New feminism is a form of feminism that emphasizes the integral complementarity of women and men, rather than the superiority of men over women or women over men; further, it advocates for respecting persons from conception to natural death. PDF
New feminism, as a form of difference feminism, supports the idea that men and women have different strengths, perspectives, and roles, while advocating for the equal worth and dignity of both sexes. Among its basic concepts are that biological differences are significant and do not compromise sexual equality. New feminism holds that women should be valued in their role as child bearers, that women and men are individuals equal in worth, and that in social, economic, and legal senses they should be equal, while accepting the differences between the sexes.
History The term was originally used in Britain in the 1920s to distinguish new feminists from traditional mainstream suffragist feminism. These women, also referred to as welfare feminists, were particularly concerned with motherhood, like their opposite numbers in Germany at the time, Helene Stöcker and her Bund für Mutterschutz. New feminists campaigned strongly in favour of such measures as family allowances paid directly to mothers. They were also largely supportive of protective legislation in industry. A major proponent of this was Eleanor Rathbone of the suffragist-successor society, the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship.
New feminists were opposed mainly by young women, especially those in the Six Point Group, particularly Winifred Holtby, Vera Brittain, and Dorothy Evans, who saw this as a retrograde step towards the separate spheres ideology of the 19th century. They were particularly opposed to protective legislation, which they saw as being in practice restrictive legislation, which kept women out of better-paid jobs on the pretext of health and welfare considerations.
Recent use In recent years, the term has been revived by feminists responding to Pope John Paul II's call for a "'new feminism' which rejects the temptation of imitating models of 'male domination' in order to acknowledge and affirm the true genius of women in every aspect of the life of society and overcome all discrimination, violence and exploitation . . . 'Reconcile people with life'". Section 99 Pdf. John Paul II links the new feminism of pro-life, pro-person advocacy to the feminine genius identified in his 1988 apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem, or, On the Dignity and Vocation of Women. Section 30 Pdf. In section 30 of this letter, John Paul II identified women as having a "genius that belongs" to them and called on them to use it to restore "sensitivity for human beings in every circumstance.Note the Latin word used "ingenii" (cf. paragraph 30) as it comes from the root "ingenium" which is properly understood as innate or natural quality, natural character; nature disposition, temper, inclination intelligence, natural capacity and should not be misunderstood in the common parlance understanding of the word "genius", but this more focused view of one's capacity and inclination, rather than intellectual aptitude (cf.). Women are mothers and caregivers as well as participants in every realm of human endeavor. He describes the 'feminine genius' as including empathy, interpersonal relations, emotive capacity, subjectivity, communication, intuition and personalization. In the controversial section 24 of this letter, John Paul II defends the equality of women and argues that husbands and wives are to be mutually submissive to each other.
John Paul II had begun his theologically-based affirmation of integral gender complementarity in his Wednesday audiences between 1979 and 1984, in what is now compiled as the Theology of the Body. In this work, he describes his belief that men and women are formed as complementary human beings for the sake of loving and being loved.
John Paul II continued his call for women to become advocates of humanity in his Apostolic Letter to Women prior to the 1995 Beijing Women's conference. Pdf.
Since then, women interested in advocating for the person--along with their male collaborators--have been developing personalist feminism. "Personalist feminism" was a term first coined by Prudence Allen to describe the feminism called for by John Paul II. Women have also been developing new feminism as a philosophical theory about sexual complementarity. They agree that being the equal to men in their professional and social capacities does not require denying their physical differences as women nor the importance of being a mother whether physically or spiritually.
Theory
Integral sex complementarity
While the Greeks acknowledged the possibility of sex complementarity, systematic developments into this philosophy of the person did not begin until Augustine of Hippo, who recognized the implications of the Christian doctrine of the resurrection. The first western philosopher to articulate a complete theory of sex complementarity was Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century Benedictine nun. Her advances were soon buried by the 13th century Aristotelian Revolution, and the lack of higher education for women in the following centuries. pp. 213-315; 408-410.
