Feminine Behavior and Radical Action: Franciscans, Quakers, and the Followers of Gandhi Author(s): Phyllis Mack Reviewed

work(s): Source: Signs, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Spring, 1986), pp. 457-477 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174005 . Accessed: 28/02/2013 03:32
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AND QUAKERS, FRANCISCANS, OF THEFOLLOWERS GANDHI

PHYLLIS MACK

FEMININEBEHAVIORAND RADICALACTION:

the of The first Franciscans, earlyQuakers,and thefollowers Gandhi:here movements are threeradicalreligious widelyseparatedin timeand place as We but sharing elementsidentified theiradherents "feminine." are by with the images of gentlenessand domesticity Francis all familiar of in so preachingto the birdsand Gandhi spinning; familiar, fact,thatit to of wouldbe difficult describethepersonal styles theseleadersand their and associations. One thinks closestfollowers avoidfeminine immediately a the ofFrancisplucking juiciestgrapestoencourage sickbrother eat,of to Gandhifussing over his family's diet,and ofthe "Mothersin Israel" who were the earliestQuakermissionaries. One ofGandhi'sadoptedchildren wrotea biography himwhichshe called Bapu-My Mother.Disciple of MargaretFell called Quaker founderGeorge Fox "our dear nursing father."The most intimateterm used by the Franciscanbrothersto was "mother."' address the founder
I wouldliketothank Rockefeller the for Foundation financial Thanks also toJohn support. Gillisforhelpful conversation criticism. and ' On Francis,see JohnHolland Smith,FrancisofAssisi(New York:CharlesScribner's CarterGadt, "Womenand Protestant Sons, 1972), esp. 185. On the Quakers,see Jeanette Culture:The Quaker Dissent from Puritanism" of Los (Ph.D. diss., University California, Angeles,1974),esp. 99. On Gandhi,see Ved Mehta,MahatmaGandhiand HisApostles (New York:VikingPress, 1976), esp. 97.
[Signs:Journalof Womenin Cultureand Society1986, vol. 11, no. 3] ? 1986 by The University Chicago. All rights of reserved.0097-9740/86/1103-0003$01.00

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RADICAL ACTION Mack / FEMININE BEHAVIOR,

has of modern observers been todismiss suchstories The reaction many at as of as anachronistic bestand, atworst, a crassdistortion spiritual truth: menthat obscuretheir essence,cheapentheir trite, imagesofgreat cloying and of for geniusintomaterial children's memory, turnthe stuff religious to or rearview legends, mass entertainment, plasticfigurines hangfrom A lies of mirrors. recentbiography Francistellsus that"thetruth deeper, and the abrasionof thatcharacter his times." on in his hard character, Current Quaker scholarshipstresses the hard, Puritancore of early article mystical aspect. A recentnewspaper Quakerismagainstits softer, a thatGandhiwas not simply on Gandhi remindsNew Yorkmoviegoers nice man with fine ideals but a remote,orientalascetic.2"Feminine" has undersideof behavior also been discussedas an aspectoftheneurotic about his sexuality his or the leader's personality (Gandhi'sambivalence and the livesofhisdisciples), as evidence to compulsion dominate personal is or for thatthemovement culture time-bound and, hence,irrelevant us. withnature charming "medieval," is but So Francis'ssense ofimmanence dreamsoverknowledge and theearlyQuakerswho emphasized prophetic and nakednessover statusand power are courageousbut "primitive," and self-sacrifice inspiring funbut are Gandhi'sdoctrines nonviolence of "Indian." Somewouldalso pointoutthat healingis theactivity damentally as in tender and scientists wellas ofnursesand that, their careof ofdoctors all the Francisand George Fox were after imitating man the afflicted, Jesus. behavioris thatof A more creativeresponseto thistypeof religious whoused theconcept liminality analyze of Victor to Turner, anthropologist cultural certain condition-say,a young phenomena.A personin a liminal status socialdefinirite-has noparticular or a womanundergoing puberty and betweenthe positions tion. She is "betwixt by assignedand arrayed is and ceremonial .... Thus, liminality frelaw, custom,convention, to likenedtodeath,tobeinginthewomb,toinvisibility, darkness, quently and to an eclipse of the sun or moon. to to bisexuality, the wilderness, . . as Liminalentities .. maybe represented possessing nothing. . . Their is behavior normally theyare being passiveorhumble. . . . It is as though anew."3 condition be fashioned to reduced or grounddown to a uniform and sacredness, homogeneity of Turnerobserved"the blend oflowliness He of characteristic liminal and comradeship" phenomena. also observeda and and of dialoguebetweenmovements liminality communitas thestruc2 On see The 1. Francis,see Smith, On thePuritan aspectsoftheQuakers, HughBarbour, Press, 1964). Martin Quakers in PuritanEngland (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Green,"Comingto TermswiththeGandhiWho Standsbehind'Gandhi,'"New YorkTimes 30, (January 1983), sec. 2. 3 Victor and The RitualProcess:Structure Anti-Structure (Ithaca,N.Y.: Cornell Turner, Press, 1977), 95. University

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1986 / SIGNS Spring

life:"It is as thoughthereare . . . two major turedsocietyof everyday . is 'models'forhumaninterrelatedness. . . The first ofsociety a strucas and tured, differentiated, often hierarchicalsystemof politico-legaleconomicpositions.. . . The second,whichemergesrecognizably the in liminal as or structured period,is ofsociety an unstructured rudimentarily and relatively undifferentiated or comitatus, community, even communion of equal individuals."4 Movements communitas of maybe brief(the hippies at Woodstock),occur over time (millennarian cults), or be an withinthe largerstratified ongoingritualor institution society(puberty occurat historical moments "whenmajor rites,monasteries). They often are one stateto another." groupsor socialcategories passingfrom cultural absence of property, Many feature"homogeneity, equality,anonymity, . . . the wearingof uniform for apparel (sometimes both sexes), sexual continence(or . . . sexual community [bothofwhichliquidatemarriage and the family]) . . . abolition rank,humility, of for , disregard personal totalobedienceto the prophet leader, . . . or appearance,unselfishness, of simplicity speech and manners,sacred folly, acceptanceof pain and . suffering,. . and so forth."5 Turner never offered systematic a discussionof the relationship of and communitas, gender to the dialecticof structure althoughin one of African description the customsof a patrilineal tribe,he observeda double affinity betweenstructure masculinity, and communitas femiand about genderand ninity.Even more revealingof Turner'sassumptions of and societyis this general description the dialecticof communitas structure: is communitas (not)merely 'nature.'Spontaneous "Spontaneous communitas naturein dialoguewithstructure, is married itas a woman to is married a man. Togethertheymake up one streamof life,the one to affluent supplying power,the otheralluvialfertility."6 I do notknowhow pleased Turner wouldhave been to find himself in the companyof feminist but theoreticians, there is clearlyan affinity betweenhisowntypology that Sherry and of whodiscusses culture Ortner, andnature terms structure antistructure whoviewswomenas in of and and an and betweenthetwo.The occupying intermediate ambiguous position samegoes for or MaryDouglas,whoplaceswomenat theperiphery, in the of NatalieZ. Davis, who disinterstices, male culture,and forhistorian
4 Ibid., 96. 5 Ibid., 111-12.

