Not The Virgin Again?

Holiness for the ideal woman was achieved first, by de-sexing Mary, that is she was a virgin mother, perpetual virgin and post-partum virgin, and then by dehumanizing her, that is by asserting that she had neither a normal birth nor a normal death. Only as a de-sexed and dehumanized woman was she then considered to be worthy to enter into heaven. The question this raises for me is what is the definition of a woman, alive in this religious tradition, that suggests that before a woman is worthy to enter into God's presence, she must first have her sexuality removed and then have her humanity removed. The other question that cannot be ignored is what does it do to women to be told that the ideal woman is a virgin mother? Since that is not a possibility for any other woman, does that definition not make the 'guilt of inadequacy' the daily bread of women in Christian history?

I submit that both of these ideas reflect the historic negativity that religion seems to harbor against women. One wonders just why it is that an all male institution has the right to define a woman in the name of a God called 'father.' The time has come to recognize prejudice for what it is and to invite women to define what a woman is without any pejorative undertones. The Church will not be whole until that happens. The Virgin Mary, as she is presently defined, will also not survive as an icon when that occurs.

--Bishop John Shelby Spong