Catholicism as an obstacle, or fostering, feminism in the twenty-first century

This thesis is addressed to our generation and to future ones, where - especially in the rich Western countries - respect for the person in all of his/her social, cultural, religious and emotional complexity is becoming lost. Our choice of this Thesis topic is influenced by the fact that never before our modern age have we witnessed such an attack on the family - in which the woman plays a key role. She is, in our opinion, the mortar that holds together the bricks that make up our civilized society. Hyper-reality has taken the place of reality, and the map has become the territory, as Boudrillard claimed; history is no longer based on the "verum ipsum factum" of G.B. Vico, but rather on the "interpretation of fact" anticipated by Nitzche and continued until the present postmodernism era. The division between "res cogitans" and "res extensa" of Descartes in the sixteenth century, which still influences Western thought, led to the extreme result of the exaltation of the object over the subject, and of the body over the spirit. We have reached a point of complete objectification and commmodification of the body in a society where production and reproduction of the object are the idols held as necessary for the welfare of the modern globalized world. In this situation, the wellness of the individual has a priority over the well-being of the collective, and the slogan "the body is mine and I manage it", especially among women, is the focus of a lot of commentary in both the literary and media fields, and also amongst politics and law. We are witnessing a "globalization of indifference" towards anything that does not produce wealth. In our time, it seems that nothing can be opposed to the ideology of "pensèe unique" or "weak thought" which tends to give the impression that the preferences of individuals have the same status as their rights. We argue in this Thesis that this ideology leads to a culture of weak and restricted thoughts, based solely on personal preferences and conformed to the spirit (logic) of the world that seeks to make humanity into a thoughtless mob – totally lacking in real freedom. Most of all, however, this ideology suggests to humanity a very dangerous offer in proposing a prêt-à-porter ['ready to wear'] way of thinking according to personal taste: 'I think as I like!' and therefore, "I do as I please". This individualist way of thinking, mainly based on the objectification of the human being, is one of the most divisive and dangerous elements to be introduced into our society. In fact, it is taking those of us who are living in the current post-modern globalized world into a "globalization of indifference" where the relationship with the other is being killed - leaving each person, and especially women – alone, and suffering unaccompanied through their existential problems. From the seventies onward, feminist lay movements have claimed roles for women that are vigorously different from the stereotype of the "mother-wife" and "angel of the house" (as Virginia Woolf cited in her work, "A Room of One's Own") and have violently attacked the Catholic Church and accused it of misogyny and carrying out a "demonization" of the female body and its sexuality. In fact, for a long time, when scholars studied the sources of anti-feminism, they considered Judeo-Christian culture as a primary obstacle to the emancipation of women. Certainly, from the origins of Judeo-Christian practices until modern times, the relationship between men and women has been of the patriarchal type. This was justified and supported by a male interpretation of the Bible, which for centuries led women to live in a marginalized and often servile relation to men. And in this context, lay feminist movements consider Italy to be one of the most anti-feminist countries in Europe, due to its obedience to the Pope, and its adherence to the Magisterium of the Church in defense of the natural family and in protection of the dignity of the human person from the moment of his/her conception. Therefore, the (pseudo) liberating individualism of the "single" thought has led in recent decades to the growth in Europe of a society capable of regarding certain members as "waste". This thought has increasingly eroded the traditional family consisting of: father, mother and children that should be regarded both historically and in the future as the vital cell of our society. The importance of our research consists in proposing to the reader a point of view that is different from the single thought; this alternative perspective allows for the emancipation of women and proposes that they be appreciated for their own mental and physical integrity: body–spirit. It is the intention of this Thesis to show that through honoring this body-spirit integrity in women, we have the opportunity to preserve and promote one of the most precious assets that we have for the progress of society as a whole, and for women as members of that society. Our thesis demonstrates how the aim of the Catholicism, in our postmodern era, is the promotion of the sacredness of the human being in all spheres of society without putting women in opposition to men, but rather, working together with him to build a New Humanism in which the word feminism makes no sense anymore.