And Me...

Hello! My name is Emily and you can find me at Me In Life.

Basic Info - I am 29 nearing that 30 mark. I have been married for almost ten years to my high school sweetheart. We have three boys 8, 5, and 20 months. I just recently became a stay at home mom. Uhmmm... it's been an adjustment. We live in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and love the scenery.

I began my faith in a Southern Baptist Church as a young teen. After I met my husband I began to attend his church (Disciples of Christ) since his dad was a minister. I began to question the theology of the church just after we married and decided that we would attend a Methodist Church. I think the draw was more the programs offered and not so much the theology, which is not that far of a jump from what we were attending. We are now back to Disciples Of Christ, his mom is a minister here locally. We are feeling some very heavy pressure (or divine pressure you could say) to spend these years here serving our church. We have spent the past three having our church serve us. We have started a couple of things so far and are on "teams" to help make decisions. I seem to be a little different from the ladies that have already posted, in that I have very little catholism knowledge or training. I think maybe we all feel the same adoration, love, and devotion to Jesus, so maybe you can still let me be a part? Right? Right?!

As far as feminism goes, I have truthfully feared it for most of my life. My mother was a silent pusher of the you-don't-need-a-man-to-take-care-of-you theory but at the same time wanting to make sure I married some one that could "take care" of me. I agree with the basic principle of having choices and the freedom the original women fought for, but turned off by "feminazies". I just think God created man and women to fit together like two pieces of a puzzle that includes friends, family, and children for some. I am excited to enlighten myself with more knowledge on the subject and definitely looking forward to the knowledge of all you ladies already experienced in the topic. Thank you so much for putting this together!

About me, and a little about the author

Hi ladies! I'm Elizabeth at That Married Couple. I am soo excited about this book club and am loving the introductions! Just think, we haven't even gotten to the book yet!

For my stats: 27 year old married to a wonderful husband. No kids yet, but hopefully that will change this year! I'm originally from Missouri and crave moving back to the Midwest. I went to Texas for grad school, where I met my husband, and we moved back to Pennsylvania, where he's from. Actually, we now live in the same house he grew up in, as my MIL passed away this past Easter and we moved in with his father in August.

I grew up Protestant (Disciples of Christ denomination), was always certain that my future husband would be changing denominations to join me (a non-Protestant was unthinkable), and was horrified that the man who would become my husband was Catholic and didn't want to change (even though he wasn't practicing when we started dating! the nerve!). It took a lot of prayer, tears, study, and temper-tantrums before finally the Holy Spirit opened me up to the fullness of the faith. I fell in love with it and entered the Church this past Easter.

I have been in school my entire life. It's getting a little old, so I can't wait to finish grad school this spring. I'm keeping my eyes open for jobs, but after I graduate I'm really hoping to become a stay-at-home mom. This is a complete 180 from where I was a few years ago, when my then-boyfriend informed me that he thinks it's good for the mother to stay at home when the children were young - I was appalled! Since then I've come to see what a great opportunity it is, so I'm praying we will be able to conceive and have a child in the not too distant future!

Have you noticed yet that I tend to ramble?

Okay, and about feminism. I always kind of wanted to be a feminist, in the yay-girl-power, I'm-just-as-tough-as-a-boy way, but was simultaneously terrified of the "feminazis." Since learning about New Feminism and the writings of John Paul II, I have become infatuated with the concept, and truly believe it's the right way to go. I'm certainly not an anti-feminist, since I believe especially the first feminists procured a lot of important rights we were being denied (hello suffrage), but I think the movement has been commandeered by a few radicals who are taking things too far. I think some keys to improving it is to (a) truly love other women and (b) actually love men, too. But I'll stop before this tangent gets too long, as we have plenty of time to discuss this kind of stuff!


I'm really excited about this book, because I read another of this author's works: Marriage: The Dream That Refuses to Die. I was very impressed with Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. (Do you mind if I shorten it to EFG on here?) I also learned a lot about her history in the introduction and afterward, and thought you might be interested.

