Abigail Favale was making the rounds on a number of Catholic podcasts last year to promote this book. I bought the book and read it last summer, but it's taken me months to get it on the blog.
Dr. Favale's personal story from Christian upbringing through feminist college and graduate student to Catholic convert provides a backdrop for clear descriptions of some of the most prominent schools of thought and modern American culture regarding gender and orientation.
One of the aspects of this book I appreciated the most is how Dr. Favale doesn't let the rhetoric of any one group define who she is and what she believes. She has carefully and thoughtfully considered arguments from many different philosophers and theologians and sifted them down to what she believes is the truth.
There is a danger in embracing feminism unthinkingly and letting it become a totalizing worldview, as I did. There is also a danger in dismissing feminism too hastily, because that leaves important concerns unaddressed...The questions that feminism seeks to address are still vital and relevant, even if the answers feminism provides are too often self-defeating. (p. 30)
She treats her antagonists with great compassion, which I find sorely lacking in most treatises on these subjects. She finds the good in the desires of all, including those who have left the truth of the Catholic faith, without failing to maintain that truth herself.
This book says everything I want my daughters and sons to hear and consider before they go off to college. (It was published too late for my oldest, but I'm adding it to his recommended book list even though he's not my student anymore.) It presents a clear-headed and calm discussions of the dangers and tragic consequences of modern feminist and trans ideologies. Dr. Favale is seeking truth wherever she can find it, including in feminist thought.
I do have to warn you: being a Christian feminist means being a heretic, one way or another. You have to make a choice. Embracing Christian orthodoxy means rejecting certain feminist dogmas. (p. 29)
I intend to schedule this book for my high school students in their senior year. I'm still thinking about what that will look like, but probably something along the lines of Faith and Society - all the things I want you to hear from us before you hear a twisted version of it from college friends or professors.
I have received nothing in exchange for this review. I purchased the book. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links.