Ibid., 115-20, 140. Turnermaintains that this associationholds only where public and follow male lines. Elsewhere,Turnerwrites,"In maleauthority inheritance patterns dominated societies communitas weara skirt appearas nature, or Mother may versus Nature, culture,FatherCulture. This can be further discussedin termsofwhatI have called the 'poweroftheweak,'in itsconnection withthe metaphorically liminal processofrevolution" (The ReversibleWorld: SymbolicInversionin Art and Society,ed. BarbaraA. Babcock [Ithaca,N.Y., and London: Cornell University Press, 1978], 289). 459

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RADICAL ACTION Mack / FEMININE BEHAVIOR,

in of modern cussesthetoposofwomanas a figure disorder early European society.7 In the second sectionof thisessay I wantto exploresome particular led and behaviorin the movements by symbolism aspects of feminine and themto theparadigm culture of Francis,Fox, and Gandhibyrelating Turneractuallymentionedthe and antistructure. nature,or structure of of Franciscans, Quakers,andfollowers Gandhias examples communitas; in and in fact,all three movements conform, theirbroad outlines,to whensocialand politiat moments Turner's model. Alloccurred historical or conflict betweenthe were in a stateofflux open conflict: cal structures papacy, the German princes, and the independenttowns in twelfthand aristoAnglican Puritan, century Italy;betweenkingand parliament, cratand laborerin seventeenth-century England;betweenupholdersof and British of caste and socialreformers, imperialists partisans homerule India. All set themselves in twentieth-century againstsocial and political and all, to different and structures parties, degrees,preachednonviolence wore uniform dress and practiced Most early followers and poverty.8 and acts ofself-abnegation communality. Francis,the Quakers, symbolic and and Gandhistripped naked;Francis Gandhitendedlepers;Fox tended the mad. and While the model ofstructure communitas, culture or and nature, for these religious moveseems to workneatlyas a framework analyzing the feminine elementswithinthem), the ments (and, by implication, role because itfails revealthepositive to historical of modelis problematic social change;indeed, about constructive behaviorin bringing feminine
7 Ortner,"Is Female to Male as NatureIs to Culture?"in Women,Cultureand Sherry Calif.:Stanford ed. University Society, MichelleZ. Rosaldoand Louise Lamphere(Stanford, and Marilyn eds., Nature,Cultureand Strathern, Press, 1974). Also see Carol MacCormack and Gender(Cambridge: Press, 1980),67-88; MaryDouglas, Purity CambridgeUniversity and Taboo (1966; reprint, London: RoutDanger: An Analysis the ConceptsofPollution of ledge & Kegan Paul, 1978),esp. 101-2; NatalieZ. Davis, "Womenon Top," in Societyand Calif.:Stanford Culturein EarlyModernEurope (Stanford, Press,1975),124-52. University 8 A fewhistorians earlymodern maintain theQuakerswere not that of Englandcurrently was untilthe1660s.Theyarguethat GeorgeFox,whoespousednonviolence, notthe pacifists influential decade alsoarguethat chief leaderofthemovement; many Quakersofthefirst they servedin Cromwell's ofthemovement Reay,The Quakersand theEnglish army.(See Barry carnal Revolution repudiating [London:Temple Smith,1985]. Reayquotes Fox's statement us rashspiritts amongst weregoingeto take that ... and warfare his statement "somefoolish before1661as ambiguous Fox's attitude [41-42]). Whileitis uppe armes,"butcharacterizes and the truethatmanyofthe first including Quakerscame from army thatQuakerprophets, of women prophets,predictedGod's violentpunishment the wicked,it is also true that after eschewedhumanviolence,and thattheydid it systematically 1661. Quakersgenerally of RegardingFox's leadership,anyone readingthe correspondence the period 1653-61, fail collection Friends'House, London,cannot to at in manuscript preserved theSwarthmore and as Fell's importance charismatic organizational shapersofa appreciatehis and Margaret movement. remarkably egalitarian

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1986 / SIGNS Spring

any culturalmodel thatconceivesof humanbehaviorin termsof strict and masculine because it forcesboth feminine polaritiesis problematic artificial In and section of intolimiting largely behavior categories. thefinal workofanthropologists and thisessay,I hope to build on the theoretical the historians redefining feminine qualitiesembodiedin Francis,Fox, by and by suggesting different, a more and Gandhi, and theirfollowers, that mightbe used model of feminineattitudeand activity positive in creatively our own social and politicallife.

Feminine symbolism, feminine behavior

Francis,Fox, and Gandhiwere each aware,in theirrespective ages, ofa in and culturalsymbolism whichauthority the absence of aupervading were often thority expressedin termsofgender.On one hand,theysaw and spiritual masculinefigures political of power,whether pope, king,or On the otherhand,theyand theircontemporaries feminine saw viceroy. used to conveya sense of liminality, thatwere commonly that figures zone wheregeneration decay,orderand chaosmeet. Francis and twilight of knewthepolarity Maryand Eve. Gandhiunderstood doublevisage the and of and ofthegoddessKali,themother devourer all life, he surely knew the of ofthe attainments Ramakrishna, nineteenth-century Indianmystic who overcamethe illusionofpersonalidentity dressing and behaving by likea woman,so muchso thathe was thought be able to menstruate to by the havingperiodicdischargesof blood through pores of his skin. Fox beliefthatwomenhad no souls, recordedin hisjournalthecontemporary and he mayhave been awarethatduring riotsmen sometimes dressedas of women,who were perceivedas living symbols disorder, as Quaker just womenvisionaries wereoften as vesselsofdivineenergy.9 perceived living Given these images, it is not surprising thatwhen Francis, Fox, and Gandhicharacterized condition the truebelieverby the symbol the of of nakedness,each chose to associatethisnakednesswithaspects of femininity. For Francis,truebeliefand "nakedness"came together the belief in that unitywith God was contingent freedomfrompossessions.He on the instructed brothers live without to to hoarding, follow onlythe most insecure and not occupations, tobeg indiscriminately, onlyat thehousesof
Co., it that theAveofthe'AveMaria'wasformed the 1970):"In medieval writings was explained by see simplereversalofthe wordEva" (108). On Ramakrishna, Mehta, 182; and Christopher and His Disciples (1964; reprint, Isherwood,Ramakrishna New York:Simon & Schuster, L. 1970),112-13. On theQuakers,see TheJournal GeorgeFox,ed. John Nickalls of (London: ReligiousSocietyofFriends,1975),8-9. Alsosee Phyllis Mack,"Womenas Prophets during the EnglishCivil War," Feminist Studies8, no. 1 (Spring1982): 19-47. 461 9 JoanMowatErikson, Francisand His Four Ladies (New York:W. W. Norton St. &

