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FEMINISM LECTURE DRAWS HUGE CROWD When Chimes and the posters around campus advertised that Elaine Storkey would speak on “Feminisms and Postmodernisms” at 3:30 p.m. last Friday in the Meeter Center, there was a mistake of sorts. When three times the expected number of people showed up at the Meeter Center on Friday, there was a scramble to find a location that could better host the visiting lecturer from King’s College, London University. Finally at about 3:45, the lecture began in the Gezon Auditorium with about 300 people. “We were expecting 100 people and were delighted that there were three times that much,” said Ellie White-Stevens, a student who coordinated publicity for the event. “[Storkey] is just a fabulous speaker.” Storkey’s message was also an important one for Calvin to hear. “The Calvin community in general takes a Kuyperian view of the world ‘every square inch belongs to God.’ But somehow feminism is one square inch that’s off the map,” said CAS professor and William Spoelhof Chair Helen Sterk. “[Storkey] said no [to this way of thinking]. She gave the perspective that feminism is influencial in culture and theology, and said ‘here’s the redemptive parts of it’.” Storkey works in the academic interchange between philosophy, sociology and theology. She broadcasts regularly with BBC radio and television and is on the General Synod of the Church of England. She is a theological adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the vice president of Gloucester and Cheltenham. She works with women who are incest survivors and is the president of the Tear Fund, an international Christian relief and aid agency and is on the council of 15 different organizations. She also was a visiting lecturer at Calvin in the early 1980s. “Feminism has been an easy target for critics, especially Christian critics who have read little of actual feminist writings,” said Storkey, who considers herself a feminist. The focus of her lecture was to anaylize different forms of feminism, such as liberalism, socialism, and women’s liberation, in light of their historical context and the affect of postmodern thinking on them. In the postmodern world, equality is the wrong goal, said Storkey, who believes that we need to embrace biblical feminism. Storkey described biblical feminism as “a faithful attempt to look at the gospel and see if we got it right.” When some people read scripture they read “God loves you and has a terrible plan for your wife,” said Storkey, who said that rather, Christians need to reexamine the themes of liberation, redemption and intimacy in relationships in scripture. “I really do believe that we really do have the spirit to change,” she said. “We can incorporate gender issues into all that we do.” The lecture was sponsored by the psychology department, the sociology department, the religion department, the Student Life division and the William Spoelhof chair. “I was delighted that we got her to come. She is a gracious spokesperson on what contributions feminism can make to Reformed Christianity,” said Sterk. Storkey also appeared on Calvin Forum with Sterk and Claudia Beversluis of the psychology department. |
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