Female He Created Them Podcast

In this episode, Mary and KT discuss The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World and Us by Yale ornithologist Richard Prum. Topics include what a capacity to appreciate beauty more diffuse among animal species means for human difference, how mate choice guides evolution and is an important aspect of co-creation, and how different humans are even on the level of bare biology from other kinds of animals when it comes to how we reproduce.Other references:Catholic Feminism and Cradle Catholics? - Female He Created Them ft. Muireann Lynch Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Mary and KT discuss Sick Societies by the anthropologist Robert B. Edgerton. We discuss breaking away from the evolutionary lens that all practices which survive must be good and its traditional counterpart, that all practices that are old are good, particularly in the Church. We also look at the near-universal fact that practices that survive are typically most adaptive for men and least adaptive for women, children, the elderly, and the sick, and what Gospel morality vis-a-vis the use of power can add.Other references:Rights vs. Responsibilities: The Care Ethics and the Moral Development of Girls - Female He Created ThemWomen at the Resurrection or ‘Placentas and the Priesthood’ - Female He Created ThemAbuse in the Church - Sisters of the Little Way - Female He Created ThemReview of Sick Societies - Mr. and Mrs. Psmith’s Bookshelf Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Mary and KT discuss Bronwen McShea’s Women of the Church: What Every Catholic Should Know. Topics include the fact that the human institutions that make up the Church have historically been a product of women’s labors and competence, and McShea’s own concern as to whether we look at Catholic women in history to prove a point about the ‘feminine genius’ or to understand them on their own terms. We also revisit problematic ways we talk about sexual assault and maternal health outcomes.References:“The Feminine Genius and Catholic History,” in Church Life Journal by Bronwen McShea“St. Gianna Beretta Molla: A Saint for Our Times,” in Church Life Journal by Abigail Jorgensen Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, KT and Mary are joined by Murieann Lynch at Load bearing assumptions to discuss her recent piece “Why are so many Catholic feminists converts?”We discuss why online Catholic feminism doesn’t work for Lynch (and us) as a cradle Catholic and discomfort with overemphasis in Catholic circles on motherhood as the ‘feminine genius.’ Other topics include consecrated virgins, the all-male priesthood, and seeing faith as something we’re working out in real time.Other references:“Is There a Feminine Genius?” panel featuring Sr. Therese Aletheia Noble of the Sisters of the Little Way.The Bible for Normal People podcast Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Mary and KT discuss two recent articles on whether or not it’s high-time we stopped venerating Maria Goretti as a patron of purity. Topics include a vote to honor Maria Goretti as a patron of courage for girls and women in situations of sexual danger who have no recourse to safety and understanding the virgin martyrs as those who died due to someone’s hatred of what God loves: women’s personhood.KT is going to practice not emphasizing her points by banging on the table…(sorry).References:St. Maria Goretti: A Saint in Need of Revisiting - S. E. GreydanusDefending St. Maria Goretti’s Title ‘Martyr of Purity’ - Thomas V. MirusGertrude von le Fort and the Virgin as Symbol - Female He Created ThemThe Saints and Spousal Abuse - Female He Created Them Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, KT and Mary discuss In A Different Voice (1982), the pioneering work of Carol Gilligan, who is credited as one of the originators of feminist psychology. The book examines the moral development of children and young adults, arguing that girls/women generally follow a distinct trajectory from that which had been put forward by Freud and others as the ‘standard’ (male) trajectory: identity formation through separation, the glorious achievement, a focus on moral rules and personal rights, which finally reaches maturity in a turn to generosity through intimate relationship.Girls, she argues, instead find their identity through attachments and generosity marks an earlier stage. Girls are not done developing when they orient morality around responsibility to others, but when they realize the self is also a person who matters. This point can only be reached through a crisis wherein she must rise above a feeling of helplessness to make an important choice.Ultimately, both paths reach a maturity which requires integrating the fundamental insight of the other—the value of self and our responsibilities. Thus, the paths are complementarity and in full human maturity should result in the sexes helping each other—women helping men to see their responsibilities and men helping women see that they, too, are a person who has rights. Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

We’re back!In this episode, Mary and KT discuss Leah Libresco Sargeant’s new(ish) book The Dignity of Dependence. Topics include reflections on whether the world is the wrong shape for women and a philosophical anthropology that is expansive enough for all people at all stages of life, irrespective of sex, age, temporary or permanent disability, sickness, left-handedness, etc. Plus some irresponsible thoughts about basketball.Other references:Collaborators and Privates - Eurydice LivesA Message for Girls about Womanhood - Pamela PaulBelieve: Why Everyone Should Be Religious - Ross DouthatThe Religious Potential of the Child - Sofia Cavaletti Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is Mary and KT discussing all the books they've been meaning to read but haven't and deliberating on what to read next.References:Holy Feast and Holy Fast by Carolyn Walker BynumSick Societies by Robert Edgerton- Psmith review of the sameDiagnosing Social Pathology by Frederik NeuhouserThe Feminine Mystique by Betty FriedanThe Dignity of Dependence by Leah Libresco Sargeant- Other Feminisms substackIn a Different Voice by Carol GilliganThe Evolution of Beauty by Richard O. PrumWomen and the Gender of God by Amy PeelerBeyond God the Father by Mary DalyInvisible Women by Caroline Criado PerezDebt: The First Thousand Years by David Graeber Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Mary and KT discuss Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum, plus historical context about the industrial revolution and the emergence of Catholic Social Teaching.References:The Dignity of Society by Russell Hittinger Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Eileen Reuter and Dr. Matalyn Vennerstrom to discuss A. G. Sertillanges, OP's The Intellectual Life. Topics include a holistic, embodied approach to the intellectual life for, how mothers relate to time, can Sertillanges’ frame be applied to women,  seasons and the ebb and flow of the intellectual vocation, should we point out errors or politely ignore them?Other references:University of St. Thomas Houston Catholic Women's and Gender Studies ProgramThe Minority Body: A Theory of Disability by Elizabeth BarnesEssays on Woman by Edith SteinEdith Stein episode Get full access to Female He Created Them at femalehecreatedthem.substack.com/subscribe