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ACTION RADICAL Mack / FEMININE BEHAVIOR,

calls"spiritual writer to therich.Theyshouldtry achievewhatone modern and humble"whohatethemselves one denudation," becoming ofthetruly "0 also preacheda poverty themon thecheek. Francis love himwhostrikes weretolivenotonlywithout the buildings ofintellectual attainment; friars fashion "in books.He spokeofa learnedpostulant a certain butalso without nakedto thearmsofthe himself he so his resigning learning that mayoffer in of One."'1 Finally,Francisdenied thereality status theworld Crucified were to rejoicewhentheyfound his and within own order.The brothers themselves amongmeanand despisedpersons,and no one was to takeon hourthecommand "but or of may theoffice preacher minister, atwhatever without contradiction."'2 be givenhim,he shouldlay downhis office any and economic of all Francisexpressed ofthisnotas elements an abstract whom his social doctrine,but in the feminine image of Lady Poverty, with himself.One near-contemporary story came to identify followers described three poor women whom Francis met on his way to Siena. with theysaid to him."Franciswas overcome "Welcome,Lady Poverty," joy at the wordsin his love fortruepoverty.... It seems thatthe three the beautyofGospel perfection. poor women. .. represented crowning thatFrancisobservedGospel perfecTheirsuddenappearanceindicated and obedience, althoughhe had tion equally in his poverty, chastity, for of chosenthe privilege poverty his specialboast,callingit his mother, "13 his bride, and his lady fair. enough, this crusade in the serviceof Lady Poverty, Appropriately and underminedby many of Francis'scontemporaries by most of his upheld by a woman,Saint Clare.'4The successors,was mostvigorously as persona of Francishimself, it became less humanand more saintly, the toward end ofhis lifehe feminine attributes; assumedmorestrikingly even acquired stigmata,marks of sanctityusually attained only by 15 women. of The seventeenth-century Quakers believed in a philosophy "the of the that fulfillment exalted unity thespiritual a stateofinner inner light," of distinctions wealth, the of community believersand denigrated outward
49. "0Malcolm D. Lambert,FranciscanPoverty (London: Allenson& Co., 1961)_ n Ibid., 62, 65. Also see JohnMoorman, Historyof the FranciscanOrderfromIts A ClarendonPress, 1968), chap. 7. Originsto the Year 1517 (Oxford:
12

13Saint Bonaventure,Major Life of Saint Francis (1263), in Saint Francis of Assisi: Herald ed. and Writings Early Biographies, MarionA. Habig, 3d ed. (Chicago:Franciscan Press, 1973),683-84. 14 for witha rock on outdidFrancis sleeping vinetwigs by Indeed hisdiscipleClare almost of to the a pillow.After deathofFrancis,Clare continued battlethe pope forthe right her 36-37, and poor.See also Moorman, order,called"The OrderofthePoorLadies," to reniain Lambert,73. 15 StudiesintheSpirituality theHighMiddle of CarolineWalkerBynum, Jesusas Mother: of Press, 1982), 172n., 192, 257. Ages (Berkeleyand Los Angeles:University California

50. Lambert,

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1986 / SIGNS Spring

than contemporary rank,and politicalpower. They were less militant wereno less egalitarian. millenThe sects,suchas the Levellers,butthey the niumhad nearly orderwas collapsarrived, Quakerssaid. The natural and ing, and the unlearnedand despised would soon prevail;workers womenwould preach. The Quakers met in privatehouses or in fields.Not only did they of abandon the clothing theirrank,whichwas oftenconsiderable, they often abandonedclothing nakedas a signoftheir altogether, going spiritual nakednessbeforeGod. They counseled againstthe hoarding goods. of social etiquette,so muchso thatmanypotential They repudiatedformal were reluctant embracethe Quakersbecause oftheirreputaconverts to tionas a despised sect. Like thefemale followers Francis, of Quakerwomenexcelledinascetic and behavior."I . .. walk alone as a woman practices,in both writing wroteJoanWhitrowe, respectableLondon matron. have a "I forsaken," withthemthat livedincaves,and indens,anddesolateplacesof fellowship theEarth,ofwhomtheWorldwas notworthy."'6 Preacher BarbaraBlaugdone was a former witharistocratic schoolteacher friends independent and means. In orderto subdue her prideand love ofcomfort, insisted she on preachingonly in places where she was not respected. One can only she made as she haranguedthe public in speculate on the impression the before."7 Bridgewater, havingslept in a pig trough night to theirarguments, the Although theyoftencited Scripture buttress formal as Quakersrepudiated learning a meansofattaining grace. When Rebecca Travers, educated,middle-class an a matron, questioned Quaker leaderin matters theology, toldherto"feednoton knowledge.. . . it of he is as truly forbidden thee,as everitwas to Eve. It is good to lookupon, to but not to feed on, forhe who feedson knowledge dies to the innocent life.T' At timestheyeven repudiated formal One male Quaker, thinking. whofelt calltospeakata meeting wasafraid, the and forced himself think to about the subjectand immediately spirit him. "I saw I could do the left he nothing, having quenchedthespirit," wrote,"and I was undertrouble
and exercise for my disobedience. "19

One way the Quakersexpressedthissense of social and intellectual was by castingvisionary women as livingsymbolsof Christian nullity
16 The Joan AddressoftheWidowWhitrowe KingWilliam Whitrowe, Humble to (London, 1689), 13, as listedin Catalog of BooksPrinted England,Scotland,Ireland, Wales, and in British America, 1641-1700,ed. Donald Wing(New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press,1945), vol. 3, no. 2033. 17 Mabel Brailsford, QuakerWoman,1650-1690(London:Duckworth Co., 1915),esp. & 175-76. 18Ibid., 254. 19 Story,Life, quoted in Luella Wright, Christopher The LiteraryLife of the Early Friends,1650-1725 (New York:Columbia University Press, 1932), 228.

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RADICAL ACTION Mack / FEMININE BEHAVIOR,

benakednessor foolishness, arguingnot thatwomen shouldprophesy because "God cause theyare the equals of men, but thattheyprophesy a or makesuse oftheweak."20 Quakerswhohad attained stateofsalvation, sometimes who had acquired"the innerlight," theyhad spokeas though women declared that they stood before shed their gender altogether; that Christas men, and men declared,metaphorically, theyhad become 21 women. of of visiblemanifestationtheconcept nakedness ofcourse, The most is, to Like Francis,Gandhifound of therenunciation property. unity spiritual from be closelyassociatedwithfreedom possessions.When he died, he owneda loincloth,a pairofsandals,a book,a replicaofthethreemonkeys, a He based else.22 advocated kindofeconomic and almost populism nothing of and on villageagriculture the domestic production homespuncloth,or as the khadi.He spentmuchenergy considering uses ofhumanexcrement to He fertilizer. opposed formaleducation,refusing give his children his of He for training anyprofession. dramatized rejection caste structure Unand treating on tasks,such as cleaninglatrines by taking degrading of touchables; his own nakedness;and by the"feminine" activity spinby practiceeveryday. He spokeofthese ning,whichhe made his followers boththecastesystem as and activities programs partofa campaign against and that primary was apolitical his rule.Buthe also insisted and British goal spiritual;to negate all personaldesire and to embrace the practiceof "23 ahimsa,"a positivestateoflove, ofdoinggoodeven totheevil-doer. He and also believed thathe could attainthisstateby becomingphysically and morelikea woman:"[Women's]lovewas selfless motherly, spiritually and the from demandsofchildbearing childrearing. Theywere stemming for had a greater thanmen,because they morevirtuous capacity suffering, for and for fact, nonviolence. Theywere therefaith, forrenunciation-in forebetterqualifiedthanmen to preachthe artofpeace to the warring "24 world. Gandhi believed that,once he had attainedthe state of true wouldchangetheir appearanceandcometo ahimsa,even hissexualorgans resemblethoseof a woman.25
Fell, "Women's SpeakingJustified," quoted in Mack (n. 9 above), 29. Margaret churchquoted St. Paul's injunction of Mack, 37-38: "When the minister a country it 'she deniedthat was thevoiceofa womanwho to womenpreaching a local prophet, against spoke, but said thatit was the voice of the Spiritof God.'" Three hundredyearsearlier, to referred Clare as Brother Francishabitually (Erikson,85). Jacomine 22Louis Fischer,The LifeofMahatmaGandhi(1950;reprint, New York:Harper& Row, 404. facing 1983), photograph 23Mehta (n. 1 above), 183. 24Ibid., 182. " 25Gandhiwrotethatin an elevatedspiritual willbeginto state, 'Even his sexualorgans of . lookdifferent. . . The cultivated impotency themanwhosesexualdesirehas been burnt intovitalforce. . . is to be desiredby are up and whose sexualsecretions beingconverted sex)" (Mehta, 182). everybody.' (Gandhiassumedthatwomengot no pleasurefrom
20
21

