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2 books match the query 'Femininity (Philosophy)'

cover of Feminine Feminists: Cultural Practices in Italy

Feminine Feminists

Cultural Practices in Italy

Giovanna Miceli Jeffries, Editor

University of Minnesota Press, 1994

Feminine Feminists was first published in 1994. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

What does it mean to be a woman today in Italy, a country with the lowest birthrate in the world and the heaviest maternal stereotype? Does being a feminist exclude practices of cultural femininity? What are Italian women's cultural productions? These questions are at the center of this volume, which looks at how feminism and femininity are embedded in a broad spectrum of Italian cultural practices.

In recent years, several books have introduced the American public to Italian women's voices. This volume goes beyond others in its range of theoretical topics and modes, considering cultural practices not only in their popular, material appearance, but also in the disciplines and forms of knowledge that order information and circumscribe behavior.The essays, all by well-known scholars in Italian studies, reflect the authors' specific critical interests in cinema, fashion, literary texts, feminist theory, and popular culture, past and present. Some address the culture of everyday life, while others examine feminism and femininity in the context of philosophy, ethics, or national identity within a global culture. Some begin with the conviction that performing "femininity"—whether in appearance or in nurturing practices—can be culturally liberating. Others put this notion to the critical test. By situating the problem of femininity within the discussion of feminism, this volume takes on larger issues within feminist discourse. Its bold examination of the component of femininity within the context of women's experiences offers readers rare insight into Italian women's culture and into the multicultural possibilities of feminism.

Contributors: Beverly Allen,

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Renate Holub, Carol Lazzaro-Weis, Maria Marotti, Áine O'Healy, Graziella Parati, Eugenia Paulicelli, Robin Pickering-Iazzi, Maurizio Viano.

Giovanna Miceli Jeffries is a lecturer in the department of French and Italian at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

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cover of Gender Complementarity and Christian Personalism: The Philosophy of Sister Prudence Allen, RSM

Gender Complementarity and Christian Personalism

The Philosophy of Sister Prudence Allen, RSM

Sister Mary Veronica Sabelli, RSM

Catholic University of America Press, 2025

When, in the 1970’s, Sister Prudence Allen, RSM began to investigate philosophical thought on woman, the question was considered to be, at best, a marginal area for philosophical research. Rather, it was seen as a sociological, anthropological, psychological, or political issue. This book confirms that today, partly due to Allen’s groundbreaking work, the complementarity of man and woman is an important and fruitful area of research in philosophy providing an evaluative framework that enriches and challenges many other disciplines. No one could have foreseen the centrality of her research for questions of gender theory that are, in the third decade of the 21st century, in the forefront of public attention. In the present volume, leading authors in the area of sex/gender complementarity reflect upon and further develop various aspects of Allen’s research. In 16 original, scholarly essays, some contributors build upon Allen’s project of exploring “the concept of woman” throughout the history of philosophy. Others explore the work of 20th century philosophers, most of them Christian Personalists, whom Allen credits with significant influence on the development of integral gender complementarity, such as Karol Wojtyła/ John Paul II, Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Emmanuel Mounier, W. Norris Clarke, SJ, and Bernard Lonergan, SJ. Still other contributors consider Marian spirituality, analogies between Benedictine spirituality and the physiological realities of a woman’s body during pregnancy, seminary education in the writings of Allen and others, and the impact of Allen’s work on the real lives of women in families, the Church, and professional life. Upon completing her magisterial, three-volume work, The Concept of Woman, Allen passed the baton to a new generation of scholars, stating, “The next phases will be developed by those who themselves take the argument further and deeper in their own research, writing, living, and lecturing.” The present volume takes up the baton, carrying Allen’s work forward and paying tribute to the lifetime achievement of a great scholar.
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