EFG started out as "a leading Marxist-feminist intellectual who identified herself as a nonbeliever" and was a founder of one of the first women's studies departments. Nonetheless, she was extremely honest and objective in her pursuit of truth. Her compatriots were furious when she abandoned secular liberalism to become pro-life and eventually Catholic. "If her pro-life advocacy angered many liberal intellectuals, her outspoken defense of marriage and traditional norms of sexual morality made them apoplectic."

The intro was written by one of her students, who on the surface was completely the opposite of EFG at the time, and she raved about the openness of EFG to opinions and theories different from her own. EFG was a woman who was willing to follow wherever the data took her, even when it departed dramatically from what she had originally adhered to. I'm really looking forward to reading more of her work!

And then there's me...

Hello to you all, ladies!

My name is Katie. You can find my blog at songofasunflower.blogspot.com

(The link on the side of this blog connects you to my teaching blog, so use this one above!)

I am 25, a schoolteacher, and a practicing Catholic. My faith became important to me at 15, when friends invited me to attend a Non-Denominational youth group. There, I became motivated to learn more about a Savior -- who loved me with a zealous love. The youth group was my launching pad, but shortly after beginning to attend regularly, I often received comments from both the youth group leaders and members that Catholics weren't Christians, and although I didn't know my Catholic upbringing well enough to refute that, it challenged me to find out more about the Catholic Church. Miraculously, later that year, the Catholic parish my family attended FINALLY got a youth minister and started a youth group when I was 16. I never really attended the Catholic youth group because I started working at 16, but I did have an incredible Confirmation experience -- a testament to the wonderful youth minister who led Confirmation, and I really became passionate about my faith at that point.

I'm excited about this book club, because, I find myself alone in my Catholic faith. I have many friends who are Protestant, and love that we share the same values, but really don't seem to meet many Catholics my age who are practicing their faith...and I think that's a shame!

Feminism is something, that, in my life, was felt but not heard. My mom exemplified old-fashioned, ladylike behavior and served her family as a stay-at-home wife and mother. But, there have always been expectations that were encouraged from the outside: mostly, that women should be self-sufficient financially and emotionally, and that all men suck. (Okay, maybe that last one is a stretch!) I've always blindly followed the directive that feminism was a valiant movement for the equal rights of women, but it has to be said that feminism has similarly corrupted the values of chivalry, respect, and honor towards women. I recently finished the book, Captivating, by John and Staci Eldredge, a book that suggested that the feminine soul has been neglected by the push for modern feminism. I think that Feminism is Not the Story of My Life will most likely compliment Captivating, and reveal new ways to grow toward the life God has called me to lead.

Hi, I'm Michelle...

I'm Michelle.  YOu can find my ramblings at http://musingsofacatholiclady.blogspot.com

I have been married to my husband, Craig, for 10.5 years.  We have four children:  three daughters, ages 8, 6, almost-4 and my son will be 1 on the 16th of January.

I am a cradle Catholic, although my parents divorced when I was 8 and my mother wasn't well-versed in the faith and didn't really work that hard to make sure we learned it.  My oldest daughter's baptism was a turning point for my husband and me and we decided to really learn the faith we vowed to raise our children in. 

I am a serious soul.  I like to laugh and all that, but I usually see to the heart of the matter.

As for feminism...I often have a knee-jerk reaction to it.  I have often viewed it as a negative that sprang forth seemingly necessary double-income families, explosive use of contraception and abortion.  However, I acknowledge that without the advancements in things like meaningful work for women and striving to provide opportunities, I wouldn't be able to support my family as I do.  HOwever, my mind always plays the circle-game that if they hadn't pushed for those opportunities, perhaps I would not live in a time where it was necessary for me to work to help sustain our family's socio-economic status.  Does that make sense? 

