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PRISM Study & Discussion Questions March/April 2010
General questions to start with:
What are the benefits and /or drawbacks of labeling something a woman’s issue? Does gendering—or not gendering—an issue run the risk of mischaracterizing the scope and nature of the problem?
In what way are “women’s issues” also community issues?
How would you characterize the relationship between economic (in)dependence and the problems women face as discussed in this issue of PRISM? Can economic opportunity prevent violence against women? How so?
Where Have All the Young Girls Gone? (page 8)
Make a list of all the possible repercussions of having a significant gender imbalance in a society. Think social situations, work load, family dynamics.
View the film A Nation without Women, recommended in the Dig Deeper section on page 12, and discuss it with your group.
Read the seven suggestions under “What Can Be Done?” on pages 11 and 12. Which of these remedies strikes you as promising the most effective and long-term solutions? Is any one of them within your reach to support, participate in?
Bring it home to your own cultural context: Do you see girls treated with less respect, valued less than boys in your community? If so, how? Was there any emphasis—blatant or subtle—on preference for maleness in your upbringing? Think about the messages you received growing up. Has your thinking changed? If so, how and why?
Changing the Hearts of Fathers (page 13)
Check out the four fatherhood initiatives listed on page 14 under “Fatherhood Begins at Home!” and make a list of at least three ideas or resources you want to use, share with the fathers in your life, or learn more about.
Interview the fathers in your life to discover the unique ways that they approach getting to know and nurturing their daughters. Interview the daughters in your life and find out how they perceive their father’s view of them.
Sorrow beyond Childbirth (page 15)
View the 53-minute documentary A Walk to Beautiful (you can purchase the DVD or watch it online.) Download the film’s action guide and discuss which steps make the most sense for you and/or your group. Which side—prevention or treatment—feels most compelling to you personally? Take up a collection and make a donation to the Worldwide Fistula Fund.
If a shorter film fits better into your discussion time frame, consider this 9-minute video on the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. Or watch this 4-minute video of a Ugandan woman’s story of obstetric fistula. Learn how one doctor in Niger is turning fistula victims into reproductive health educators.
Cutting Out the Devil (page 21)
Dig deeper: Choose one of the first-person accounts by women who underwent genital mutilation (listed at top right of page 24). If fiction is more appealing to you, read Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy, the searing story of Tashi, a tribal African woman whose traumatic genital mutilation informs her life and fatefully alters her existence.
Watch the following short (2-12 minute) videos:
How do you explain a ritual that is oppressive to women but that is also practiced by women?
Do you see anything similar (even metaphorically) in our own culture? What do you make of the author’s invitation, at the conclusion of the article, to self-reflect before accusing other cultures of oppressive practices?
Breaking the Silence (page 26)
Short videos on the subject are also available:
Discuss how sexual violence has touched your life, either directly or indirectly. How might reaching out to Congolese women enhance healing in your own life?
Discuss the ethical implications of egg harvesting as presented in this article.
Does egg harvesting strike you as a trafficking issue?
If the practice posed absolutely no physical risk to the donor, would your feelings about egg harvesting be different?
Do you think every person has a right to a child? Why or why not?
Ain’t I a Human? (page 35)
Discuss your reactions to this first-person article: Do you feel empathy or compassion towards the author? Judgment? Anger? Something else? What do you think about men who choose to buy women (or men or children) for sex? How do you tend to think about women who sell their bodies—are they victims? If so, victims of what?
How do you respond to the attitudes expressed by church fathers such as Augustine and Aquinas, as discussed on page 36?
How do biblical accounts of "prostitutes" inform your opinions/feelings regarding women (or men or children) involved in that life?
Do you think of American women who are prostituting/prostituted on US streets as being trafficked? Given that "trafficking" does not necessarily refer to "movement," neither is it always about sex, what do you think "trafficked" means?
In what ways might women's "choices" regarding prostitution have been burdened by social, economic, political, or personal history?
Learn more about prostitution from this Sept/Oct 2007 PRISM feature:
Prostituting Justice: The auction block is alive and well in the North American sex trade
Reflections from the Editor—The First Lie
Make a list of all the lies that contribute to the oppression of women. Share the list with the members of your group and discuss.
Where did these lies originate?
What propagates these lies?
Which of these lies exerts the most influence on you personally?
Kingdom Ethics—The Sanctity of Women’s Lives
and
May I Have a Word?—Which Women?
Discuss your experience with women’s roles in your own church history—past and present. What were you taught growing up about women’s spiritual and/or social roles? Have your ideas changed over the years? If so, what prompted those changes?
Discuss the women who have had the most influence on your life. What made them so influential to you? What roles did they play—in the church, in society?
What do you think of David Gushee’s assertion that Christians often miss the implications of their own faith?
What do you think of Susan Michaelson’s assertion that too much attention is given to restricting women in the American church and not enough to addressing the oppression of women around the world?
In Like Manner…the Women—Two Afghanistans
Malalai Joya was the youngest woman elected to the Afghan Parliament in 2005. Outspoken about the destructive influence of both the Taliban and US presence in her nation, Joya lives daily with death threats. Read her recently published memoir, Raising My Voice: The Extraordinary Story of the Afghan Woman Who Dares to Speak Out (Rider, 2009); an excerpt is available at the Barnes & Noble website.
Consider the following statements made by Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-MA) in introducing The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) in the House and Senate in February 2010:
Ø “Nations with the worst track record in preventing violence against women are also the most unstable and are breeding grounds for terrorism.”
Ø “It is crucial for our own national security that we be a global leader in addressing this epidemic of gender violence.”
Do you agree or disagree with these statements? Explain your answer.
Do you think there is a need for an International Violence Against Women Act? Why or why not?
Making a Difference—Offering Good News in Bad News Times
What do you think about a church getting involved in foreclosures?
In what ways does your church involve itself in the life of its community?
Washington Watch—The Hawk Shall Nest with the Dove
Discuss your feelings/beliefs about nuclear weapons. Do you fall into the purist (anti-nuclear-at-all-costs) camp or the pragmatist (nuclear-weapons-are-a-necessary-evil) camp? What influences your position?
Check out the Two Futures Project and identify at least three facts/ideas that you never knew/considered before. Share them with the group.
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