Feminist Theology

http://fth.sagepub.com Asian Women Reshaping Theology: Challenges and Hopes

Pauline Chakkalakal Feminist Theology 2001; 9; 21 DOI: 10.1177/096673500100002703 The online version of this article can be found at: http://fth.sagepub.com

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[FT 27 (2001) 21-35]

Asian Women Reshaping Theology: Challenges and Hopes

Pauline Chakkalakal

Introduction

dealing with the theme, Dreams for a New Millennium: Dancing a Be-Dazzling Future, I would like to begin with a couple of stories of women who have emerged powerful and successful through their struggles, perseverance and commitment. These stories, though specifically Indian, reflect the lived realities of Asian women in general. Leelavathy, a mother of six children, wakes up at 4 am every day to collect water at the local tap which often goes dry. She then cooks for the day, washes clothes and vessels and gets her three children ready for school. She regrets that her eldest 12-year-old daughter has to stay
In
ones. She is anxious about the her Her husband is an erratic worker. of safety growing daughter. Most days he spends what little he earns on drink or gambling. Leelavathy goes from one house to another, sweeping, cleaning and washing clothes until 6 pm when she reaches home exhausted. But none of those she serves understands her. Everyone wants her to be at work on time. She cannot afford to rest or spend time with her children. To add to her misery, she is subjected almost daily to abuse and assault by her drunken husband who insists on his conjugal rights. She dreads the future... Yet, Leelavathy does not give up hope. The Shakti (feminine force) in her keeps her going. Her love for, and commitment to, her children gives her courage to struggle against all odds. With the help of a locally based womens group (Mahila Mandal), she is finding ways to tackle her drunken husband, and above all to ensure education for all her children.

at home to look after the two little

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22

Feminist

Theology

naked and

25-year-old DalitI woman from North India, was stripped paraded up to the police station because she questioned the unjust treatment to which she was subjected by her landlord. At that point of time, no one from the Dalit community came to her rescue. However, later on, the Dalit community, along with leaders and activists came together to struggle for justice. Today Lalitha is a social activist working for the empowerment of the Dalit sisters. Her biggest challenges have been fighting feudal attitudes and caste oppression. She has become a beacon of hope and inspiration to
Lalitha,
a

thousands of faceless and voiceless women. The story of Prasanna Kumari is the story of several educated women in the Church. She says:

theologically

Though

I studied theology just like men in all sincerity with commitment to serve God and Gods people, the Church tradition did not encourage me at all. Realising the reality of the Church and responding to Gods call, I took up the responsibility to educate women and men to know Gods greater truths and to go beyond human-made barriers, challengmg and breaking the patriarchal and other systems that oppress and discriminate against people in the name of God. Initially I had to face a lot of problems, mockery, anger, insults etc. But over several years of perseverance, educating people through Bible studies, re-reading the biblical passages that were quoted against women to silence them, and various other programmes, we opened up the understanding of people to see the oppression, discrimination and gender inequalities and the need to redress it. Though it cannot be said that all is well with women m the churches today, it can confidently be said that there is openness to listen and to some extent willingness to change. The doors to ordination are open in several denominations, and structures of decision-making bodies loosened to some extent... At the

national level justice for women is one of the top priorities of the Indian Church. It is not an exaggeration to say that the movement of women 2 has begun and is well on its

way...

1. Dalit means broken, crushed, ground down, oppressed, and was first used Marathi language. Dalits have been treated as untouchable by so-called caste Hindus. Different names have been given, such as outcaste, untouchable, avarna
in

(outside the caste system), panchama (fifth caste), harijan (people of God). The British government used the term Scheduled Castes, a designation continued by the Government of India after Independence. Dalit is the name chosen by poliet al., Envisioning a tically conscious members of these castes. See Lalrinawmi Ralte, New Heaven and a New Earth (Delhi. NCCI/ISPCK, 1998), p. 284 (glossary). 2. Prasanna Kumari is the Head of Department of Womens Studies, Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, India, and Founder/Director of the Church Womens Centre The story is taken from her article Womens Partici-

