
domestic life”.[4] “It even
seems to me a contradiction of the divine order when the professional
activities of the husband escalate to a degree that cuts him off completely
from family life. This is even more true of the wife.”[5] Therefore, Edith Stein maintains that a woman can embrace
her nature even while living in the professional sphere, so long as she
maintains a proper ordering of priorities. Cultivating one’s God-given talents
results in accidental[6]
self-glorification, even when directed toward the good of another or that of
humanity in general; however, a woman can pursue a realization of her
talents in subordination to her primary vocation of mother and wife. A woman can find
fulfillment in the professional sphere if she is careful to always maintain an attitude
of self-gift rather than to seek self-glorification. She must remember to
receive love when offered and always remain receptive to the ‘others’ that she
encounters in life.
An
entirely new level of difficulty is found for the woman who grants the two
spheres, motherhood and professional life, equal attention. The problem that
arises is that women often do not maintain a correct ordering of priorities and
desire self-glorification in the professional sphere above the self-effacing of
familial life. While it is important for a woman to find fulfillment in her
professional life, it is ultimately more important that she pour her maternal,
nurturing energies into her familial relationships. Whether married or single, the public sphere
is an appropriate place for woman, so long as she retains an understanding of
her nature, and is forever receptive to the call of her Creator.
Love
is the ultimate vocation of woman. It is that which gives woman her ultimate
dignity, for it encompasses the two-fold nature of those dignities inherent to
her as a person. John Paul II proclaims that “a woman's dignity is closely
connected with the love which she receives by the very reason of her femininity;
it is likewise connected with the love which she gives in return.”[7] Whether in the professional, familial, or
religious sphere, woman is called to reciprocate love. This is more an attitude
than a job description. Feminists of this age tote the phrase that anything man
can do, woman can master as well. This is, in fact, true. Gertrude von le Fort says
that “whenever woman has been suppressed, it is because she is recognized and
feared as having power.”[8]
It is by the very fact that woman has great power in the exercise of her gifts that
she is called to surrender of herself: she is called to love first and foremost,
for without love, her power would destroy society. Edith Stein raises the
question: “should certain positions be reserved for only men, others for only
women, and perhaps a few open for both?”[9]
She answers this question with a definitive ‘no’. She says that “no legal
barriers of any kind should exist”[10]
to limit woman’s participation in the professional sphere, yet neither
should any social condition exist that forces the mother to be away from her home. It is a rebellion
against God’s divine plan for anyone
to suppress woman, either within or without it the home, for it is her free
choice to submit to God’s call, and to rise up when evil threatens and none
others will take a stand. She is free, as a person, to choose not to insert
herself into those roles that most often suit men, but to respect that she is
different, and her own talents may lie in a separate direction.
However, when man will not stand up and
defend, protect, and generally live up to his own symbols, then it is the
woman’s responsibility to act in his role. Judith’s great virtue was that she
stood up and called on men to have faith and overthrow the invaders of Israel . But
that when they refused, she took the task upon herself, and with only her
handmaiden, beheaded Holofernes, the general of the invading army, and
disbanded the entire horde. [11]
Woman can do anything man puts his hand to, but whether she is called to
do so in every instance is another matter. The cosmos is mighty, yet is called
to submit itself to the Creator. In this way, it realizes its full potential,
and is exalted by Him Who loves it. Woman is the symbol of the universe’s great
receptivity, and she takes upon herself the unlimited, active love of God; and
she, as his vessel, pours out that love upon the earth. “Man, regarded in his
cosmic aspect, stands in the foreground of strength, while woman dwells in its
deeper reaches.”[12]
It is in the depths of existence that woman gives of herself and thereby
fortifies the foundations of society, whether she does so as mother, executive,
employee, social worker, etc.
[1] Le Fort,
pg. 11
[2] Pope
John Paul II, part 18
[3] Edith Stein, Essays
on Woman (Washington D.C.: ICS Publications, 1996) pg. 80
[4] Ibid,
pg. 80
[5] Ibid,
pg. 80
[6] Accidental: in the Aristotelian sense. Categories cite
[7] Pope
John Paul II, part 30 emphasis his
[8] Le Fort, pg 13
[9] Edith
Stein, pg. 81
[10] Ibid,
pg. 81
[11] Judith,
8-13
[12] Le Fort, pg. 13
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