Making the difference : gender, personhood and theology / Elaine Graham.

Originally published in 1995 by Mowbray.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource, title from PDF title page (EBSCO), viewed August 31, 2016.

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Introduction; Interrogation of Theories of Gender; Part I: Gender Issues; 1. What is Gender?; Origins of Gender Dualism in the West; Critical Studies of Gender; Sex and Gender; Androgyny; From 'Sex' and 'Gender' to 'Power' and 'Difference'; Contemporary Theories of Gender; The Interdisciplinary Nature of Theories of Gender; The Influence of Feminist Theory and Practice; Critical Studies of Men and Masculinity; The Influence of Postmodernism; Notes; 2. Gender and the Churches; Priesthood as 'Male*; Gender Representation and God.

The Social Construction of Gender'Masculinity' and 'Femininity' in the Churches; Power and Difference; The Distinctiveness of Women; Conclusion; Part II: Gender Disciplines; 3. Anthropology: Gender, Nature and Culture; Is Gender Universal?; Gender', Nature and Culture; The Origins of Gender Hierarchy; 4. Biology: Sex, Gender and Science; Biological Essentialism; Sociobiology and Ideology; Determinism and Reductionism; Notes; 5. Psychoanalysis: Gender, Subjectivity and Knowledge; Later Interpreters of Freud; Juliet Mitchell and the Rehabilitation of Freud; Notes; Part III: Gender Themes.

6. Bodies: History, Epistemology and PracticeHistory of the Body: Changing Practices and Definitions; From 'The Body' to 'Our Bodies'; Foucault and the Discipline of Bodies; Feminism and the Feminine Body; Writing the Body; Bodies as Sites of Resistance; The Male Body; Bodies and Practice; Notes; 7. Ideas of Nature; 'Nature' in Historical Context; Gender Relations and 'The Death of Nature'; The Social Construction of the Natural; The 'Eternal Feminine'; Feminism and the Problem of Nature; 8. The Challenge of Difference; Differences and Diversity; Speaking of Difference.

Irigaray, Cixous, Wittig, KristevaCritique; Deconstruction and Difference; Beyond Essentialism: A Return to Praxis?; Notes; 9. Knowledge: Feminist Epistemologies and Philosophies of Science; Feminist Empiricism and Value-Neutrality; Towards a Woman-Friendly Science; Standpoint Epistemologies; Feminist Postmodernism: The Challenge to Epistemology; Knowledge as Human Practice; Notes; 10. Making the Difference: Towards a Theology of Gender; Towards a 'Theology of Gender; Gender, Theology and Christian Practice; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

"One of the most significant phenomena within the Western church in the second half of the twentieth century has been the emergence of feminist theology. This both reflects and promotes pastoral and policy concerns about the proper roles and relationships of women and men within the Christian church, such as the validity of women's priestly ministry, the use of inclusive language in liturgy and the metaphorical naming of God. At the heart of the debate is the question of the meaning and significance of gender in theology and Christian practice. Within the human and social sciences, the analysis of gender is treated as an essential aspect of human behaviour. By contrast, within the church there has been little sustained or disciplined attention to the nature and underlying significance of gender. Theological discourse and church policy have too often displayed ignorance and unexamined assumptions about the crucial issues involved. Graham attempts a more detailed and critical inquiry into how an analysis of gender can affect policy, practice and discourse within the church. Focusing on three major disciplines - anthropology, biology and psychoanalysis - she demonstrates how these offer profound implications for our understanding of the foundations of human culture and identity, for theological studies and for Christian practice."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

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