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Is there such a thing as ‘women’s spirituality’?
Do women write differently from men? Is there such a thing as ‘women’s spirituality’? Liz Hoare asks these questions and more in her introduction to Twelve Great Spiritual Writers. In this short extract from the introduction Liz reflects on the history of women as writers and explains why she has chosen to write about these twelve specific writers.
Below is an extract from Liz Hoare's new book 'Twelve Great Spiritual Writers'. Liz has written about female writers who she believes contribute something special to our understanding of the spiritual life today. In the extract below, taken from the introduction, Liz introduces us to key questions that she hopes we will bear in mind throughout the book. She also reflects on the history of women as writers and why she has chosen to write about these twelve specific writers.
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Do women write differently from men? Is there such a thing as ‘women’s spirituality’? These are important questions to bear in mind as each author is encountered. Who would be most likely to read x or y?
Is a particular author a ‘women’s writer’ only or would men benefit from reading her as well?
I did not set out to write a feminist critique of spirituality, or to advocate the separation of men and women where spirituality is concerned. Certainly it is the case that women once wrote under very different conditions from men. Think of the Brontë sisters, who had to change their names to masculine ones in order to be published. The majority of women were semi-literate for far longer than men, being able to read but not write. In 1949 Simone de Beauvoir described women as the second sex in her study of their status and self-image in history and exhorted them not to settle for being amateurs. Some, but not all, in this volume write for a living, and times have changed considerably since de Beauvoir wrote.
It is true to say that the Christian Church has not often led the way in championing women as human beings created equally with men in every respect, and only in 2019 we are celebrating twenty-five years of women priests in the Church of England, but the women presented here are full of the courage and determination de Beauvoir urged women to cultivate. I have not chosen them because they write about women’s issues, though I have wondered whether some of them will appeal to women rather than both men and women because of their writing style as well as the content of their work. Listen to your own response as you read.
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Liz Hoare's list of twelve great spiritual writers includes famous and lesser known women whose writings have touched her heart, illuminated her mind, and sharpened her spiritual vision.
Contents
1. Kathleen Norris: Everyday mysteries
2. Alison Morgan: Following Jesus
3. Ann Lewin: Watching for the kingfisher
4. Sarah Clarkson: For the love of books
5. Annie Dillard: The world is charged with the grandeur of God
6. Margaret Guenther: Spiritual midwifery
7. Margaret Magdalen: Avoiding mediocrity
8. Benedicta Ward: With all the saints
9. Marilynne Robinson: The givenness of things
10. Barbara Brown Taylor: Struggling with church
11. Ann Lamott: Life in forgiveness school
12. Mary Oliver: Listening convivially to the world
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