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1986 / SIGNS Spring

of There was another,morepositivedimension the condition outof wardand inwardnakednessthatwas associatedwiththesemovements of the as to communitas: imageofsalvation a return the bliss ofinfancy. By and Francisand Gandhi were theircapacityforsimplicity playfulness, of as child,wrappedin theloving prototypes theworshiper a naked,erring of and motherhood God. Atthesametime,thenurturing healing behavior of all threemen gave theiradherents tasteof God's limitless a maternal care.The Quakersbelievedthat offer salvation madetoall,and it the of was was made "withas greatcheerfulness willingness, a hen gatherest and as her chickens.Such as is the love and care ofthe hen towards brood, her such is the care ofChristto gather lostmen and women."26 Gandhiwas a healer and feederof everyonewho came withinhis spiritual orbit. He needed it. One of his dispensedgarlicas medicineto thosehe thought remembered adopted "children" that,"like a good host,Bapu knewthe smallest habitsand preferences each ofhisguests.He neverforgot of who likedcream,wholikedcurds,and wholikedmilk."27 whenhe saw Francis, an older brother himself withfasting much,was reputedto too afflicting have said,"ifthat brother wouldeat someripegrapesearly themorning in I believe itwoulddo himgood." Francistookthemanto thevineyard and himself the "Andwhilethey began eating,so as notto embarrass brother. were eatingthe friar was cured, and together theypraisedthe Lord."28 Clare once had a visionthatshe was walking towardFrancis: When she reached Saint Francis, he bared his breast saying: Andhaving suckedtheSaintexhorted "Come, takeand drink." her to do so again: which doing what she sucked was so sweet and that delightful she could in no waydescribeit. Andhaving sucked, thatroundness, themouth thepap from or of which milk the flowed remainedin the mouthofblessed Clare; and iftakenin the hand what had remainedin her mouthseemed something and bright in whichall could be seen as in a mirror, whichshe saw in shining her own reflection.29 For Francis,Fox, and Gandhi,the safety totalimmersion God of in could be experienced only as the culmination a process of selfof annihilation and the negationof all earthly structures; political,social, mental,even anatomical.Such a radicalconception humannakedness of
26 AnApologyfor TrueChristian the ... Divinity ofthePeopleCalled Quakers,quotedin Gadt (n. 1 above), 208. Thiswas originally in publishedin Philadelphia 1908(quote on 155).

27

The Mirrorof Perfection, quoted in Erikson(n. 9 above), 65. 29Archivum vol. 13, quoted in Erikson,90. On the association foodwith Historicum, of femalesaints,see Caroline Bynum,"Fast, Feast and Flesh: The ReligiousSignificance of Food to Medieval Women," Representations (Summer1985): 1-25. 6
28

17-18. Mehta,

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ACTION RADICAL Mack / FEMININE BEHAVIOR,

levels.Andsinceboththe musthave been a threatening concepton many and the shelterofGod's love were embodied,forall soul's homelessness that their three men, in symbolsof womanhood,it is not surprising It towardactualwomenwere ambivalent. is truethatall three attitudes the men affirmed equalityofthe sexes in "real" life:Francisdefiedcanon the law in orderto establish OrderofthePoorLadies, led byClare, and he to withClare's conventin opposition manyof the relations maintained to as Clare herself a healerand sendingpatients even revering brothers, the of Fox hertobe touched;30 defended right Quakerwomentopreachand over of evenagainst toholdindependent many hisownfollowers; meetings or two hundredwomenwere activeas missionaries prophets duringthe Gandhi supportedthe rightof latterhalfof the seventeenth century;31 of and his advocacyofthe validity women to workand to enterpolitics, womenintothepolitical in in Indianmarriages SouthAfrica 1913brought time.32 arena forthe first in But each man's supportof womenwas bolsteredby faith his own desireand bythebeliefthatwomen,in their to humility ability transcend withClare was would help himdo it. Francis'srelationship and chastity, of in conducted an atmosphere complete, out-of-the-body ecstacy.Gandhi of and bowed to whathe feltto be the superior humility chastity women, but his relationswith themwere still markedby his absolute control; and withnakedgirls quizzingthemon their of his witness practice sleeping The Quakers were reactionsto his seventy-seven-year-old presence.33 but accused of sexual immorality theircontemporaries, in factone by of was in of precondition women'seminence themovement theability both the Quakers men and women to containtheirown sexuality. Although ministers married,it was theirpolicyforcouples to preach separately, becamea loving of withothers thesamesex. Fox himself spiritual traveling whether husbandto Margaret marriage Fell, butwhenaskedbya Puritan that hadn'tgiven he Fox of the was onlyfor procreation children, answered as "I a the matter thought: judged such things below me," he said.34 the In short,while each man affirmed equalityofwomen-or, more of the precisely, irrelevance gender-and whileeach felta richappreciaall spirit, threemen tion,even awe, at whathe tookto be the feminine and believed that they had to sustaina balance of spiritualintensity
30Moorman(n. 11 above), 36-37. 31 Gadt, 2-3; Mack, 24. 32 Mehta, 126. 33Mehta (n. 1 above), 90-97. Gandhi defendedhimself a letterto his interpreter, in of that Nirmal any implied assumption Bose, "I amamazedatyour assumption myexperiment was 'inferior' She woman'sinferiority. wouldbe, ifI lookeduponherwithlust. . . . My wife whenshe laywithme nakedas of whenshe was theinstrument mylust.She ceased tobe that my sister"(quoted in Mehta, 191). 34Gadt, 108-9.