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Chakkalakal Asian Women

The stories could go
tates of
a

Reshaping Theology

23

patriarchal

and on... Women fighting against the dicsociety and Church; women resisting violence in
on

all its ugly forms (e.g. rape, dowry deaths, prostitution/flesh trade, female infanticide etc.); women challenging all oppressive, discriminatory attitudes and structures; women deconstructing and reconstructing theology, women envisioning a new heaven and a new earth... The Context of Theologizing The context of feminist theologizing in Asia is precisely this paradoxical situation of frustration and hope, as well as the spirit of solidarity that enhances collective struggle and empowerment. Together
we

raise
.

our

questions:

Where lies our hope as Asian peoples? What are our sources and resources for liberation, survival and empowerment as Asian women? What will be our own paradigm as Asian women?

Asia, the earths largest continent, is the home of nearly two-thirds of the worlds population, with China and India accounting for almost half the total population of the globe. Asia is also the cradle of the worlds major religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It is the birthplace of many of the spiritual traditions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism and Shintoism. Millions also follow traditional or tribal religions, with 3 varying degrees of structured ritual and formal religious teaching. In Asia today the political panorama is highly complex, displaying an array of ideologies ranging from democratic forms of government to theocratic ones, and military dictatorships and atheistic ideologies as well. Too often, people seem helpless to defend themselves against corrupt politicians, judges, administrators and bureaucrats.4Economically, Asia is a continent of great disparity between the few who are rich and the majority who are poor. Although Asian countries have gained political independence, colonialism and imperialism have been perpetuated by local elites,
pation and Contribution in the Church, in Ralte et al, Envisioning a New Heaven and a New Earth, pp 47-53 (52). 3. Summarized from John Paul II, Ecclesia in Asia, no 6 as cited in World & Worship 5 (1999), pp. 144-45. 4. John Paul II, Ecclesia in Asia, no. 8, p. 148.

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Feminist Theology

who connive with foreign powers to exploit Asias cheap labour. A classical example is the present trend towards globalization, which has been identified with economic liberalization, industrialization, modernization, trade liberalization and so on. As Janet Bruin aptly observes:
Instead of

spreading wealth around, globalisationi and current macro-

economic politics in both North and South are concentrating wealth in fewer hands. Unemployment and the number of people living in poverty are increasing in many countries. Workers are being forced into low paying jobs and women into unsafe workplaces, into the unprotected informal economy where social security and other benefits do not apply, or into prostitution. Children are forced to leave school for work in carpet factories, farms or in the streets to help support their families. And people are compelled to leave their countries in search of paid labour elsewhere, provoking an international backlash against immigrants as economic and security threats. Both migration and anti-immi-

grant xenophobia

are

expected

to

intensify

unemployment 5 ever more acute.

and economic

disparities

as population pressures, between countries become

In this situation of escalating poverty, female illiteracy and exploitation of people, more recently in the name of development, Asian women are the worst-hit victims. As an example, let us analyse the plight of Indian women. Since India is a rural country, 80 per cent of all working women are agricultural labourers. In agriculture, the shift from food crops to cash crops for export has led to a decline in womens employment. Womens contribution in the total labour force is nearly invisible. 95 per cent of Indian women are working in the in unorganized sector. Women work more than 16 hours a day, both 6 and in the labour force. Yet production producing countrys womens labour is unrecognized, undervalued. Instead they are the last to be hired and first to be fired. They suffer not only discrimination and subordination, but also experience domestic social violence. Women are also victims of trafficking in different forms: as

prostitutes, mail-order brides, 7 helpers and entertainers.

overseas

contract

workers, domestic

5. Janet Bruin as quoted in Mary John Mananzan, Jubilee in the Wake of Globalisation-from an Asian Womans Perspective, In Gods Image 19.1 (2000), pp. 2-14 (4). 6. Margaret Kaliselvi, Economic Globalisation and its Impact on Women, in Ratte et al., Envisioning a New Heaven and a New Earth, pp. 113-17 (115). 7. Mary-John Mananzan, Feminist Theology in Asia: An Overview, in Ofelia Ortega (ed.), Womens Visions (Geneva: WCC Publications), pp. 29-36 (29).

