Domenico at Bettnet.com writes about something that's bothered me for a while now. He discusses a recent Washington Post article that asks Where are All the Men?
"The common theme is that in most churches there is an imbalance in the ratio of men to women in the pews, and the more liberal the denomination, the more tilted toward women it becomes. One of the theories is that much mainline religion, especially mainline Christianity, has become feminized and stripped of its masculine components."
Since I started attending mass again (almost every Sunday) about two years ago, I've been bothered by the feminization of the Catholic Church. The songs we sing now are mostly syrupy love songs writtten in the 80's. They're songs about love and friends, not worship and praise. There's a whole lot more singing at Mass too, in between the gospel readings, many of the prayers, my church even sings the Apostle's Creed (well, something that resembles the Apostle's Creed). Some days, the sing-song stuff seems endless. The cantors are mostly women, the choir is mostly women, the Eucharistic ministers are mostly women. Lots of hand-holding during the Lords Prayer (stop that!). People do this twirly thing with their hands while singing one of the prayers. Many of the male pronouns in the songs and the liturgy have been replaced (badly) with feminine or neutral pronouns. Sigh.
Gone are the ushers. Gone are the warriors such as Joan of Arc and St. Michael the Archangel. Gone are the songs like "A Might Fortress is Our Lord" or "Onward Christian Soldiers." Gone is the sense that being a Catholic is demanding, requires sacrifice, and we need to fight evil. No wonder there are fewer priests. It's a wonder there are men coming to Church at all, it's so girly these days. Like the feminization of the larger society, there's no balance of masculinity and femininity. The feminine is exalted, the masculine is denigrated. We've done it again, we've thrown out the baby (boy) with the bath water.
Donald Sensing has more here, and Leon Podles (author of The Church Impotent: the Feminization of Christianity) has more here.
Wandered over here from the Anchoress. You are spot on about our dear church...I read all your recent posts as well. My son in law, a convert to Roman Catholicism in the mid nineties, is ecstatically orthodox as is my daughter's whole family. That makes three more males (two grandsons) in the pews these days. It is the parishes that hold fast to the magisterium that seem to keep the men active.
I see many sites I frequent on your links and am always happy to find another that resonates with how I think about things. I will happily bookmark your site. As a revert myself many years ago, welcome back to Rome. It's lovely to see that you came back with a full and well grounded head of steam!
Posted by: Marybel | June 14, 2006 at 05:46 PM
This blog made me disgustingly ill. Not once have I EVER thought that the church suffered from "feminization". In fact, the SOLE reason I left the church and religion alltogether 3 years ago was that it was far too patriarchal. Convienently partriarchal. Women are denied any position of authority, say or really anything of value. The only thing women do is change diapers in the nursery and bake cookies for the events. Total garbage. Why any woman would worship a god that only gives her equal status upon death but none in the world that she lives in is beyond me. Since I left, I am a much happier, useful and overall better person. I don't feel pidgeonholed into a subordinate / submissive role unnatural to me. I now use my talents without guilt or fear that I might be overstepping some "man's" god given authority. That's not the kind of god or church I want to ever be involved with - NO THANK YOU. Your feminization rant certainly had no potency with me or any of the MANY women I've copied on your paragraphs. The funny thing is, I've never considered myself a feminist - have never read any feminist doctrine or anything like that. I can only share the disgust and sorrow I've felt over the years brought on by some of the male species and every single church and denomination I've ever had the misfortune of attending. If you're one of those women who needs an authority or headship over her, you'll certainly find it most every church in the world. I and many others am not so weak as that. Another thing, church has ALWAYS - ALWAYS had more women in attendance than men. Always. My Great-Great Uncle and grandfather were both ministers/priests and always complained that only 30 - 40% of their congregations were men (one was Baptist the other Catholic). I doesn't have anything to do with feminizaion, it's that men have known something for a long time that women are just now figuring out - church and religion over all is pointless and not worth wasting your day off to go. A total crutch for weak a desolate minds. Church is for people who don't know how to take charge of their own lives. Once I figured that out, my life and personal happiness changed for the better.
Posted by: Dawn | June 22, 2006 at 11:06 AM
I think you have lots going there, Dawn, perhaps more than few bad experiences with the male species. I wish you well in your search for personal happiness. I don't share your disdain for religion, nor would I characterize myself as having a weak and desolate mind. I've found that things generally go better with God.
Posted by: miss kelly | June 22, 2006 at 01:44 PM
>Dawn - I am sorry that you have had such an awful experience with men in your life. But it is not the idea of religion that hurt you, nor the "patriarchy" (which, if there is one, I'd love to get my own membership card), nor the "subordinate / submissive role" you feel yourself pushed into.
Perhaps you should evaluate your own strengths a little more closely.
Posted by: @Stephen | March 05, 2008 at 08:24 PM