Philosophical developments in the concept of integral gender complementarity were popularized in the early 20th century by two students of Edmund Husserl: Dietrich von Hildebrand and Edith Stein. Von Hildebrand argued against the "terrible anti-personalism" of his age, stating that it is the "general dissimilarity in the nature of both which enables... a real complementary relationship".Von Hildebrand, Dietrich. Marriage: the Mystery of Faithful Love. Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 1991. p. 53-55.Von Hildebrand, Dietrich. Man and Woman: Love and the Meaning of Intimacy. Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 1992, p. 91 Stein revived the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas to argue that a difference in bodies constitutes a difference in spirit, that the soul is not unisex.Stein, Edith. "Letter to Sister Callista Koph" in Self-Portrait in Letters: 1916-1942. Washington DC: ICS Publications, 1993. Stein, Edith. Essays on Woman. Stein's argument has been criticized for not realizing that the immateriality of the human soul transcends the limitations of the body as Aquinas argues. New feminist theories were also influenced by the Personalist and Phenomenology movements of the early 20th century.
Integral complementarity differs from fractional complementarity, in that it argues that men and women are each whole persons in and of themselves, and, together, equal more than the sum of their parts. The concept of fractional complementarity argues that a man and woman each make up a part of a person.Allen, "Man-woman complementarity", p. 9 By this theory, when they are joined together, they then comprise one, composite being.See also
Meaning of the body New feminists promote an understanding of the human person as one who is made in the image and likeness of God (imago Dei) for the purpose of union and communion.De Solenni, Pia. A Hermeneutic of Aquinas's Mens Through a Sexually Differentiated Epistemology: Towards an understanding of woman as imago Dei. Doctoral Thesis. Pontificia Universitas Sanctae Crucis. Rome. 2000. They see distinct differences in the ways in which men and women make a sincere gift of themselves through the 'nuptial meaning of the body', and see these gifts as shedding light on the mysteries of God and their own vocation, mission and dignity. Online.
Other ideas promoted by new feminists include: that the different bodily structures of men and women lead both to different lived experiences. that the different ways in which men and women give life physically are linked to emotional, spiritual, and intellectual dispositions. that fulfillment as a woman means exercising maternal care, whether physically or spiritually. New feminists believe that whether or not they do it well, women are physically structured to be mothers, to develop life with their wombs.They have a "womb-shaped vocation. Caldecott, Leonie. "Sincere Gift: The Pope's New Feminism." Communio: International Catholic Review 23 (Spring 1996). They purport the idea that the physical capacity for motherhood connects with the psychological, spiritual and emotional characteristics that women would need to be mothers. that regardless of whether or not a woman ever gives birth, she has the capacity for maternal love in spiritual motherhood.
The feminine genius The phrase "the feminine genius" is used to describe the genius that John Paul II identified as belonging to women, “which can ensure sensitivity for human beings in every circumstance.” He argues that this sensitivity is linked to maternity.Mulieris Dignitatem section 18 Work on unpacking the nature of this link can be found in various anthologies, such as Women in Christ: Toward a New Feminism (2004) and Woman as Prophet in the Home and the World (2016). The characteristics of these feminine genius-maternity links raise many open questions. For example:
Emphasis on the person Because they can receive and develop life within their wombs, women can have a special openness to the new person - their child. This includes the capacity to unify all of humankind because people were all once united with their mothers in their wombs.Mirkes, Sr. Renee. "Of Pillars and Spores: The Genius of Woman." Canticle Magazine. Vol.1. 2000See also Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth. "Feminism Without Illusions: A Critique of Individualism." Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991. The open questions here include the degree to which it takes a decision to consider every human person as some one's child and the ways in which such a decision has implications for social policy, the arts, and human culture. Empathy Because of the need to care for their developing children, within their wombs and as infants, caring mothers tend to become more empathetic. The open questions on this characteristic include whether the development of empathy is physiological or the result of the choice to be caring. They also include evaluating Edith Stein's argument that women have "a profound need to share [their lives] with another and, consequently, a capacity for unselfish love, for commitment, a capacity to transcend the self...".Stein, Essays on Women, page ? Receptivity Only women are created with a physical empty space inside of themselves capable of receiving another person and conceiving new life. Through pregnancy, women give a gift of self - their own bodies - so that others, their children, can receive the gift of life.Hildebrand, Alice von. On the Privilege of Being a Woman. New York Catholic Forum Lecture. January 14, 1997. Zeno, Katrina. Every Woman's Journey. Steubenville, OH: Women of the Third Millennium, 2005. p. 31. The open questions here include the correlation between sexual receptivity and other kinds of receptivity, e.g. emotional, psychological, spiritual, intellectual and so forth.