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Chakkalakal Asian Women

Reshaping Theology

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Theological Reflection All feminist movements are primarily struggling against patriarchy, a term referring to a male-dominated and man-made value system, culture and religion. In Asia, patriarchy is not just a matter of male
supremacy and male centredness. It is a social system of control and domination. It includes the domination of colonizers over the colonized, the elite over the masses, the clergy over the laity, humankind over the rest of creation. As for India, the caste system, the preference for sons, female feticide, infanticide, bride burning and dowry deaths, not only diminish women in terms of numbers but also deny women, especially at the grassroots, their full humanity and right to life. Undoubtedly, the roots of patriarchy also lie within our Asian religious and cultural traditions: in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism, and in our feudal cultures that were further reinforced by Western colonialism. Christianity is no exception to this. Using androcentric translations, readings and interpretation of biblical texts including the teachings of Jesus, the Church has supported, perpetuated, legitimized such trends, and participated in the continuous violation of women. The Statement of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) Asian Womens Consultation (1994) is worth quoting here:

Patriarchy gives more value to man than to woman. A mans name, his s line, his honour is to be preserved even at the expense of womans her and her life. It is not to resources, therefore, body, very surprising, have female infanticide, surrogate motherhood, dowry system, arranged marriages, bride sale or mail-order brides, polygyny, infidelity, rape, incest, wife-battering, and other forms of violence against women becoming rampant in Asian countries. These acts of violence against
women

all

serve

to

support male importance and dominance and

to

worth. What is shocking and painful to us is the participation of women in their own violence. Patriarchal culture has alienated woman from herself by the mternalization of oppression and guilt, and the suppression of anger and hatred. Patriarchy has turned woman against herself, her daughters, her daughters-in-law, her sisters,

downgrade womans

her mother and her

8 mother-in-law.8

The realization of womens equality with men in leadership roles is distant dream. Bina Jang aptly sums up the situation in her article entitled, Battle to Make the Sexes More Equal. Referring to a United
EATWOT Asian Womens Consultation, Spirituality for Life: Women Struggling Against Violence (Philippines: EATWOT,1994), pp. 15-27 (20).
8.

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26
Nations

Feminist

Theology

study, the article begins with the glaring prediction that women have to wait until the 25th century-2490 to be precisebefore they can achieve parity with men in the top echelons of corporate power. The article notes that women hold less than 2 per cent of senior management positions worldwide, with only 1 per cent in Asia. In government, female ministers account for 4 per cent in Asia compared to 11 per cent in the West. However, the article also notes how the family and social connections tend to provide the few Asian women a push to the top. Achieving equality in business, in government and in society will therefore continue to be a big struggle for women. And while some Asian governments have set up policies that promote womens participation (e.g. seat quotas in Chinese parliament, in Taiwans local government, in Indias local councils, and in Pakistans municipal councils), much more needs to be done to break 9 down deep social barriers to womens full participation.
The

Emerging Power of Asian Women

Despite such death-dealing factors, there are also life-enhancing realities in Asia: peoples organizations, womens movements, and ecology, peace and justice forums, aimed at raising peoples awareness and mobilizing them towards collective struggle for their rights and for a more humane society. Womens movements have undertaken the additional task of fighting against the evils of a patriarchal culture
that has made women invisible. To put theology at the service of women, and not keep it merely for scholarly discourse, requires involvement in the womens movements. Emerging from the limited sphere of the family into the larger society, women take up action collectively to challenge the inefficient, hostile government machinery and to be collectively involved in securing basic needs for them. Further, they take up action on behalf of gender, caste and class issues as we noted in the stories given above. Thus women have challenged situations of rape, incest, dowry deaths, ill treatment by drunken husbands, caste authorities, and so on. What is central to this struggle is womens claim to their rightful place in the family and society. Economic liberation alone does not ensure a better status for women in society or truly empower them. The power that comes from womens solidarity is in fact womens greatest strength, says Astrid Lobo Gajiwala. According to her,
9.
and

