The Catholic church is not defined by the Bible. It has Canon Law, papal writs, teachings, traditions, etc, that have just as much weight as scripture, and it is mostly these that forbid women priests, abortion, birth control, etc. And they can be challenged and changed.

There are lots of Catholics who don’t agree with or support the Church’s stance on reproductive rights.

“Not knocking the choice, but I am knocking the choice.” Meh. I’ve taken time off sex for the “all kinds of reasons” that I mentioned: recovering from sexual assault, traveling the world and just plain not interested, and recovering from serious surgery and focusing on my body in different ways, and found it rewarding…

True. I have always felt like the Catholic church, contrary to popular belief, encourages critical thinking. I feel like my Catholic education taught me to question authority and come to my religion through my own understanding.

It becomes a problem when they support a massive organization that wants to limit all women’s reproductive rights, and engages in politics to do so.

Catholicism would be the most liberal religion if they actually followed the example of Jesus.

its more feeding into the notion that women cannot be equal and still be sexual beings, like we have to forfeit sex for equality. men don’t have this level of navel gazing about their virginity, society doesn’t expect it of them.

Yes, but it would be much harder to be accepted in society then compared to now. 32 year old unmarried virgins were looked at as “old maids” and generally viewed as undesirable and unwanted by men, not as a choice freely made by the woman in question.

I used to be able to reconcile my Catholicism and feminism, especially within the context of Jesuit theology that focuses on seeing the inherent worth of all people, fighting for social justice causes, and giving preferential treatment to the poor. But then I started living with a few really hardcore Catholics and…

Yes. You don’t get to decide my religion or my feminism for me or for anyone else.

Right? And here’s the thing - those difficult experiences have the potential to help you build resiliency to deal with the tough shit that comes up once you do find “true love.” Like... I don’t get why she thinks that once you find “the one” that the ship sails smooth and things are perfect all the time. Hard things…

Can you guys seriously leave religious women alone tho. Unless she is actively going around and shutting down planned parenthoods, or whatever just leave them the fuck alone.

Here’s the thing. I don’t really agree with what this woman is saying, but as a feminist AND a virgin, I often feel shamed by other feminists for my personal decisions. I truly am not judging your choices, please do not judge mine. This very much includes the Jezebel crowd / culture. Owning my sexuality can indeed…

Shit dude, the only birth control JP II was down with in Theology of the Body was birth spacing through breastfeeding. I’d keep my vagina shut too.

Ugh, I hate this whole thing about little female hearts being so delicate that we have to protect them from being shattered by a sexual relationship/encounter that doesn’t end in lifelong commitment and marriage. Women are much stronger than that, and that ties our self-worth and self esteem to our sexual status - the…

I totally agree. I was reading through that thinking, I don’t stress about these things because I’m generally responsible about my sexual health. I use condoms, I’m on birth control, and I get an STD screening every year just in case. Having sex, for me, has never come with the worry that I would get pregnant or…

As a Catholic and a feminist, here’s the thing that really bugs me about Bryan’s argument (and the Church’s views on sex in general): There IS a way to live a relatively carefree, full life, focused on things other than sex and babies without full chastity; it’s called use of contraception.

She is living the life that feminists throughout history have fought for, because feminism should mean that a woman can live her life on her own terms. She’s living the feminist dream, of choosing when to marry, and when to have sex, even if that means never.

I don’t believe for a minute that Millenials are having less sex. These studies that come out always end up being faulty and proven wrong by the next study that comes out. In a Grindr/Tindr world, no way is there less sex happening. Having said that, good luck to Kate Bryan and I hope she’s happy. But let’s also…

Well shit. If the only options are chastity or 12 kids I would choose chastity too. And my feminist dream was lots of premarital sex!