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distancein theirrelations withactualwomen.One ofFrancis's emotional even impliesthatClarewas puton earth as biographers mainly a challenge to Francis's virtue;"For saintsas forheroes the supreme stimulusis woman'sadmiration."35 as Eventually, Franciscansand Quakers gained in footholds theirrespective of societies,the activeparticipation women was rejectedmoreand more.ManyFranciscan brothers opposedFrancis's visits Clare during lifetime, theconvent eventually to his and was forced to madethesisters enclosednuns.36 accepta papal rulethat completely Many male Quakersopposed Fox's establishment women'smeetings-focusof on to ing, significantly, women's authority approve marriages.Quaker womencontinuedto preachduringthe eighteenth but century, without theinstitutional of buttress an independent and access to meeting without the meeting for business. And whereas seventeenth-century women visionaries wereoften as described young, as mothers young or of children, eighteenth-century preacherstended to be middle-agedwidows and grandmothers.37

Communitasreviewed
the of Lookingat the Franciscans, Quakers,and the followers Gandhias it expressionsof communitas, is easy to see why Turner called them movements transition. writesthat"spontaneous of He communitas a is condition. practice, course,theimpetus In of soon phase,nota permanent becomes exhausted,and the 'movement'becomes itselfan institution one and amongotherinstitutions-often morefanatical militant thanthe to rest,forthe reasonthatit feelsitself be theunique bearerofuniversal"38 humantruths. It is also easyto see why womenare transitional in figures to prominence the earlystages of in manyradicalmovements, coming withthe reemergence strucfervor, of egalitarian recedingintoobscurity ture.One can even understand Turner liminal movements why disparages whileasserting dialecticalnatureoftheirrelationship social structhe to ture:"The moment digging a stickis set in the earth,a coltbrokenin, a ofwolvesdefendedagainst, a humanenemyset by his heels, we or pack have thegermsofa socialstructure. Thisis notmerely set ofchainsin the whichmeneverywhere buttheverycultural meansthat are, the preserve and as of dignity liberty, well as thebodilyexistence, everyman,woman
35 Paul Sabatier,Lifeof Saint Francis ofAssisi,trans.Louise Seymour Houghton(New York:Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935), 148. 36 Rosalind Brookeand Christopher L. B. N. Brooke,"SaintClare,"in MedievalWomen, ed. Derek Baker (Oxford: Basil Blackwell,1978), 275-87. 37 of Dictionary QuakerBiography, FriendsHouse, London.Survey Phyllis MS, Mack. by 38 Turner(n. 3 above), 112.

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ACTION RADICAL BEHAVIOR, Mack / FEMININE

of the and child. . . . [s]incethebeginnings prehistory, evidencesuggests man."39 thatsuch means are whatmakesman mostevidently need periodic, Turnerseemsto say,cultures In other words, invigorataffirmations universalhuman of momentary ing doses of communitas, withcultural from ofparticular that humans and dignity onenessas distinct but in the last analysisit is the identitiesand political relationships; feminine wheel-not love-that makestheworld round.In this context, go mightbe seen as a kind of reserveideology,put on ice and symbolism as someperiods, intopractice as or treated put during simply myth folklore in womenthemselves humanactivity others.40 a modelfor might Religious in of be viewedas a kindofreservearmy spiritual labor,brought to affirm and misasceticpractices and dangerous principles accomplish egalitarian when these workduringperiodsofradicalsocial change,laid off sionary are activities no longertimely.4' Perhapsthisis howwe shouldunderstand whowas responsible starting along for thecase ofone MaryStarbuck, and, with other women, sustaining Quakerismon the island of Nantucket duringthe yearswhen the men were gone whaling:when the meeting as it recognition was established a men'sbusinessmeetgot finally official to accountsrefer the heroicleadershipand selfing. Modern historical other womenand thengo on todescribethe and of sacrifice Starbuck many of men who were the "real" founders Quakerismin the Americancolonies.42 of and aboutmovements communitas theplace of Thiswayofthinking even feminine elementswithinthemhas the virtueof being clear-cut, But in bracing, itscynicism. it is also one-sided;indeedithas to be, given Turner describes of thecategories Turner's people, institutions, typology. another. speaksof or He as one thing wholly and forms behavior wholly of or as even whole movements beingeitherstructured rituals, individuals, The earlyFranor or hierarchical egalitarian, formless, aggressive pacific. of be must,in thistypology, movements ciscans,Quakers,and Gandhians the to in antistructure contrast theirgoal-oriented contemporaries, Dominicans(organizedto combatheresy),the Puritans (organizedto make to Indian (organized reform Englanda cityofGod), or theCongressParty politicsand expel the British).
39Ibid., 140.

PhilipCarl Salzman,"Ideologyand Change in Middle EasternTribalSocieties,"Man, n.s., 13 (1978): 618-37. 41 In of theory England,e.g., thatwould have been when the development patriarchal and bothirrelevant dangerous.For a made communalmodels and femalepublicauthority Harmondsof (1971;reprint, generaldiscussion thisidea, see I. M. Lewis,EcstaticReligions worth:PenguinBooks, 1975), 3-4. 42 Colonies (London: For example,see RufusM. Jones,The Quakers in the American Macmillan& Co., 1911), 280.
40 For an interesting in of discussion thisphenomenon another culture,see

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Not only does the paradigmof structure/antistructureculture/ (or of it a nature) encourage one-sidedinterpretationthematerial; mayalso be in sexist in its implications.Definingfemininity negativeterms(as a that or associatedwithmovements rejectprevailing structures), in symbol that of terms globalcollectivity in movements espouse universal (as equalforcein any movement-the ityand love), impliesthatthe real driving of of the organization, vitalenergy the leader, the actualplan forreform And of societyor spirit-mustbe associatedwithsymbols masculinity. it of fail, impliesthatwhen movements communitas theydo so because of elements.43 theirfeminine that thatnoneofthethreemovements I have been The fact though, is, modesofexercisfailed.Of course,theyrejectedconventional discussing but and personalcontact; one ofthe mostarresting ingauthority limiting is effecabout Franciscans, things Quakers,and Gandhians their worldly and with whichtheseavowedly tiveness-the competence vigor apolitical, even whimsical establishment otherworldly, people tookon the worldly For the and sustained lifeoftheircommunities. in fact, Francis,Fox, and in of Gandhidid notrejectgoalsorprograms favor a formless, impractical, and love-in: followers salvation and and cathartic they their sought spiritual on and personalrelationships social reform focusing domesticvirtues by church rather thanformal or publicauthority, organization, monastic rule, to of and and by adhering a fluidstrategy negotiation self-sacrifice rather have been aggressive, thanan abstract and inflexible, policythatmight violent.All threegroupssteereda middlecoursebetweenthe potentially elitismofa revolutionary and the democracy a worldturned of vanguard down. They cared less about ramifications doctrine of thanabout upside ofcommunication: and Francis,through techniques publicpreaching the establishment a new orderthatwas neither norclerical;Quakers, of lay a of for through system doublemeetings ("threshing" meetings thepublic, silentmeetings Friends);and Gandhi,through for and popular journalism of demonstrations satyagraha "In satyagraha, public (truth force). dogma of The objectiveis notto assert giveswayto an open exploration context. but to create possibilities. . . The process forcesa con. propositions, examination one's own motives,an examination of undertaken tinuing withinthe contextof relationships theyare changedtowardsa new, as and restructured, reintegrated pattern.Satyagraha goes well beyondthe tactics strike, of and other limited efforts charactersit-in, pressure fasting, isticof passive resistance."44 might One indeed theiradherents did say,
43Turnerinterprets Francis'simportance in exclusively termsof the saint'sviews on He Francis's poverty. emphasizes "deficiencies a legislator" as to (142)andhisinability makea rule forthe orderthatwould stick. 44 JoanV. Bondurant, The GandhianPhilosophy Conflict ConquestofViolence: of (1958; of reprint, Berkeley:University California Press, 1971), vii.