Bma Jang as cited in Hope S Antone, Women Challenging Globalisation Celebrating the Jubilee, In Gods Image 19.1 (2000), p 1 (editorial).

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Chakkalakal Asian Women

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womens empowerment involves both a struggle for power and a struggle with power. Once freed from their shackles, their very position of disadvantage equips them to challenge the relationships and structures that imprison their power.1o Womens empowerment entails the development of an alternative paradigm over and against the life-affecting process of patriarchy, capitalism and First World-oriented maldevelopment. Womens paradigm of new society is based on wholeness of life. It has to do with and it sustains all forms of life. It is a spiritual quest to regain our identity, that we are born of the earth and are partners with creation. Womens movements have thus emerged to respond to global as well as local needs. These movements manifest a new way of exercising power through collective dialogue and participatory action. Team leadership and creative ways of expressing our life through liturgy and celebration are manifestations of the alternative paradigm that needs to be fostered. Women have taken action on behalf of the community, securing assets and reclaiming land ownership. They have fearlessly and successfully launched agitation against mega projects such as dams, quarrying the earth, deforestation, pollution of water and air, nuclear power plants, and so on. An example would be the extraordinarily large participation of women in the organization to help Bhopal Gas Victims.l1 Women extend their action against multinational and government factories for better working conditions, for revision of pay scales, and against retrenchment. It is amazing to note how womens organizations in Asia have awakened to the negative effects of globalization on the poor of the world. An example of such an organization is GABRIELA,12 a federa-

10.

Astrid Lobo

Gajiwala, Power Struggles,

In Gods

Image 19.1 (2000),

pp. 51-

57 (53) Bhopal

Following the tragic explosion of MIC gas from the Union Carbide plant in in 1984, the one organization of gas victims that emerged as strong and sustained was the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathana (Bhopal GasAffected Women Workers Organisation) Though the organization is not feminist (indeed it is headed by a man), a number of feminist groups work with it, and it is
11.
linked to the womensmovement See Radha Kumar, From Chipko to Sati The Contemporary Indian WomensMovement, in Amrita Basu (ed.), The Challenge of Local Feminisnis: Womens Movements in Global Perspective (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1995), pp. 58-86 (83) 12. I am indebted to Mary John Mananzan for information about GABRIELA Cf. Mary John Mananzan, Jubilee in the Wake of Globalisation-from an Asian Womans Perspective, In Gods Image 191 (2000), pp 2-14 (8)

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Feminist

Theology

tion of about 200 womens organizations in the Philippines, founded in 1984, with about 50,000 members. We can see from the strategies, campaigns and activities of the organization the extent of its committed struggle against the policies and projects of globalization in the

country.
What emerges predominantly in these movements is the bonding among women and their experience of solidarity and sisterhood. The collective search for viable alternatives further binds us in creative solutions by way of organizing, mobilizations and campaigns, educations and alternative projects, to name a few of the activities. At the Church level, Asian women, drawing inspiration from their sisters in other parts of the world, have begun to make their presence felt. They have been challenging religious patriarchy in its varied forms and the hierarchical patterns of decision-making in the Church. Asian womens critique of the Ecumenical Decade: Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988-98) gives us an insight into their journey as Christian women. Their anguish, hopes and aspirations are summed up thus:

Although their hopes for the Ecumenical Decade have not been realized...hope remams a theme. It is no longer hope in the institutional churches. It is hope experienced on the margins, or outside the walls... m womensown strength and vision and in their solidarity with each other. It is hope m the future and hope in God, a God beyond patriarchy and patriarchal institutions.l3
One of the significant contributions of Asian women to patriarchal as well as feminist theology is their quest for developing an Asian feminist theology. Western feminist scholars, who have inspired Asian feminists, have shown that traditional biblical interpretations cannot be value free of objective and depend on prejudices and presuppositions of those who translate or exegete them.14 While acknowledging the pioneering work of our sisters in the West, there is a questioning as to whether the hermeneutic principles Western feminists offer are adequate to reflect on the complexity of structures of

13.