With that said, I am all for recognizing the dignity of women.  I believe women should be allowed to own property and also vote...so I hope my last paragraph didn't completely disparage me to some of you.  I just often see a lot of the negative that seems to have come from the "feminist movement".

I am looking forward to reading this book to help me sort my feelings on the topic and understand other women's attitudes and reactions to feminism.

I am very excited to participate in this book club.  Thank you so much to Sarah and Elizabeth for organizing!

Me Next!

Hi ladies,

I'm Rebecca and you can find me at Feel My Love.

I'm 30 years old and have been married to my best friend and soul-mate, Cliff, for 5 1/2 years.  We live in West Virginia with Max and Kali - our cat and dog babies.  We do not have human children yet.

I am a cradle Catholic, but in the last year have truly crossed the bridge from admiring Jesus to following Jesus. Crossing this bridge has challenged me to think about how I view women's roles and really forced me to consider what my values are.  I didn't go to catholic school ever and my CCD experience was somewhat fragmented.  Cliff went through the RCIA 6 years ago, and his faith challenges me every day.  The way he describes his moment of baptism gives me chills.

I'm blessed to be a part of this amazing group of women and I look forward to learning from you all!

Hey Everybody!

I'm Monica (aka CM) and I blog at catholicmutt.blogspot.com. I turn the big 3-0 later this year, and I am a physical therapist. I live in the Midwest, and I'm tired of snow and below zero temperatures and bad roads and salt on the car.

I am a cradle Catholic, and am in love with the faith of my birth. I am also beyond grateful to all of the non-Catholic family and friend influences in my life. It has made my faith so much richer than it ever could have been otherwise. I had a Catholic education in middle and high school, but went to very liberal schools for college and grad school.

Hmm, what else?

I guess in regards to the book, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my copy gets here before too late. I did some thinking about how excited I was to read the book, but neglected to think about how I needed to order it so I would be able to read it. Did I mention that I'm a blonde? It's on the way now (I hope!)

I grew up kind of against the hard core feminism that I associate with the word "feminism". I have always hated how "equal" had to mean "the same as men". Then again, I think there were some very positive things brought about by feminism, and I'm very grateful for all the educational and job opportunities that were available to me as I went through school. I think those things were very good things to come out of the feminist movement. I also think there is something very beautiful about motherhood, and I want to see a feminism that doesn't lose sight of that. I don't think that women should be judged as second-rate mothers if they work, nor do I want to see stay-at-home moms be judged as "wasting" their lives. And those are some of my thoughts with no particular organization or thought behind it, so I should probably stop before it gets out of hand.

I'm really looking forward to getting to read this book with everyone. Thanks to Sarah and Elizabeth for all their work getting things organized!

And me

I am Rae & my blog is nowealthbutlife.com.

I am 24, married, childless, Catholic, & unemployed in Greenland Mississippi. At this point the only thing that I really do is job-hunt, but my hope is to eventually get back to school for a BSN & then become a midwife. I would love to study theology on a graduate level, but have no interest in teaching.

I was raised in a hyper-conservative family. Whenever I hear "normal" women talk about embracing things like submission, head coverings, or homeschooling, I freak out a little internally. Even though I know that they do not usually mean the extremes to which I have been exposed, I still have a hard time accepting that whatever it is they do mean could be good & healthy for them. I hope that you can forgive me for sounding unnecessarily emphatic.

In college I was almost always the conservative one in the classroom, and I often got through discussions by being confident that I was at least as much of a feminist as anyone else. These days I don't find the term as useful, but I am not ready to abandon it. After all, it is no more confused and problematic than "conservative" or "liberal." I do not know how I should be classified as a feminist, but I suspect that is because the "fourth wave" will not be recognized until it is over. I think that I would really like to be a womanist, if only I weren't so white.

I am most looking forward to reading this book in particular because of a review by Mary Ann Glendon, and I am really excited about reading it with all of you!