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of of say,thattheyraisedtheprinciple theinterrelatedness all people to a the higherlevel in thattheysucceeded in projecting personal,affective existenceintothe public sphere. of relationships everyday have alwaysbeen aware that moveHistoriansand anthropologists mentssuch as these have a unique and positiveenergy;but, unable to to theyhave often categories, according conventional analyzethisenergy thatare eithervague (the notionof some exotic to resorted explanations Band-aidifthereeverwas one) or superpersonalcharisma-a theoretical thatthe earlyQuakerssucceededin businesswhile thus,observing ficial; theyconclude thatQuakersjust were not practicing extolling poverty, and social for whattheypreached.We need a typology a kindofpolitical of notion order,one to thatis disordered behavior onlyinrelation a specific needs for thatencompassesthe Quakers'skillat providing theirmaterial alongside theirrejectionof materialwealthand encompassesGandhi's of his demonstrations of orchestration peaceful alongside rejection political the between,say, politics.Perhapswe shouldformulate difference party of the that of and Puritans Quakersbya typology groups emphasize pursuit and that formal fixed organizations are moreorless militant, goalsthrough as of and socialharmony extensions concrete, groupsthatperceivetruth experienceand tend to equate ends withmeans. personal

A "feminine" model foractivism

that modesofmoral havearguedthat thinking emphasize Moderntheorists are over logicand principle preand concretecircumstance relationship element of I feminine.45 want to argue that this feminine dominantly Franciscans,Quakers,and Gandhiansis of greatrelevanceforour own relifeminine perhaps,thantheiruse oftraditional politicallife;greater, women.And toward attitudes liberated ortheir relatively gioussymbolism a to moralthinking construct on I wantto focus one aspectofthisfeminine creativepoliticalstyle;a thatgraspsthe three leaders' highly typology in and associated, ourowntime,withactive of typology thinking behavior parenthood.46
45Carol Gilligan,In a Different Press, Voice (Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversity Studies no. 2 (Summer Feminist 1980):346, and 6, "Maternal Thinking," 1982).SaraRuddick, of Womenin theInterests Peace," Signs:Journal Women of the "Pacifying Forces: Drafting Public is in Cultureand Society no. 3 (1983):471-89. Also relevant JeanBethkeElshtain, 8, Press, 1981), chap. 6. University N.J.: Princeton Man, PrivateWoman(Princeton, 46Whatfollows notan argument biological of nor for determinism, is ita discussion the is and Puritans the If put the as or family parenting social institutions. anything, Lutherans the thanthe Quakersdid, Lutheremphasizing moreat the centeroftheirtheology family father of the Calvinemphasizing importance thepatriarchal of importance marriage, spiritual been associatedwithchild to as the family's emissary God. Since womenhave traditionally
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I to feminine By "activeparenthood" am notreferring the traditional of symbolism God as Mother-"Mother"beingonewhogivesunmediated, love and nurturance, acrossthebarriers createdby cutting unquestioning ethicalstandards socialhierarchies. or Francis,Fox, and Gandhiwere,as we have seen, powerful of but preachers God as Mother;47 thistraditional image was no more the whole essence of theirtruththan it is forany modernparent.48 would like to defineparenthood onlyas a way of not I but and feeling as a wayofthinking; notonlyas a stateofbeingbutalsoas an activediscipline.On thisunderstanding, parentmight describedas a be one who strives be bothreliableand flexible, to nurture and combining a of and from judgment.A parentfollows rhythm feeling actionthatshifts minute minute, to the needsandmoodsofchildren; tracking unpredictable but she also seeks to shape and directthatrhythm to integrate and these domesticand teachingactivities withher own strictly adult, or public, concerns. More than most educatorsor psychologists, archetypal our thatthe mostvigilant solicihumble;she recognizes parentis profoundly tude and the most advanced theoryof child rearingcannot guarantee or nor or againstemotional physical catastrophe, can educators psycholowhenit happens. More thanmostpolitigistsfully explaina catastrophe cians or public leaders, a parentlives withthe ambiguity benevolent of In a authority. her daily relationswith her child-particularly young child-she is both masterand slave. She experiencesan awarenessof held in checkand learnsthe resilience physical poweralmostcontinually
and the bulkofthe historical literature the family on rearing, quotes men,notwomen,it is to of impossible saywhichelements childcareare uniqueto themodern, middle-class family and whichelementswere sharedby thecultures medievalor earlymodernEurope, or of of India. (For an extendeddiscussion parent-child of see relations, Linda A. Pollock,Forgotten Children:Parent-Child Relations from1500 to 1900 [Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity whileimagesofparenthood childhood Press,1983]. Pollockarguesthat and havevariedover of time,the actualpractice parenting and has been virtually same acrosstimeperiods is the and cultures.) 47 Franciswas reported have said, "thatcourtesy one ofthe "Know, beloved friar," to is attributes God, who givethHis sun and His rainto the just and to the unjust,through of and is to the courtesy; Courtesy ownsister Charity, which hate love distinguishes and keepeth alive" (ThomasofCelano, LifeofSaintFrancisofAssisi,quotedin Erikson[n. 9 above],65). "In almostmotherly writesa historian the Quakers,"thisstylewas to become a of fashion," definitive characteristic womenas mothers thelateeighteenth of in century-Fox'expressed no authority overevil, and that. . . withlove, compassion, but "' and longsuffering'(Gadt [n. 1 above], 185). 48 It is interesting that,while male Cistercians the twelfth in century depictedGod the Motherin the conventional way I have described,a numberofthirteenth-century women did mystics not.The menassociatedengendering authority fatherhood nursing and with and with motherhood. love as "automatic" They also saw maternal and "ethically irrational" (Bynum [n. 15 above], 122, 158). The nuns saw it differently; Gertrudeof Helfta, for God means. . . discipline testing. mother "frequently as mother and A sometimes.. . for its own good, denies a child something wants"(Bynum,189-90). it

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Mack / FEMININE RADICAL ACTION BEHAVIOR,

thatcomesfrom theblowsthat contemplated notgiven.She also all are but learnsthefutility beingtheundisputed of winner overherchildin a battle ofwillsorofbodies. She controls coercesone whomshe also cherishes and and worksto set free. A farmore sophisticated of has typology maternal thinking been deSaraRuddick, whowrites for that, her,"'maternal' velopedbyphilosopher is a social category: maternal arisesout ofactualchildAlthough thinking is nor sufficient. caringpractices,biologicalparenting neithernecessary in kindsof Manywomenand somemenexpressmaternal thinking various and . working caringwithothers.And some biologicalmothers .. takea defensivedistancefrom theirown mothering the maternal and fearful, was Gandhi,whoserelations livesofanywomen."49 Such a parent withhis Yet by biological childrenwere unsuccessful any standard.50 Gandhi's followers the widerpublic correand behaviortowardbothhis intimate in parent at leasttwoways:hisintegraspondedto thatofourhypothetical withthe rhythm his widerpolitical of tionofpersonal,domesticactivity but evenhumorous toward and life, hisself-abnegating persuasive, posture Gandhielevatedthe tasksofdailylifeto a holydiscithose in authority. in pline. He did notleave thecaresofthehousehold orderto contemplate higherthings,as it appears most other Indian ascetics-indeed most truth revolutionaries-do.For Gandhiand his spiritual family, emerged of out ofthe mundaneactivities eating,cleaning,sleeping,even defecatalternated with periods of domestic ing. Days of silent contemplation in of restraint flourished an atmosphere The practice physical of busyness. Personalchoiceswere givenpolitical totalphysical significance; intimacy. that hence, Gandhi'spolicyofblessingonlythosemarriages crossedclass lines. leadersand the British showeda withIndianparty Gandhi'srelations
49Ruddick,"MaternalThinking," 346. She asks,"Do women,who now rightfully claim and of the instruments public power,have cultures, traditions, inquirieswhichwe should to describesthetheory self of insist Judith KeganGardiner uponbringing thepublicworld?" suitable feminist for because it"integrate[s] with as thinking empathy psychology particularly bond as mature,not infantile, and as history."The theorydescribes the mother/child Self psychology also "elevates empathyto an culturally-notbiologically-determined. UniWomenReaders,and Female Identity," adultgoal" ("MaternalMetaphors, important of versity Illinoisat Chicago, 1985; [3], [14], unpaginated). 50Erik Erikson,Gandhi's Truth(New York:W. W. Norton& Co., 1969), "The Past" to trying (97-227), and 243. It has been arguedthatFrancisand Gandhiwereunconsciously realmwhattheywere incapableofin real life.One accountdepicts achieve in the spiritual he of Francis"beset withtemptations the flesh, whereupon rushedout intothe snowand thesebe twosons sevensnowheaps. 'Behold,'he said,'thislarger fashioned heap is mywife, and manand maid.Nowbestir clothethem, two and and twodaughters, theother be a serving careson their behalf trouble withcold. Butifmanifold be for thee,thenbe thou they perishing to careful servetheOne Lord'" (SaintBonaventure, 83). quotedinJ.Erikson, On Gandhi,see E. Erikson,237-44. 472