Janet Crawford, Of Women and WomensHopes, In Gods Image 17.4

24-30 (26). There are autonomous womens organizations in the Catholic Church which are engaged in ongoing theological reflection from feminist

(1998), pp

perspectives
14 Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Women in the Early Christian Movement, in Carol Christ and Judith Plaskow (eds), Womanspirit Rising (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979), p. 86

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Chakkalakal Asian Women

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within which we as Third World/Indian women live.15 What is distinctive about Asian feminism or Asian feminist theology? How shall we face this challenge?

oppression

Challenges for Asian Feminist Theology

While there is a strong consciousness that Asian feminist theology should not be viewed as an extension of Western feminist theology, there are no easy solutions to the problem. One major difficulty is the absence of a common language among Asians, except the colonial language English. 16 Another is the lack of resources. As Ranjini Rebera rightly observes,
While there is growing pool of academic analysis taking place, it is still limited in its influence outside its own national boundaries... To write and publish is a luxury that many of them cannot afford mainly due to a lack of financial resources. There is also the awareness of the need for non-formal teaching resources to be able to reach women who form the bulk of non-literate persons in all Asian countries.

spite of these limitations, Asian feminists are engaged in an ongoing search for a new methodology out of their own experience to augment the theological contributions of women. To cite a few examples:
In

Asian Womens Resource Centre for Culture and Theology (AWRC): An Asia-wide organization of feminist clergy, theologically trained women, and women doing theology from various related Asian conferences in Singapore in 1987, AWRC has since then gathered groups of women for educational workshops and published Asian womens writings in its quarterly theological journal, In Gods Image. Apart from AWRC, there are various national womens organizations that are also providing feminist critiques in Asia, most of them older than AWRC. AWRCs significance is its being an Asia-wide attempt to bring Asian women together for the purpose of claiming and cele-

15 Aruna Gnanadason, Feminist Methodology—Indian WomensExperience, in M P Joseph (ed.), Confronting Life: Theology out of the Context (Delhi ISPCK, 1995), pp 173-93 (185). 16. For some Asian countries where there are hundreds of dialects, there are

political

tensions

as

to which one

should be made the national The

language,

and this

is an issue

related

to the

question of ethnic power.

17 Ranjini Rebera, We Do Not Dream Alone Theology, In Gods Image 16.3 (1997), pp 25-31 (26)

Impact

of Asian Feminist

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30

Feminist

Theology

Asian womens self-worth as persons. It signifies Asian womens efforts at challenging the discriminatory barriers imposed on women by socio-economic-political and religious-cultural factors. It also symbolizes a venue for sharing Asian womens experiences from their various contexts and of their theologizing as it emerges from such contexts. Furthermore, it represents Asian womens hope that in spite of the diversity in Asia, there are common bonds that tie them together and common issues and concerns which they can more