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of and that combination pragmatism intransigence confounded everybody, He includinghis own supporters. and his followers deliberately sought while simultaneously withthe authorities. martyrdom negotiating They on whileaffirming their ignoredlaws thattheyrepudiated moralgrounds to of from loyalty the state.Theysought positions strength onlyto refrain was whenthosewhopracticed were it usingforce: "Satyagraha at itsheight in a position, theyoften as but were, to use violenceeffectively refrained from doing so and invitedsuffering upon themselves."51Gandhi'spriorhumanneeds rather thanto thedictates an of ity-to respondto particular abstract of or reform-was evident his in program spiritual growth political to who disagreedwithhim:"In thequest for ability workwithopponents . . . truth, in itspropagation, is . . . notpossible... to inflict and it harm on others.In so behaving,truth itself would lose its meaning.He who claimsa different version truth of from satyagrahi's the mustbe converted mustre-examine by gentleness.Meanwhile,the satyagrahi continuously hisownposition-for opponent his thanhe. ... maybe closertothetruth The objectiveof satyagraha to win the victory is over the conflict situation-to discoverfurther truths and to persuade the opponent,not to over him."52 triumph Like Gandhinearly threecenturies later,the Quakersexaltedhuman needs as partand parceloftheir In publicactivities. 1665,Joan Whitrowe, a Quaker preacherlivingin London, was commandedby God to go to Bristoland call the people to repentance.She went on foot,wearing sackcloth ashes,and returned nextdaytoherhusbandand family, and the includinga year-oldbaby who was still nursing.5The fact that Joan Whitroweand manyotherQuakers chose to recordand publishthese indicates for personal aspectsoftheir was experiences that, them, dailylife not merelysomething be transcended martyrdom in an ecstatic to in or trance. On the contrary; the Quakers, like the followers Gandhi, of and warmth their of strongly emphasizedtheintegrity emotional personal both as a reflection the harmony of thatflowedfrom relationships, the presence of "the inner light" and as a moral message to the wider of for Hence, theimportance providing theeconomicneeds community.54
27-28. Bondurant, Ibid., 33. Ruddicksays,"Mothers particular in have . . . developeda theory conflict of from militant's the accountofjust wars. Although quite distinct and psychological physical violenceis a temptation a frequent and occurrence maternal in mothers nonetheless practice, learn in a dailyway to choose peace over combatand, ifpeace fails,to fight mostbattles without to of resorting violence. The theory conflict thatmaternal thinkers develop bears remarkable to Bothrefuse separatemeansfrom similarity thatofpacifists. to ends; bothwish to treat 'enemies'as opponents with whomone struggles . . and toseekreconciliation . rather thanvictory" the ("Pacifying Forces," 482). 53Whitrowe 16 above), 9-13. (n. 54See Howard Brinton, Friends 300 Years (New York:Harper& Bros., 1952), esp. for
52 51

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ACTION RADICAL BEHAVIOR, Mack / FEMININE

of thatFox placed on the institution ofpoor Friendsand the importance the to the marriage-giving women'smeetingauthority determine spirof for itualreadiness marriage every coupleamongtheQuakerswhowas so inclined. of in of Hence also theimportance friendship theearlySociety Friends. "It a to In a testimony ElizabethStirredge, maleQuakerwrote, was herlot to manytimeswhenshe came to ourmeeting lodge at myhouse, mydear and . mother . . and she beingveryintimate friends, heartily lovingeach it whichI also loved,for was pleasant,and herdiscourse other's company, to was edifying me."55 was, in manyrespects,a Quaker prophecyitself oftendone in prison, Many writings, cooperativeand collectiveeffort. were composed and signed by several people. Numerousaccountsof to a whoaccompanied prophet prison, a mention friend although sufferings she had feltno inwardcall to speak herself. to It is important understand that,whilethesecollective experiences or emotionaland cathartic, were certainly theywere not undisciplined of methods detersuccessful The Quakersdevelopedhighly unconscious. miningwhattheycalled the "sense of the meeting"in orderto achieve of truthconsensus-the resolution a problemwith no winnersand no losers-methods that are still in use.56The Quakers also developed the and fornegotiating for strategies collectingand dispensingcharity an More important, release ofprisoners. theydisplayed unusualand very towardthose in and assertiveness of successfulcombination humility lawsthat but apolitical, theyignored power.The Quakerswere avowedly but theyaggrestheirprinciples.They preachednonviolence, offended with adherents. their the and courtedmartyrdom triedto fill prisons sively a a establishing Theyalso exhibited finesenseofthepowerofpropaganda, that meetingfor"sufferings" collectedand publisheddetailsof outrages on Alongsideall of this by perpetrated the government Quakervictims. of the meeting began a program legal education,reenergeticpacifism, for cruitinglawyersto negotiatewith the magistrates the release of
prisoners.57

of and publiclifeand a linking of a We find similar integration personal

and of of discussion Quakerintegration withdrawal sociallife."TheleadingQuakers 62-65, for of themselves a variety occupa. and been fathers mothers . . supporting by have generally journeyto the Light tions.There is no recordofa recluseamongthem"(65). "The negative followed thepositive was invariably journeyto theneedy,butgood,world"(64). Brinton by of withthe individualism the earlyProtestants (45). thisQuaker attitude contrasts 55ElizabethStirredge, in in "Strength WeaknessManifest," The FriendsLibrary:Comand DoctrinalTreatises, Other Society of Writings Members theReligious of Journals, prising Philadelphia,1838), vol. 2, preface. of Friends,2d ed. (1746; reprint, chap. 6, "ReachingDecisions." 221-23; Gadt (n. 1 above), 319; Brinton, 56Bondurant, Conn.: 57 ArnoldLloyd, Quaker Social History, 1669-1738 (1950; reprint, Westport, GreenwoodPress, 1979), 83-85. 474