brating

effectively address together. 18 Among the programmes organized by AWRC have been those in the area of inter-faith dialogue. In our multi-religious and pluricultural situation, our quest for a theology/spirituality of life cannot be confined to the Christian tradition alone. Our specific context, where Christians are less then three per cent of the entire population, requires us to do theology in dialogue with other religious traditions. Inter-religious dialogue is not a luxury but a necessity. It is a way to learn from one anothers religious traditions and values, insights and experiences, in a process of sharing. Genuine dialogue fosters communication and makes the faiths intelligible to one another, it contributes to growth in mutual respect and love. 19 A word about my own experience of involvement in inter-religious activity may be in place here. The All Religion Movement that I initiated at Bandra, Mumbai (Bombay), popularly known as Sr Paulines brain child, has been instrumental in bringing together followers of many religions in the locality. The movement has among its objectives the celebration of unity in diversity and the promotion of solidarity and harmony among people, with differing cultural backgrounds and beliefs, languages, socio-economic status and political affiliations. From its birth in 1992, Paulines brain child has attracted people of all religions in the locality and the neighbourhood. The movement has deepened my conviction that our sisters and brothers of other religions are our theological partners in our common search for truth, and not mere objects of theological discourse. In this process of journeying together, my colleagues and I have learnt the theology of giving and receiving as well as the art of participatory leadership.

18. See Hope S. Antone, Finding Ties, Making Links: An Asian Womans Gleamngs from Womanist Theology, In Gods Image 17.1 (1998), pp. 43-52 (47). 19. For further readmg, see my book, Paul: A Challenge to Christians Today (Bombay: St Paul Publications, 1992), pp 106-10 and my article Mission in a MultiReligious Context, The Examiner (18 October 1997), pp. 10-11.

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Chakkalakal Asian Women

Since

Reshaping Theology

31

Christology plays an important role in the lives of Asian a significant number of Asian feminist theologians have been involved in discussions on developing an Asian Christology. Virginia Fabella from the Philippines and Chung Hyun Kyung from Korea have both done ground-breaking work in this area.20 Together with other Asian feminist theologians, these scholars
women,

opening avenues for Christian women to break out of the mould of a transplanted Christianity and to find new paradigms for the reality of life in Asia... While constructing new paradigms for Christology appears to be confined to Christianity alone, in the context of pluralism in Asia, it becomes one strand of a journey that is always done with
are

others.21

Theology of Humanhood: An Indian Journey The first organized expression of the journey towards Indian feminist hermeneutical principles took place in 1984, at a National ConTowards
a

sultation of Christian Women of all denominations to discuss the theme, Towards a Theology of Humanhood: Womens Perspectives. This was part of an initiative of the Womens Commission of the EATWOT, which has organized a series of such meetings nationally, regionally, as women of Third World nations and finally in a meeting of Third World women with minorities in the USA.22 Although as Indian women we have not yet developed a uniquely Indian methodology of feminist hermeneutics, we have asserted the need to re-read the Bible informed by a commitment to womens empowerment in particular, and human liberation and the integrity of creation in general. It is to be noted that Indian womens theological movement has been influenced by the secular womens movement with its critique of patriarchal ideology operatives in Indian society/ Church. To quote Aruna Gnanadason,
any reflection on biblical texts has to keep this m mind, because there is enough documented evidence to show that religious fundamentalism and extremism affect the lives of women in deleterious ways and Indian

20. Virginia Fabella, An Asian Womens Perspective, in R.S. Sugirtharajah (ed.), Asian Faces of Jesus (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993); Chung Hyun Kyung, Who is Jesus for Asian Women?, in Sugirtharajah (ed.), Asian Faces of Jesus . 21. Ranjini Reber, We Do Not Dream Alone, p 29. 22. For further details, see Gnanadason, Feminist Methodology—Indian Womens Experience, p 180. See also A GnanadasonsTowards a Theology of Humanhood: Womens Perspectives (Delhi: ISPCK, 1986).