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and in thesevalueswithfeminine symbolism behavior thecareerofFrandrawnto a life of strict asceticismand isolation,Francis cis. Although God had spokento himthrough decided, after Clare, to live in theworld established rulesfor ordering the One and preach.58 ofhisearly of writings brothers. "Two ofthemshouldbe of hermitages, consisting threeor four or wroteFrancis,"and shouldhavetwo'children,' at leastone. 'mothers,'" and will twothelifeofMary." The former lead thelifeofMartha, theother in the and Marysymbolizing, biblicalexegesis, activeand contem(Martha Francis also establishedthe Order of the Penitentsto plative life.)59 commitments accommodate thosewhosefamily obligedthemtoliveinthe In worldbutwhoaspiredto theidealsofFranciscan poverty.60 hisdealings he with authorities wasat oncemeekandassertive. appealedto He worldly his to thepope for a permission start ownorderbydescribing poorwoman and in the desertwho was verybeautiful who married king.When her a the sonsarrived court, king at toldthemthat wouldprovide all ofthe he for sonswhomshe had borne. "Veryholyfather," added Francis,"I am this and poorwomanwhomGod in his love has deignedto makebeautiful, of whomhe has been pleased to have lawful sons.The KingofKingshas told all me thathe willprovidefor the sonswhichhe mayhave ofme, forifhe sustains howmuchmorehislegitimate sons."6 Just did Francis so bastards, assurethepope oftheorder's obedienceand ofhisinsistence theorder that be independent, rule. And, in fact,the subjectto Francis'sown written Franciscans were theonlyradicalgroupoftheperiodto avoidprosecution forheresy. Surelypartoftheappeal ofFrancis,Fox, and Gandhito their disciples was based on theirability be simultaneously to of and figures authority of intimate association. And surely publicachievements all threemen the of stemmed from their to a toward thosein ability present modelofbehavior thatthemodelof powerthatwas bothpliantand heroic.I have suggested structure communitas, culture and or and nature, less helpful appreis in these qualitiesthanthe modelofparenthood because a successful ciating she the even parenthas to be bothhardand soft; integrates mostminute, degradingdetails of daily life into an overall conceptionof adulthood toward whichbothshe and herchildmuststrive. many For she children, is also a linkbetweentheprivate worldofhomeand thewider,publicworld in whichshe earns theirliving.Consciously not,a parentsynthesizes or
58 Ugolino di Monte Santa Maria, The LittleFlowers of Saint Francis, trans.Raphael Brown,in Habig (see n. 13 above), 1267-1530,and chap. 16, "How God Revealed to Saint Clare and Brother Silvester That Saint FrancisShould Go and Preach" (1334-38). 59Quoted inJohn Fleming, Introduction theFranciscan V. An to Literature theMiddle of Ages (Chicago: FranciscanHerald Press, 1977), 8-9. 60Sabatier,156-57; Moorman, 40-41. 61 Sabatier,98.

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the and as communitas structure, sheexperiences trials and culture, nature and pleasuresofa singleday. habits to domestic to and It seemsappropriate satisfying attempt bring and behaviorintothe intellectual ofthought sphereas Francis,Fox, and themintothe sphereof sociallifeand politics.It is also Gandhibrought theseparticular to indeed,anymovement movements; gratifying resurrect is behavior and of structures authority advocates that egalitarian challenges women,who have never reallyshared in creating verylikelyto attract It those structures. may also be thatat the presenthistorical moment, of bred by the structures nationor class seem likelyto when conflicts threatenour very existence,many people are especiallyreceptiveto creativetechand and thatdevalue structure hierarchy offer movements for publicbehavior.The problem contemponiques ofnonconfrontational to we is or feminists peace activists notthat are toobourgeois comprerary of the hend or imitate achievements theseradicalmen and womenofthe the or past,but thatwe are too secular.We tendto overlook discount fact of thatthe energyand self-assurance Francisor Clare or Gandhias they submission an even higher to from their thosein powersprang confronted relapower-that of God; and thattheirabilityto sustainunformalized tionshipsamong their adherents-even forone lifetime-sprangfrom timeitself. realmthattranscended of in their faith theexistence a spiritual male modelofthe narrow-minded, Those ofus who rejectthe traditional of lovelessrevolutionary try co-optthepolitical style Gandhi may to rigid, In faith. doingso, we stillfacea to reference their or Fox without religious of and unity the cooperation problemofauthority: problemofsustaining of makeus critical powervestedin whenourdeepest convictions purpose of are others-even whenthoseothers ourheroes-and distrustful power vested in ourselves. housepermissive Parents,especiallythosein modern,middle-class, oftheir this confront problemofauthority lives,whether everyday holds, of or not theychoose to thinkabout it, and regardless theirsuccess or the it. in failure solving In itsbestmoments, parent/child (and, relationship or otherkindsofworking forthatmatter, relationships friendships) many and of can producethe simultaneous specific, recognition an immediate, of or in expertise experience,and a conviction the inequality temporary unheroicexperiother'sfundamental equality.In thisway the ordinary, in as ence ofparenthood mayhavemuchtooffer a sourceofinsight thinking whenit seems particuabout our publicbehaviorat a timein our history of among larlyurgentto considerforms social and politicalinteraction, thanescalate,conflict.62 rather to work mediate, equals andnonequals,that
62 For a discussion nonheroic toward modelsand the ambivalenceofmanyfeminists of modelsforfeminist as behavior,see Berenice Fisher,"Who relationships potential family vol. 3, no. 1, issue9, 10-13. Alsosee CarolineWhitbeck, Needs WomenHeroes?" Heresies,

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All ofthisis notto espouse the sanctity motherhood the uniqueof or nor thoseVictorian feminists nessofparental who compassion, toresurrect triedto turnthe whole worldintoa livingroom.Justthe opposite:the behaviorof Francis,Fox, and Gandhisuggests that"feminine" domestic and habitsofthought activity be transposed thepublicsphereand into may of into effective forms activism both womenand transformed highly by men. One mighteven speculatethatthese feminine modes of behavior and political for gainedmoral Fox, and Gandhibecause credibility Francis, In thatwe theywere being used creatively men.63 anycase, I suggest by the would do well to contemplate virtues thesepartisans nonviolent of of with public behavior,and thatwe can findaffinities theircompassionate activism and veryclose to homeas we moveto embraceourownpolitical spiritual struggles.64 Institute AdvancedStudy for Princeton University
"The MaternalInstinct,"in Mothering: Essays in FeministTheory,ed. JoyceTrebilcot (Totowa,N.J.: Rowman& Allanheld, 1984). Whitbeck writes, from a "[The] idea oflearning 'weaker being,' such as a child, goes too much againstthe culture'spreoccupation with and hierarchy domination" (193). 63Recent researchon parent-child relationssuggests,in fact,thatfathers have been deeplyinvolvedin theparenting process,at leastsince 1500. The imageofFrancisor Fox as nurturers nothaveseemedtotally aberrant contemporaries. Pollock(n. 46 above). to may See 64For an exampleofthis see "Ladies' Day at the activism, AmySwerdlow, compassionate for Capitol:Women'sStrike Peace vs. HUAC," Feminist Studies8, no. 3 (Fall 1982):493-520. "From its inception, the WSP movement was a non-hierarchical network of participatory activists opposed both to rigidideologiesand formal structure" organizational (495). The Women'sStrike Peace rejectedother for for internal of peace groups their purges communists and fortheirhierarchical bureaucratic structure; thanthese theywere also moresuccessful and the groupsin confronting intimidating House Un-American Activities Committee.

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