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Feminist

Theology

Christian women will have to make strong contributions to the creation of an environment of compassion and

dialogue.23

To move in this direction, it is imperative that we search for the liberative strands in the Scriptures of other great religions and engage in dialogue with women (and men) of other faiths who are as eager as we are to move into a healthier, more just world after patriarchy.24 Lina Gupta, in her fascinating rediscovery of the power of Kali writes:
The evidence that the systematic subjugation of women has often been sanctioned by mythological stories, symbols and images in world religions is too overwhelming to overlook. However, we have reached a point in history when it is simply not enough merely to recognise and analyse the patriarchal mundset and its effects on our religious and social lives. It is essential for us to seek new forms of religious

experience

and

expression,

either
or as

reconstruction of our traditions mate Reality that will emphasise

through the reinterpretation and through alternative models of Ultiwell

as

include female

experience.25

Lina Gupta reflects on the Goddess Kali from the perspective of four central Hindu notions: Sakti - energy; Prakri ti - nature (this is a feminine category); Avidya - absence of knowledge; and Maya - a deceptive and apparently negative power.26 According to Lina Gupta, these concepts have been interpreted literally and the

anthropomorphizing tendencies of these literalisms have to be seen as reflecting a larger, more pervasive male fear of womenspower; that power is a creative power - a power to act creatively in the world, to critique and create social structures, to literally create the world. That
power is also
one

that

can

be destructive of the limitations of

patriarchy.
In another section Lina Gupta calls for a creative and constructive reading in the light of Tantric scriptural interpretation, which
allow the Kali with her terrifying appearance to emerge as a powersymbol of hfe and liberation to women in their passage to postpatriarchy. Beyond mother and wife, she encourages us to challenge our
can

ful

Aruna Gnanadason, The Bible and Women of Faith, in D.J. MuthunayaBible Speaks Today: Essays in Honour of Gnana Robinson (Delhi: ISPCK, (ed), gom 2000), pp. 327-38 (336). 24. Lma Gupta, Kali the Saviour, in Paula Cooey et al. (eds.), After Patriarchy: Feminist Interpretations of the World Religions (Faith Meets Faith Series; Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992), p. 15. 25 Gupta, Kali the Saviour, pp. 15-16. 23. 26. 27.

Gnanadason, The Bible and Women of Faith, p. 337.

Gupta, Kali the Saviour, p. 29.

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Chakkalakal Asian Women

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33

uncertainties and fears about others. Under her assurance we confront who we are in reality as opposed to what we perceive ourselves to be through the subjugated roles we

assumptions, ambiguities, negatives,

play.28

In her comments on Indian feminist methodology, Aruna Gnanadason singles out the role of motherhood
because the creative principle is at the heart of feminist consciousness. Denying themselves a life of their own, women have been engaged in creating and sustaining life for all... This creative nurturing urge rooted in giving birth to, and protecting new life, is surrounded with ceremony and rituals in Indian homes, particularly in Hmdu homes, an expression of the fertility associated with the earth and the gifts nature bestows on

us.29

should be shrewd enough to realize that it is this principle and self-sacrificing love of women which has been idealized, glorified, used and abused to keep women in their proper place, crippling their growth into humanhood/womanhood. As our Asian sisters describe it, there can be a danger of condoning the traditional self-effacing masochism of women, reinforced in the glorification of motherhood, keeping them in depth of despair and Indian
women

very creative

resignation. 30
Conclusion/Call to Action

engaged in a struggle-centred, life affirming and change-oriented theology, we should ensure a shift from the paradigm of anti-patriarchism to that of life and let-live, without however undermining the theories developed by antipatriarchism.31 Equally important is our involvement in peoples lives. For participation in movements for political action and social transformation gives authenticity to our theology. An important challenge is to facilitate the process of networking among womensorganizations at the local, regional, national and international levels.
As Asian
women are

28. Gupta, Kali the Saviour, p. 24. 29. Aruna Gnanadason, What do These Women Speak of?, Voices (June 1993), pp. 39-40. 30. Sun Ai Lee Park and Mary John Mananzan, Emerging Spirituality of Asian Women, in Virginia Fabella and Mercy Amba Oduyoye (eds.), With Passion and Compassion - Third World Women Doing Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,

1988), p. 82. 31. Kyungmi Park, A Preview of Challenges for Asian Feminist Theology the 21st Century, PTCA Bulletin 13.1, 2 (June and December 2000), pp. 7-16 (12).

in

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34

Feminist

Theology

We need to search further in our cultural roots to discover the force in the primal, mother-centred traditions. I reiterate here the recommendations of our EATWOT Consultation: This search would enable us to further search and evolve a theology/ spirituality of Asian womens struggle for life, as experienced by women, as we share the cost and consequences of our decisions and

emerging

actions.32
It is
resources

important for Asian feminists to unearth our religio-cultural for theologizing. Kwok Pui-lan from Hong Kong strongly

recommends this when she says that, our serious digging into womens historical, cultural and religious resources open our eyes to the treasures that have hitherto been unexploded by Asian

theologians.33
Asian womens theology, with its accent on womens experience of suffering and struggle must enhance their experience of power amidst powerlessness. As Ranjini Rebera rightly points out, the ownership of power can lead to a commitment to action wherever violence and abuse are evident.34 In our re-interpretation of biblical texts and theological teachings, we shall affirm that any hermeneutical principle must take into consideration gender and racial/ caste oppression as much as it must take the economic/class dimension seriously.35 We must continue to make room for creativity and connectedness.36 One of the characteristics of our theology is creating space for mutual learning. We do theology not only with the heart, but also with the body-the whole person, using dance, singing, poetry, painting, and so on as means of theologizing. While engaging in a fundamental search for new identity as a woman, as human, as Asian, it is of the utmost importance to do theology with passion and compassion, compassion for the least of our sisters and brothers, translated into concrete actions of loving service.

32. EATWOT Asian Womens Consultation, Spirituality for Life, p. 26. 33. Kwok Pui-lan, The Emergence of Asian Feminist Consciousness on Culture and Theology, in John Pobee (ed.), Culture, Women and Theology (Delhi: ISPCK, 1994), p 73. 34. Ranjini Rebera, Recognismg and Naming Power, In Gods Image 17.1 (1998), p. 39. 35 Gnanadason, What do These Women Speak of?, p 39 36 Elizabeth Tapia as cited by Ann Wansbrough, Behold I Make All Things New: Trends in Asian Womens Theology, In Gods Image 15.3 (1996), pp. 6-9 (7). She has summarized E. Tapias outline of the nature of Asian feminist theology.

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Chakkalakal Asian Women

Reshaping Theology

35

Given the enormous diversity and complexity of Asian people with their cultures, languages, religions and traditions, womens theologies carry different emphases and nuances. The challenge before us is to promote contextual theologies from feminist perspectives, which draw inspiration from Christian and other religious traditions, as well as from secular womens movements. We realize that the development of Asian feminist theologies is an ongoing process; hence we need to network with women and men in Asia and beyond. Networking becomes all the more necessary in our present context of increasing &dquo;fundamentalist-nationalist&dquo; backlash against women, especially those marginalized and oppressed, as well as against feminist religious and political movements. 37 Our commitment to Asian feminist theology should not make us exclusive, narrow-minded, selfish and inward-looking. On the contrary, we continue to think globally and act locally. Mahatma Gandhis wise instruction sounds good at this point: I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.38 I conclude by pointing to Marys affirmation song of liberation/ revolution in the Magnificat (Lk. 1.46-55), wherein she expresses powerfully the integral liberation envisaged by God, a three-fold revolution brought about by God-a cultural, political and economic

revolution. 39
As we journey through the third millennium, let our bond of sisterhood and brotherhood and solidarity with the victims of oppression and exploitation urge us to join hands with all people of goodwill in fighting against the forces of evil and ushering in an era of hope, justice, equality and freedom.

37. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Feminist Theologies in Different Contexts, Concilium 1 (1996), pp. vii-xii (vii). 38 Quotes of Gandhi 1921 as cited in Pauline Chakkalakal (ed.), Gifts of Education: Gandhis Visions and Realities (Bombay St Paul Publications, 1994), p 48 39. Tissa Balasuriya, Mary and Human Liberation (Sri Lanka. CSR, 1997), p 14.

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